Editing Battersea (section)

===Industry===
[[File:Battersea power station 2.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Battersea Power Station]]]]
Industry in the area was concentrated to the northwest just outside the Battersea-Wandsworth boundary, at the confluence of the River Thames and the [[River Wandle]], which gave rise to the village of [[Wandsworth]]. This was settled from the 16th century by [[Protestant]] craftsmen – [[Huguenot]]s – fleeing religious persecution in Europe, who planted lavender and gardens and established a range of industries such as mills, breweries and dyeing, bleaching and [[calico]] printing.<ref name=vh/> Industry developed eastwards along the bank of the Thames during the [[Industrial Revolution]] from the 1750s onwards; the Thames provided water for transport, for steam engines and for water-intensive industrial processes. Bridges erected across the Thames encouraged growth; [[Putney Bridge]], a mile to the west, was built in 1729 and rebuilt 1882, and [[Battersea Bridge]] in the centre of the north boundary in 1771. Inland from the river, the rural agricultural community persisted.<ref name=vh/>

Along the Thames, a number of large and, in their field, pre-eminent firms grew; notably the [[Morgan Crucible]] company, which survives to this day and is listed on the [[London Stock Exchange]]; Price's Candles, which also made cycle lamp oil; oil refiner and paint manufacturer [[S. Bowley and Son]]; and Orlando Jones' Starch Factory. The 1874 [[Ordnance Survey]] map of the area shows the following factories, in order, from the site of the as yet unbuilt Wandsworth Bridge to Battersea Park: Starch manufacturer; Silk manufacturer; (St. John's College); (St. Mary's Church); Malt house; Corn mill; Oil and grease works (Prices Candles); Chemical works; Plumbago Crucible works (later the [[Morgan Crucible|Morgan Crucible Company]]); Chemical works; Saltpetre works; Foundry. Between these were numerous wharfs for shipping.

In 1929, construction started on [[Battersea Power Station]], being completed in 1939. From the late 18th century to comparatively recent times,{{as of?|date=April 2023}} Battersea was established as an industrial area with all of the issues associated with pollution and poor housing affecting it.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Industry declined and moved away from the area in the 1970s; local government sought to address chronic post-war housing problems with large scale clearances and the establishment of planned housing. Some decades after the end of large scale local industry,{{when|date=April 2023}} resurgent demand among magnates and high income earners for parkside and riverside property close to planned Underground links has led to significant construction, {{citation needed|date=May 2023}} Factories have been demolished and replaced with modern apartment buildings. Some of the council owned properties have been sold off and several traditional working men's pubs have become more fashionable bistros. Battersea neighbourhoods close to the railway have some of the most deprived local authority housing in the Borough of Wandsworth, in an area which saw condemned slums after their erection in the Victoria era.<ref>[http://booth.lse.ac.uk/cgi-bin/do.pl?sub=view_booth_and_barth&m.l=3&m.d.l=0&m.p.x=5679&m.p.y=10057&m.p.w=500&m.p.h=309&m.p.l=1&m.t.w=128&m.t.h=80&b.v.x=265&b.v.y=110&b.p.x=9042&b.p.y=14930&b.p.w=500&b.p.h=309&b.p.l=2&b.p.p.l=5 Booth's Poverty Map] [[London School of Economics]] archive. Retrieved 4 November 2014</ref>