A brief History of Balham

(Courtesy John Rattray - Balham Society)

Until around 200 years ago Balham was a hamlet of farms and a few country houses on the old Roman road of Stane Street, and was part of the parish of Streatham. As travel to London became easier, the town began to grow around Balham Hill in the early 19th century.

When the Pimlico and Crystal Palace Railway opened in 1856, with a station at Balham, the town centre gravitated southward to its present location near the station; over the rest of the 19th century the town grew swiftly into the street patterns that largely survive today save for isolated cases of redevelopment and World War II bomb damage.

As the population grew, a chapel was opened in 1808, paid for by members of the nearby Clapham Sect. The chapel was extended in 1824, and in 1855 became the parish church of St. Mary's, after Balham had been made a parish in its own right. Other churches and places of worship opened in subsequent years.

Balham became a thriving shopping centre, including Holdrons department store. Despite undergoing many changes, the shopping centre remains a vital part of Balham's life to this day, and improvements such as the recent ones in Hildreth Street, the market street, are playing their part in boosting Balham's vitality.

The Heaver Estate, the finest work of local builder Alfred Heaver, was built in the grounds of the old Bedford Hill House, and became one of Balham's first conservation areas. Hyde Farm, on which the Hyde Farm Estate was built, had been a prominent farm since the middle ages, and had been particularly known for its pigs.

Scandal came to Balham in 1876, when Charles Bravo was poisoned at the Priory, Bedford Hill. This case, which has never been solved, became a national sensation; there have been numerous books about it, as well as two television programmes.

Among celebrities connected with the area, Dame Margaret Rutherford and Jimmy Hill were both born in Balham.

For further reading, Balham: a Brief History by Graham Gower, available at Balham Library, is recommended.

For the most recent information about Balham Town centre visit the Balham Info page.