Tooting Common

As London's population was growing, and land was developed for housing, much of the old commonland was under threat, which led eventually to the passing of the Metropolitan Commons Act in 1866. By then the commons at Tooting had been divided by building of roads and railways, with the West End and Crystal Palace line in the north, which opened in 1855, and the London, Brighton and South Coast line running north - south, which opened in 1861. Tooting Bec Common, comprising nearly 152 acres, was one of the first commons that the Metropolitan Board of Works took action to preserve following the Act and in 1873 it acquired the manorial rights for £13,798 under the Metropolitan Commons Supplemental Act 1873. Under the Metropolitan Board of Works Act 1875 the MBW then acquired Tooting Graveney Common of 66 acres for £3,000 and also contributed £1,155 to the copyholders' expenses for resisting enclosure by the Lord of the Manor for building purposes. An avenue of trees marks the former boundary line between the two commons, now to all intents and purposes one common. Responsibility passed to the London County Council and in 1971 to LB Wandsworth.

The landscape comprises areas that are more natural, with a number of woods and grassland, and other areas have been more formally landscaped for recreation or sporting activities. An avenue of oak trees remains along Dr Johnson Avenue that was planted in the late C16th to commemorate a visit by Elizabeth I; other avenues include horse chestnuts planted in the C19th, oaks planted in the C17th by Garrad's Road, and a line of elms that marked the southern boundary along Tooting Bec Road. Dr Johnson was connected with the area through his friendship with the Thrale family who lived nearby in Streatham Park. At the end of Dr Johnson Avenue is the old Keeper's Lodge, built in 1979. The lake was originally formed as a result of gravel digging but was created as an ornamental feature in 1895.

Adjacent to the north east of the lake is a fenced area, the Sanctuary, managed as a wildlife area, at the northern end of which is a fossil tree stump said to date from the age of the dinosaurs, placed here in Victorian times. Close to the junction of Tooting Bec Road and Elmbourne Road is the old Yachting Pond near which are now a number of sculptures created from storm-blown trees in 1987; other such sculptures are also found in Bedford Hill Woods.

Facilities provided in the early C20th include the Tea House built in 1906, and the 300 ft x 100 ft bathing lake built in 1905/6 at the joint cost of Wandsworth Borough Council and the Central (Unemployed) Body for London, making it the earliest purpose-built open air pool in London. Excavated soil was formed into an embankment that was planted with trees in 1906 to shield the pond from the common. Tooting Bec Lido was officially opened on 28 July 1906 and responsibility for its maintenance was passed to the LCC. It was designed by the Borough Surveyor H J Marten and owed much to the efforts of Revd John Hendy Anderson, Wandsworth Borough Councillor and vicar of St Nicholas Church, Tooting (q.v.) who was also involved in the Central Unemployed Body. Speaking at the opening ceremony he said he hoped that the new lido would be 'a benefit to the public for a long time to come'. In 1931 the dressing sheds were adapted as individual cubicles and new changing rooms, with individual doors and seats, and lavatories and a new filtration house were built. In 1936 new cubicles and showers replaced the old dressing sheds, and a café was built, both designed by the LCC Parks Department. A children's paddling pool was opened behind the café in a grassy area in summer 1999 and in 2001 refurbishment works were undertaken by Wandsworth Council to provide a new foyer, and a suite of Jacuzzis and saunas, and in 2005 further repairs were carried out. In 2006 it won the Golden Goggles Award of the London Pools Campaign and remains a popular facility.

From 1991 the lido was managed in the winter months by the South London Swimming Club, which was founded weeks after the bathing lake opened in 1906. In 2000 DC Leisure won a 6-year contract to run Wandsworth Council's leisure services including the Lido.

In 2014 Wandsworth Council secured a development grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to help formulate long term plans for the management and maintenance of Tooting Common, and commissioned Community First Partnership (CFP) and Land Use Consultants (LUC) to help develop these plans. The aim of the Tooting Common Heritage Project is to apply for a full second stage grant at the end of 2015 and if successful the work would take place in 2016-19. Projects include exploration of the history, restoration of the 1930s pavilion on a piece of recreational ground attached to Tooting Common; Tooting Bec Lido Improvement Project. An Employment Skills and Learning (ESL) Project is planned, together with training and volunteering activities, and a Conservation and Management Plan will be prepared as part of the project.