Lavender

‘Wallington is a town in the London Borough of Sutton situated 10.3 miles (16.6 km) south south-west of Charing Cross.’…so says Wikipedia. It has a mention in the Doomsday Book but really  grew in size during the later Victorian and Edwardian eras.

I had to go there for the first time this week, hence the interest.

It has a couple of classical 1930’s buildings

The  town hall  by architect Robert Atkinson. He had lived locally from 1908 until 1925 and was an architect who worked in the traditional classical style. The foundation stone was laid in May 1934, and it was built by Messrs. Perry (Ealing) Ltd., being formally opened on 21st September the following year.

The second building of note is the Fire Station. The name carved above the red station doors is 'Borough of Beddington and Wallington Fire Station' -'MCMXXXVIII' - 1938

Why is the blog called 'Lavender?

The area was famous for the production of lavender oil until the early 20th century.

Extensive fields of lavender could be seen to be seen in Beddington, Wallington, Carshalton and Sutton. This link to lavender is commemorated by Guy Portelli's 1999 sculpture "English Lavender” which represents a lavender plant. 

The sculpture  is 6m high and made of bronze with mosaic heads to the flowers. It was commissioned by Sainsburys in 1998 and stands close to their Wallington store.