South London

{{Further|Southwark}}{{more citations needed|section|date=April 2024}}

South London began at Southwark at the southern end of London Bridge, the first permanent crossing over the River Thames. The early development of the area was a direct result of the existence and location of the bridge.

File:South London Map 1800.jpg and Kent is shown running south from Deptford, through Sydenham]]

File:Traitors' Gate, Old London Bridge (Robert Chambers, p.158, 1832) - Copy.jpg

File:St Olave on the exterior of St Olaf's House.jpg, helped the English retake London Bridge from his fellow Norsemen.]]

Southwark was first known as Suthriganaweorc, the fortress of the men of Surrey, mentioned in the Burghal Hidage as part of military system created by Alfred the Great to defeat the Great Heathen Army of the Vikings. Southwark was also known as the Borough due to its being an incorporated (nationally represented) Borough from 1295. From 1550 to 1899 it was administered as part of the City of London and referred to as the ward of Bridge Without.

In 1720, John Strype's 'Survey of London' described Southwark as one of the then four distinct areas of London; in it he describes the City of London, Westminster (West London), Southwark (South London), and 'That Part Beyond the Tower' (East London). The area now usually referred to as North London developed later.

As late as the mid-18th century, there were no other bridges crossing the river and hence urban growth was considerably slower in the south than in areas north of the Thames.

The opening of Westminster Bridge and other subsequent bridges to the west encouraged growth in the south-west, but only Tower Bridge was built to the east of London Bridge, so south-east London grew more slowly, at least until the Surrey Commercial Docks were built.

The development of a dense network of railway lines in the mid-nineteenth century significantly accelerated growth. The County of London was formed in 1899, which incorporated these boroughs south of the river: Wandsworth, Lambeth, Battersea, Camberwell, Southwark, Bermondsey, Deptford, Lewisham, Greenwich and Woolwich. During the first half of the 20th century, towns in the Home Counties such as Kingston, Croydon and Bromley gradually coalesced with South London, until Greater London was formed in 1965.

A significant feature of south London's economic geography is that while there are more than thirty bridges linking the area with West London and the City, there is only one, Tower Bridge, linking the area with East London.

Very little of London's underground rail network lies south of the river, largely due to the challenging geology;{{cite book|author = Wolmar, Christian|title = The Subterranean Railway: How the London Underground Was Built and How It Changed the City Forever |publisher = Atlantic Books |isbn=978-1-84354-023-6 |year=2004|author-link = Christian Wolmar}} however, 21st-century technology makes tunnelling much cheaper (though stations are still expensive) and this may lead to an improved underground provision in south London with the Crossrail 2 line proposed alongside extensions to the Northern and Bakerloo Lines.

South London contains an extensive overground rail network and all of London's trams operate within the area.

The 12 boroughs included, in whole or part are:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! class="unsortable" |

! London borough

! Postcode areas

! 2008 sub-region

! London AssemblyLondon Assembly – [http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/constituencies.jsp London Assembly Constituency Information] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117151444/http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/constituencies.jsp |date=17 January 2008 }}. Retrieved on 22 February 2008.

!Historic county

! Inner London/Outer London

|-

| 50px

| Bexley

| DA, SE

| South East

| Bexley and Bromley

|Kent

| Outer London

|-

| 50px

| Bromley

| BR, DA, SE, TN, CR

| South East

| Bexley and Bromley

|Kent

| Outer London

|-

| 50px

| Croydon

| CR, SE, SW, BR

| South West

| Croydon and Sutton

|Surrey

| Outer London

|-

| 50px

| Greenwich

| SE, DA, BR

| South East

| Greenwich and Lewisham

|Kent

| Inner London

(Outer London for statistics)

|-

| 50px

| Kingston

| KT, SW,

| South West

| South West

|Surrey

| Outer London

|-

| 50px

| Lambeth

| SE, SW

| South East

| Lambeth and Southwark

|Surrey

| Inner London

|-

| 50px

| Lewisham

| SE, BR

| South East

| Greenwich and Lewisham

|Kent

| Inner London

|-

| 50px

| Merton

| CR, SM, SW, KT

| South West

| Merton and Wandsworth

|Surrey

| Outer London

|-

| 50px

| Richmond (part)

| TW,SW

| South West

| South West

|Surrey

| Outer London

|-

| 50px

| Southwark

| SE

| South East

| Lambeth and Southwark

|Surrey

| Inner London

|-

| 50px

| Sutton

| SM, KT,

| South West

| Croydon and Sutton

|Surrey

| Outer London

|-

| 50px

| Wandsworth

| SW

| South West

| Merton and Wandsworth

|Surrey

| Inner London

|}

A small area of land, on which the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge stands, is not part of Southwark. It forms part of the City of London, a sui generis local authority which is mainly located north of the Thames.

The term 'south London' has been used for a variety of formal purposes with the boundaries defined according to the purposes of the designation.

In 2017 the government asked the Boundary Commission for England to reconsider the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies. The commission's study, was to start with existing regions of England and then group the local authorities within that area into sub-regions for further sub-division. The south London sub-region included the 11 boroughs which lay south of the river, plus the parts of cross-river Richmond upon Thames that did so.{{Cite book |url=https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Final-recommendations-report.pdf |title=The 2018 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries: Volume 1 |publisher=Boundary Commission for England |year=2018 |isbn=97815286-06783 |pages=62 |language=en |format=PDF}}

An earlier 2013 study, whose recommendations were not adopted, took a different approach by including all of Richmond in its south London sub-region.Boundary Commission for England, London – [http://orderorder.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/2011_08_23_london_online.pdf London 2011 amendment]

For the purposes of progress reporting on the London Plan, there was a south London sub-region in operation from 2004 to 2008 consisting of Bromley, Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Richmond and Sutton.Greater London Authority, [http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/planning/srdf/docs/south-srdf.pdf The London Plan: Sub-Regional Development Framework – South London] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409101344/http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/planning/srdf/docs/south-srdf.pdf |date=9 April 2008 }} In 2001 this area had a population of 1,329,000.Greater London Authority, [http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_5.pdf The London Plan: The Sub Regions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227001349/http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_5.pdf |date=27 February 2008 }} This definition is used by organisations such as Connexions.Connexions – [https://web.archive.org/web/20020331120335/http://www.connexions-southlondon.org.uk/ South London]

Between 2008 and 2011 it was replaced with a South East sub-region consisting of Southwark, Lewisham, Greenwich, Bexley and Bromley and a South West sub-region consisting of Croydon, Kingston, Lambeth, Merton, Sutton, Richmond and Wandsworth.Greater London Authority – [http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/further-alts/docs.jsp Draft Further Alterations to the London Plan] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713055751/http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/further-alts/docs.jsp |date=13 July 2009 }}

In 2011 a new south London region was created consisting of Bromley, Croydon, the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Richmond upon Thames, Merton, Sutton, Wandsworth, Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

South London has, like other parts of London and the UK in general, a temperate maritime climate according to the Köppen climate classification system. Three Met Office weather stations currently collect climate data south of the river: Kew, Hampton, and Kenley Airfield, on the southern edge of the urban area.{{cite web |publisher= MetOffice |url= http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/networks/images/map6.gif |title= Station Locations |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121006021045/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/networks/images/map6.gif |archive-date=6 October 2012 |df = dmy-all }} Long-term climate observations dating back to 1763{{cite web |publisher= MetOffice |url= http://climexp.knmi.nl/data/ta3779.1.dat |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120708204814/http://climexp.knmi.nl/data/ta3779.1.dat |url-status= dead |archive-date=8 July 2012 |title= Greenwich Long term data }} are available for Greenwich, although observations ceased there in 2003.

Temperatures increase towards the Thames, firstly because of the urban warming effect of the surrounding area, and secondly due to altitude decreasing towards the river, meaning the southern margins of south London are often a couple of degrees cooler than those areas adjacent to the Thames. Often snow can be seen to lie on the North Downs near Croydon when central London is snow-free.

The record high temperature at Greenwich is {{convert|37.5|C|F}} recorded during August 2003.{{cite web |publisher= MetOffice |url= http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/interesting/aug03maxtemps.html |title=Greenwich 2003 Maximum |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030819214645/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/interesting/aug03maxtemps.html |archive-date=19 August 2003 }} Sunshine is notably lower than other London area weather stations (by about 50–100 hours a year), suggesting Greenwich may be a fog trap in winter, and that the hillier land to the south may obscure early morning and late evening sunshine.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

The highest temperature recorded across south London was {{convert|38.1|C|F}} on the same occasion at Kew Gardens. Although the Met Office accepts a higher reading from Brogdale in Kent, many have questioned the accuracy of this{{cite journal |title=August 2003 |journal=Weather |volume=59 |issue=9 |pages=239–246 |doi= 10.1256/wea.10.04B |year=2004 |last1=Burt |first1=Stephen |last2=Eden |first2=Philip |s2cid= 122238547}} and regard the Kew reading as the most reliable highest UK temperature reading.

{{Weather box

|location = Greenwich 7m asl 1971–2000,

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan high C = 7.9

|Feb high C = 8.2

|Mar high C = 10.9

|Apr high C = 13.3

|May high C = 17.2

|Jun high C = 20.2

|Jul high C = 22.8

|Aug high C = 22.6

|Sep high C = 19.3

|Oct high C = 15.2

|Nov high C = 10.9

|Dec high C = 8.8

|year high C = 14.8

|Jan low C = 2.4

|Feb low C = 2.2

|Mar low C = 3.8

|Apr low C = 5.2

|May low C = 8.0

|Jun low C = 11.1

|Jul low C = 13.6

|Aug low C = 13.3

|Sep low C = 10.9

|Oct low C = 8.0

|Nov low C = 4.8

|Dec low C = 3.3

|year low C = 7.2

|Jan precipitation mm = 51.9

|Feb precipitation mm = 34.0

|Mar precipitation mm = 42.0

|Apr precipitation mm = 45.2

|May precipitation mm = 47.2

|Jun precipitation mm = 53.0

|Jul precipitation mm = 38.3

|Aug precipitation mm = 47.3

|Sep precipitation mm = 56.9

|Oct precipitation mm = 61.5

|Nov precipitation mm = 52.3

|Dec precipitation mm = 54.0

|year precipitation mm = 583.6

|Jan sun = 45.9

|Feb sun = 66.1

|Mar sun = 103.2

|Apr sun = 147.0

|May sun = 185.4

|Jun sun = 180.6

|Jul sun = 190.3

|Aug sun = 194.4

|Sep sun = 139.2

|Oct sun = 109.7

|Nov sun = 60.6

|Dec sun = 37.8

|year sun = 1461.0

|source 1 = MetOffice{{cite web | url = http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/sites/greenwich.html | title = Greenwich 1971–2000 | access-date = 23 September 2011 | publisher = Met Office | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101229172419/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/sites/greenwich.html | archive-date = 29 December 2010 | df = dmy-all }}

|date=September 2011

}}

{{colbegin}}

• South London Gallery
• South London Botanical Institute
• South London Press
• South London Radio
• South London Storm
• South London Theatre

{{colend}}

{{div col}}

• Central London
• East London
• Inner London
• North London
• Outer London
• South Bank
• South London derby
• West London

{{div col end}}

{{reflist}}

{{commons category}}

{{Wikivoyage|London/South|South London}}

• {{cite web|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/features/109/North_versus_South.html|title=North London v South London – The debate|date=1 May 2009|publisher=Time Out London|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223135035/http://www.timeout.com/london/features/109/North_versus_South.html|archive-date=23 February 2009}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/features/7631/north_london_v_south_london/2.html?cpage=4&ccat=5|title=North London v South London – The debate|author=Alan Rutter and Peter Watts|date=13 December 2005|publisher=Time Out London|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090513051844/http://www.timeout.com/london/features/7631/north_london_v_south_london/2.html?cpage=4&ccat=5|archive-date=13 May 2009}}

{{Sub-regions of London}}

Category:London sub-regions

Category:Areas of London

Category:Geography of London