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Civic Heraldry of the United Kingdom

WANDSWORTH

Borough of London
Additions : 1965 Battersea

Origin/meaning :
The arms were granted on July 6, 1901.
The chequers are from the arms of the Warennes, Earls of Surrey. The blue drops represent the tears of the fugitive Huguenots, many of whom settled in Wandswordth. The stars stand for the five parishes united in the Borouogh. The crosses link the arms with the arms of the city of London . The nebuly party line suggests the rivers Thames and Wandle. The dragon ship recalls the Danish inroads in the nin^th century.

Following the merger with Battersea and the loss of Clapham and Streatham to Lambeth, new arms were granted in 1965.
The shield contains the main features of the arms of Battersea and Wandsworth. The white and blue indented field comes from Battersea's arms, while the checks and teardrops come from those of Wandsworth. The blue and gold checks are from the arms of the de Warenne Earls of Surrey. This denotes that the area was part of Surrey until 1889. The teardrops represent the Huguenot exiles who came to Wandsworth in 1685.

The crest has a dragon ship taken from the old Wandsworth arms. It has four oars and four shields for the four parishes of the Borough - Battersea, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth. The sail is a banner of the arms.

The dexter supporter is taken from the crest of Battersea. The sprig of Lavender is for Lavender Hill, the main road of Battersea. The dove is charged on the wing with four gold stars, one for each parish. The sinister supporter is a black dragon, derived from the dragon-ship in the crest. The white wings and red crosses are taken from the supporters of the City of London. This shows that Wandsworth is a Greater London Borough. The crosses are four fold again for the four parishes.

The motto has been in use by Wandsworth since 1901.

Literature : Scott-Giles, C.W. : Civic heraldry of England and Wales, London, 1932; new image and info provided by Laurence Jones (laurencejones@eircom.net)

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