WANDSWORTH  , a

south-western metropolitan borough of London, England, bounded N. by the river Thames and Batter-sea, and E. by Lambeth, and extending S. and W. to the boundary of the county of London . Pop . (1901) 232,034 . The name, which occurs in Domesday, indicates the position of the village on the river Wandle, a small tributary of the Thames . Wands-worth is the largest in area of the metropolitan boroughs, including the districts of Putney by the river, part of Clapham in the north-east, Streatham in the south-east, Balham and Upper and Lower Tooting in the centre and south . These aremainly residential districts, and the borough is not thickly populated . Towards the west, along the Upper Richmond and Kingston roads, there is considerable open country, undulating and well wooded . It is to a great extent preserved in the public grounds of Putney Heath, which adjoins Wimbledon Common, outside the borough, on the north; and Richmond Park and Barnes Common, parts of which are in the borough . Other public grounds are parts of Wandsworth Common (193 acres) and Clapham Common, both extending into Battersea, Tooting Bec (147 acres) and Streatham Common (66 acres), and Wands-worth Park bordering the Thames . The borough is connected with Fulham across the Thames by Wandsworth and Putney bridges . The annual Oxford and Cambridge boat-race starts from above Putney Bridge, finishing at Mortlake; and the club-houses of the principal rowing clubs of London are situated on the Putney shore . Putney Heath was formerly notorious as a resort of highwaymen and duellists .

Among the institutions of Wandsworth are the Royal

Hospital for Incurables, Putney; the Fountain and the Grove fever hospitals, Lower Tooting; the Clapham School of Art, Wandsworth Technical Institute; the Roman Catholic Training College for Women, West Hill; and Wandsworth Prison, Heathfield Road . The parliamentary borough of Wandsworth returns one member, but the municipal borough also includes part of the Clapham division of the parliamentary borough of Battersea and Clap-ham, and part of the Wimbledon division of Surrey . The borough council consists of a mayor, 10 aldermen and 6o councillors . Area, 9129.7 acres .