Nine Elms

Nine Elms got its name, around 1645, from a row of trees bordering the road. This area was a low swampy district, which was prone to flooding and had some windmills and some willow beds. Despite this the area soon became an industrial area with docks for wood and timber companies lining the riverbanks and brewing, lime kilns, potteries lining the road. The Southampton and London Railway Company opened its London Terminus at Nine Elms in 1838. The line was extended to Waterloo in 1848, by means of 290 brick arches, and the Nine Elms station was closed but the site became a huge railway yard. Gasworks were established in 1853, close to some existing waterworks (South Lambeth Waterworks Co - see Vauxhall Water Co) which later became the site of Battersea Power Station. In 1974 the New Covent Garden Market opened, and other derelict land became part of the current industrial park.