Editing Balham (section)

==History==
[[File:Wandsworth Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg|thumb|A map showing the Balham ward of Wandsworth Metropolitan Borough as it appeared in 1916.]]
The settlement appears in the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' as ''Belgeham''. Bal refers to 'rounded enclosure' and ham to a homestead, village or river enclosure. It was held by Geoffrey Orlateile. Its ''Domesday'' Assets were: {{frac|1|1|2}} [[plough]]s, {{convert|8|acre|ha|abbr=off|0|spell=on}} of [[meadow]]. It rendered (in total): £2.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/surrey1.html#balham|title=The Domesday Book Online - Surrey|website=www.domesdaybook.co.uk}}</ref>
The Balham area has been settled since [[Saxon]] times. Balham Hill and Balham High Road follow the line of the [[Roman road]] [[Stane Street (Chichester)|Stane Street]] to [[Chichester]] – (now the [[A24 road (Great Britain)|A24 road]]). Balham is recorded in several maps in the 1600s as Ballam or Balham Hill or Balham Manor. The village was within the parish of [[Streatham]]. Large country retreats for the affluent classes were built there in the 18th century; however, most development occurred after the opening of [[Balham railway station]] on the [[West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway|line to Crystal Palace]] in 1856.

===Second World War air raid===
[[File:Air Raid Damage in Britain during the Second World War HU36188.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Air raid damage in Balham]]
On 14 October 1940 [[Balham station|Balham Underground station]] was badly damaged by air raids on London during [[World War II]]. People took shelter in the tube station during the raids. A bomb fell in the High Road and through the roof of the Underground station below, bursting water and gas mains and killing around 64 people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ww2today.com/14th-october-1940-disaster-at-balham-tube-station|title=14th October 1940: Disaster at Balham Tube station|work=ww2today.com}}</ref> This particular incident was featured in [[Atonement (novel)|''Atonement'']], a 2001 novel by [[Ian McEwan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/sep/29/ianmcewan|title=Atonement by Ian McEwan|work=The Guardian|date=29 September 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/mar/29/ianmcewan|title=Atonement: metanarrative|author=John Mullan|work=The Guardian|date=29 March 2003}}</ref> An image of the aftermath is of the bus, on [[London Buses route 88|route 88]], which had fallen into the bomb crater.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20637222|title=London Blitz: Bomb Sight interactive map created|work=BBC News|date=7 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2014/may/20/second-world-war-google-street-view-nazis-paris-london-blitz|title=Second world war in Google Street View|author=Halley Docherty|work=The Guardian|date=20 May 2014}}</ref> All passengers, along with the driver and conductor, had escaped from the bus before it fell. The bus was hauled out of the crater after two weeks.<ref>{{cite book|author=Marshall, Prince (1972)|title=Wheels of London|year=1972 |publisher=The Sunday Times Magazine |isbn=0-7230-0068-9}}</ref>
[[File:Church of Saint Mary, Balham (Southeast View - 02).jpg|thumb|right|120px|St Mary and
St John the Divine church]]

===Post-war===
On the morning of 17 July 1974 a 10-pound bomb planted by the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Provisional IRA]] in a dustbin near Irene House (a Social Security office) and St Mary & St John the Divine Anglican Church exploded,
shattering a four-foot wall and 50 windows. No-one was hurt.<ref>{{cite news|author=<!---not stated--->|work=Belfast Telegraph|title=Bomb blasts London Ministry office block|date=17 July 1974|page=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://southwark.anglican.org/church/balham-st-mary-st-john-the-divine/ | title=St Mary & St John the Divine }}</ref>