Wimbledon, London

For other uses see Wimbledon (disambiguation)

Wimbledon is an area in the London Borough of Merton, south-west London. It is best known for the Wimbledon tennis championships, and as the former home of the professional football club then known as Wimbledon F.C..

Wimbledon FC played their home games outside of Wimbledon after the closure of their Plough Lane ground in 1991, and in September 2003 the club relocated to Milton Keynes, about 70 miles north. As soon as The Football Association approved this move in May 2002, former Wimbledon FC supporters founded the semi-professional AFC Wimbledon, and support in Wimbledon overwhelmingly shifted to AFCW, who starting with their second season earned successive promotions to the First and Premier Divisions of the Isthmian League. As of May 2005 AFC Wimbledon completed the league and cup double for the second consecutive season.

In the world of literature, Wimbledon provides the principal setting for several comic novels by author Nigel Williams (including the best-selling The Wimbledon Poisoner) as well as for Elizabeth Beresford's series of children's stories about the Wombles.

John Major, British prime minister from 1990 to 1997, attended Rutlish Grammar School in Wimbledon from 1954 to 1959.

The crest of Wimbledon is the double-headed eagle, which is the reputed symbol of Julius Caesar, whose association, more or less mythical, with Wimbledon is indicated by 'Caesar's Camp' and 'Caesar's Well'.

Nearest places:

• Morden
• Tooting
• Roehampton
• Mitcham
• Putney
• South Wimbledon

Nearest tube stations:

• Wimbledon Park tube station
• Wimbledon station
• South Wimbledon tube station
• Wimbledon is also on the Tramlink

Nearest railway stations:

• Raynes Park railway station
• Wimbledon Chase railway station
• Wimbledon station

Famous residents past and present

• William Wilberforce – 19th century anti-slavery campaigner
• Henry Dundas – cabinet minister
• Joseph Bazalgette – civil engineer; his creation of the sewer network for central London eliminated the incidence of cholera epidemics
• Frederick Marryat – novelist
• Robert Graves – poet
• Lord Baden-Powell – founder of the Scout movement; wrote Scouting for Boys while staying at the windmill on Wimbledon Common
• Thomas Hughes – author of Tom Brown's Schooldays which was written in Wimbledon
• John William Godward – painter
• Richard Briers – actor
• June Whitfield – actress
• Annette Crosbie – actress

External links

• London Borough of Merton
• History of Wimbledon
• AFC Wimbledon official site
• Complete Guide to Wimbledon