Garratt Lane is a road in the borough of Wandsworth, London. It connects Wandsworth High Street to Tooting Broadway and is approximately four kilometres long. It passes through both Earlsfield and Summerstown.
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Garratt Lane has mixed usage along its length. In the north it contains newly developed stores including a large inside shopping mall. The stretch between Allfarthing Lane and Burntwood Lane is mainly shops of the individually owned type. The southern portion is mainly residential, although around Summertown there are a few light industries and the Wimbledon Stadium.
The Southern-most part of Garratt Lane is unusual in that two parallel streets exchanged names. The original Garratt Lane was a narrower street than Garratt Terrace, which was the main connection to Tooting Broadway. Many people mistakenly called it Garratt Lane, so it was agreed to exchange the names.
There are a number of public houses along the length of the lane, including the Old Sergeant and the Leather Bottle, both of which date to the 18th Century. The latter figured in the election of the Mayor of Garratt
See the play entitled 'The Mayor of Garratt' by Samuel Foote at [1]
Garratt Lane is the major north-south route in West london,south of the River Thames. This is due to the Lane following the banks of the River Wandle, and consequently having no hill in its length. Industries grew up in the 18th and 19th centuries along the eastern side of the Wandle, which caused the country lane to become a high traffic road. A 1786 map[1] shows and names Garratt Lane running approximately on its present route. This map also shows two roads that intersect with Garratt Lane, Half Farthing Lane (now Allfarthing Lane) and Burnt Wood Lane (now Burntwood Lane). The only village on its length was Garratt Green. In 1803 the first commercial railway in Britain was opened along much of the northern part of what is now Garratt Lane. This was the Surrey Iron Railway which connected the Thames at Wandsworth with these industries, and those in Merton and Croydon. No sign remains of the railway which was horse drawn.
Public transport in the form of horse busses were placed on the street in the latter part of the 19th century, and in 1903 the London County Council (LCC) extended and electrified the tramways. The trams started at the Thames near Westminster and went west and southwest on three route, one through Clapham Junction to Wandsworth, another through Brixton to Streatham, and one through Balham to Wimbledon. The routes through Garratt Lane connected all three with the focal point being Tooting.
When the London Passenger Transport Board was formed in 1933 to control all of London's transport, route 12 (from Tooting to London Bridge via Wandsworth & Battersea) and route 30 (from Tooting to Shepherds Bush via Putney) ran the length of Garratt Lane. These routes were transformed to trolleybus (612 and 630) routes in 1937. Again the mode of transport changed in 1960s, with busses (No 44 & 220 (later replaced by the 270) respectively) replacing the trolleybuses. This pattern of change occurred throughout London although now there is a tendency towards tramway (or street railways) existing in in Croydon and proposed elsewhere.
The railway crosses Garratt Lane at Earlsfield Station and the nearest Underground station is Tooting Broadway just opposite the south end of Garratt Lane.
Garratt Lane in part of the British Numbered Roads system, being part of the A217.
There are four listed properties on Garratt Lane: