Earlsfield ward runs down the eastern edge of Tooting: in fact following the path of the river Wandle for its entire length, from the edge of Wandsworth town to Summerstown and the edge of Tooting Broadway.  Garratt Lane forms the spine of the ward and Earlsfield station is almost right in the middle.

This is a diverse ward containing several council estates like the Henry Prince (where many scenes from TV's The Bill were filmed), the Atheldene and the Aboyne, as well as terraced streets of relatively small houses nestled around Earlsfield station.

The ward begins to climb up the hill towards Wandsworth Common: part of Allfarthing Lane, Earlsfield Road, Magdalene Road and Burntwood Lane are in Earlsfield, but the larger parts are in Wandsworth Common ward and the boundary between the two areas is somewhat arbitrary. 

Summerstown in the south of the ward includes some small industrial and warehouse units although Wimbledon stadium is just across the borough boundary in Merton.

In 2004 the council closed Wandle Primary School which served the community around the Henry Prince estate.  Instead of ear-marking the site to provide some desperately needed affordable housing to rent for local people, the Tory Council has sold it for yet more exclusive, gated luxury penthouses.

Facts & figures

Population: 12,902

Housing tenure:
Owner-occupied: 52.9%
Public sector renting: 19.7%
Private sector renting: 21.5%

Household type:
Detached/Semi detached: 5.8%
Terraced: 33.3%
Purpose-built flats: 34.8%
Multi-occupancy house: 22.1%

Employment:
Full-time employed: 54.6%
Self-employed: 7.6%
Unemployed: 3.4%
Retired: 6.6%
Students: 9.0%

Socio-economic bands:
Professional/Managerial: 46.9%
Skilled/unskilled manual: 30.2%

Ethnicity:
White: 77.9%
Black/Minority Ethnic: 22.2%

Source: 2001 Census