You might have heard of its neighbouring village of Carshalton - famous for Carshalton Ponds which are well know locally not just for the wild birds on it but the lorries which take the narrow corner too fast and end up in it! Recently it made headline news when 5 fire crews arrived to rescue a trapped gull and they would not go into the shallow water because of health and safety issues!!!! (a local wildlife rescue volunteer ended up wading in and rescuing the gull).
The pond forms a part of the River Wandle and Wallington once had two mills on this river, the first recorded in 1771 which was used for paper making and the other in the early 19th Century used for textiles - The Wandle is famous for its industrial heritage - Merton Abbey Mill also on the Wandle was later famous for William Morris's textile production.
Wallington was part of the parish of Beddington until 1867 but it must have been an important place in Saxon times because Wallington was the name for the local hundred which was the name used for a subdivision of the county. The land ownership in the 16th Century was very confused as 3 landowners owned huge properties which spread between Carshalton, Beddington and Wallington.
Wallington and Carshalton Rotary Club fund the annual Carshalton Fireworks in the park which divides the two places - it is one of the biggest displays in the South East of England.
Although small, Wallington is a busy town surrounded by historic buildings - Carew Manor in Beddington is from Tudor times - with a mix of very old long standing shops and the new stores like Sainsburys which dominates the crossroads. It has an elegant library building and a town hall and did have a Magistrates Court until recently and Wallington has 2 grammar schools - a boys and a girls!
But on the other side of Wallington is the Roundshaw council estate - Built in 1965 on part of the large site that was Croydon Airport this was a really scary place with druggies and murders and its ageing tower blocks were a regular location for the filming of the televison series The Bill. The tower blocks have now been demolished and modern housing built but it seems to be going back to the bad old days - 2 stabbings just a couple of weeks ago. Would you believe they have tried to rename this new bit Wallington Village!!!!
The whole area though, is best known for the many lavender fields it used to have, and now there a new field opposite Oaks Park and its products are sold in local stores. There is a massive metal sculpture of a lavender bush on the high street crossroads and at Christmas the decorative lights each year are in the form of lavender sprays.
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