After the longest heat-wave in many years plus the return of rain this week, we may remember that last summer was the wettest for a century and even that was probably outdone 110 years ago.

In the summer of 1903, it rained continually for much of June. Wimbledon Council’s borough engineer at the time, Mr C H Cooper, prepared a report on it for the local authority, showing where serious flooding occurred. He wrote: “The rainfall that led to the flooding appears to have been phenomenal as far as this district is concerned…No such fall has occurred in the last 50 years.”

It started raining on 31 May 1903 when over two inches were recorded, saturating the ground. For the next week rainfall was slight but on 8 June it really started coming down in torrents and continued on and off for the next 11 days.

The Council’s engineering department faced two major problems. First, several of the conduits designed to take away surplus water were too narrow for the purpose, especially one near Raynes Park. Secondly, the River Wandle contained many obstructions. As the river course was also more winding than it is today, the back-up of the current from the river’s higher reaches caused the banks to overflow.

Widespread flooding of the area nearby was the result. Coombe Lane, then mostly undeveloped, was under water from Copse Hill to Avenue Road. So was much of Raynes Park from West Barnes Lane through to the “Apostles” roads and what is now is now Bushey Road as far along as Merton Hall Road. Worple Road was flooded from Edge Hill to Malcolm Road. On the borough’s western boundary, the Beverley Brook overflowed near the Robin Hood Gate.    

But the south-eastern side of Wimbledon, much closer to the burst banks of the  Wandle and more densely populated following the massive expansion of the previous 40 years, was probably the worst affected. The whole of Summerstown from Colliers Wood to Earlsfield came under water, together with many of the streets between Trinity Road and Haydons Road. It is unclear how long it took the floods to clear but it must have been days.

However, in those times of largely horse-drawn traffic, the congestion caused by road closures would have been nothing like we face today and with our climate changing, we have no room for complacency.

Last year was a disaster for sunshine lovers but only six years ago in July 2007 similarly exceptional rainfall intensity – albeit on single days rather than for a protracted period – caused flooding of Wimbledon town centre. Worple Road was hit once more, this time with Ely’s itself flooded. The sheer volume of water cascading down Wimbledon Hill from various directions overwhelmed the drainage system.

With unpredictable weather patterns now expected for years to come we cannot be sure how things will turn out in future.

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