All about Battersea

S. MARY'S, built according to Act of Parliament, 14. Geo. III. Opened Nov. 17, 1777. About 1823 an Entrance Portico of the Doric Order was added.
This small volume IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED (by permission) TO THE REV. JOHN ERSKINE CLARKE, M.A., Honorary Canon of Winchester, Vicar of Battersea; AND TO THE INHABITANTS IN GENERAL.


An old writer says it is now certain that the spot, (viz. St. George's in the Fields) on which the city was described to have stood, was an extensive marsh or lake, reaching as far as Camberwell hills, until by drains and embankments, the Romans recovered all the lowlands about the parts now called St. George's Fields, Lambeth etc. London never stood on any other spot than the Peninsular, on the northern banks, formed by the Thames in front; by the river Fleet on the west; and by the stream afterwards named Walbrook on the East. An immense forest originally extended to the river side, and, even as late as the reign of Henry II. covered the northern neighbourhood of the city, and was filled with various species of beasts of chase. It was defended naturally by fosses, one formed by the creek which ran along the Fleet ditch, the other by that of Walbrook. The south side was protected by the river Thames, and the north by the adjacent forest.

Britain according to Aristotle, was the name which the Romans gave to Modern England and Scotland. This appellation is, perhaps derived from the old word brit , partly coloured, it having been customary with the inhabitants to paint their bodies.
According to the testimony of Pliny and Aristotle, the Island in remotest times bore the name of Albion.
The Sea by which Britain is surrounded, was generally called, the Western , the Atlantic , or Hesperian Ocean. Herodotus informs us that the Phœnicians, Greeks, and Carthaginians, especially the first were acquainted with it from the earliest period and obtained tin there and designated it Tin Island . The name Great Britain was applied to England and Scotland after James I. ascended the English throne in 1603. England and Scotland however had separate Parliaments till 1st of May 1707, when during the reign of Queen Anne the Island was designated by the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The terms at first excited the utmost dissatisfaction; but the progress of time has shown it to be the greatest blessing that either nation could have experienced.