Heathwall Street follows the line of the Heathwall Ditch.
The Heathwall Ditch was once an open ditch linking Nine Elms with the Falcon Brook, thereby making the ’island’ of north Battersea that gives the place its name (Old English Beadurices ege, ‘Badric’s island’).
In the fifteenth century, this became the Heathwall Sewer and the area surrounding it, which stretched as far as Nine Elms, was drained. The creation of the ditch paved the way for new development in the area and a number of new roads were established, including Kennington Lane, Black Prince Road and Lambeth Road.
