Balham /ˈbæləm/ is a neighbourhood of south London, England in the London Borough of Wandsworth.
The settlement appears in the Domesday Book as Belgeham. Bal refers to 'rounded enclosure' and ham to a homestead, village or river enclosure. It was held by Geoffrey Orlateile. Its Domesday Assets were: 1½ ploughs, 8 acres of meadow. It rendered : £2. The Balham area has been settled since Saxon times.
On 14 October 1940 Balham tube station was badly damaged by air raids on London during World War II. People took shelter in the tube station during the raids. A bomb fell in the High Road and through the roof of the Underground station below, bursting water and gas mains and killing around 64 people.
Balham is in Wandsworth and encompasses the A24 north of Tooting Bec and the roads radiating off it.