Merton (historic parish)
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The historic parish of Merton contributed its name to the London Borough of Merton, although Merton itself is no longer a clearly defined area within the borough.
The historic parish was located in Surrey and bounded by Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Morden to the south and Kingston upon Thames to the west. The 1871 Ordnance Survey map records its area as 1764.704 acres (714.15 hectares, 7.1415 square kilometres). The parish is centred around the 12th century parish church, St. Mary's in Merton Park.
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[edit] Areas
Until the 20th century, most of the parish remained rural in character and the main residential and commercial centres were at Merton Park and along Merton High Street between modern South Wimbledon and Colliers Wood. Other modern areas included within the parish area are:
- Wimbledon Chase
- Southern Raynes Park
- Motspur Park/West Barnes
[edit] History
[edit] Early history
The village of Merton was located on the Roman road Stane Street which connected London to Chichester. Locally, the road ran in a direct line from the current Colliers Wood High Street to London Road, Morden, crossing the site of Sainsbury's Savacentre and the industrial estates. The name dates back at least to the 7th century when documents record its use. The translation of the name is usually given as "Farm by the Pond" or "Maera's homestead".
Merton Abbey or Priory was founded by Gilbert Norman in 1114 on a site close to the Sainsbury's store. In 1117 it became an Augustinian establishment and maintained a high reputation for scholarship until it was closed in 1538 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Its buildings were dismantled and the materials removed for re-use elsewhere. It is believed that in 1496 a hospice for travellers was erected opposite the site of Sainsbury's store. An inn was built there in 1594 and beer was sold there from that date until 2004, when the King's Head, Merton was finally closed.
[edit] 17th and 18th centuries
The River Wandle flowing north towards Wandsworth, had for centuries driven watermills and provided water for a number of industrial processes. In the 1660s a silk mill was in operation at Merton Abbey and the Jacob family was operating a fabric bleaching ground close by - a process requiring large quantities of water. The name remained associated with the locality as two hundred years later, Stanford's 1862 Library Map of London and its Suburbs [1], shows Jacob's Green at the junction of what are now Christchurch Road and Western Road.
Textile production became the established industry in the area in the 18th century with calico printing beginning in the 1720s.
In 1764, merchant Richard Hotham a member of the East India Company purchased Moat House Farm, a property to the south of Merton High Street. He began developing the property, enlarging the house and renaming it "Merton Place". He first leased then later sold the house to one of the partners in a local calico works, Charles Greaves.
Hotham next built another house, to the north-west of the junction of Kingston Road and Morden Road. This he called "Hotham House" (later "Merton Grove") and it remained in his possession until his death in 1799.
[edit] 19th century
| 19th Century | 20th Century | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1801 | 813 | 1901 | 4,510 |
| 1811 | 905 | 1911 | 12,938 |
| 1821 | 1,177 | 1921 | 16,177 |
| 1831 | 1,447 | 1931 | 28,609 |
| 1841 | 1,914 | 1941¹ | war |
| 1851 | 1,870 | 1951 | 39,313 |
| 1861 | 1,822 | 1961² | 68,011 |
| 1871 | 2,139 | 1971² | 62,872 |
| 1881 | 2,480 | 1981² | 61,108 |
| 1891 | 3,360 | 1991³ | n/a |
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| source: United Kingdom census | |||
Despite the industrial development along the Wandle, Merton was, at the beginning of the 19th century, still primarily a rural farming community. The population numbered just 813 residents scattered across the entire parish.
In 1803 the Surrey Iron Railway opened between Wandsworth and Croydon following the shallow Wandle valley and passing through Merton and Mitcham to the south. Although horse-drawn, the railway provided a freight service for the industries along the river to send their goods up to wharves on the Thames and can be considered to be the first long distance railway in the world. From Merton High Street the railway ran along the route of Christchurch Road before turning to a more south-westerly route just before Mitcham tram stop.
In 1802 Merton's most famous resident, Admiral Horatio Nelson, purchased Merton Place from the widow of Charles Greaves with its large estate, for £9,000. The estate lands covered most of the area west of the Wandle and north of Morden Hall Park and also included the whole of the area between Merton Road, South Park Road and Haydons Road. Between trips to sea, Nelson lived at Merton Place with his mistress Emma Hamilton and her husband Sir William Hamilton, although Sir William died at his London house in 1803.
Nelson expanded his estate with the purchase of additional land south of his house until his Merton property covered most of the area west of the Wandle and north of Morden Hall Park and also included the whole of the area between Merton Road, South Park Road and Haydons Road. Unfortunately, Nelson had only a short time to enjoy his new home before his death at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805.
Following Nelson's death, Emma Hamilton got into debt and despite help from friends was unable to maintain Merton Place. The estate was sold off in parcels and the house was demolished in 1823 when the last of the land was sold. The part of the Merton Place estate immediately south of the High Street was developed as small scale housing and became known as Nelson's Fields. North of the High Street the land remained undeveloped until the end of the century.
Competition from the newer, steam-powered railways caused the closure of the Surrey Iron Railway in 1846. Part of the route was later re-used by the Wimbledon and Croydon Railway when it opened in 1855 through Merton, Morden and Mitcham.
In the 1860s a Flour Works sat at the junction of Bygrove Road and Wandle Bank and a Copper Works existed on Merton High Street where later the Merton Board Mills would be built. Further south, the Merton Abbey Mills complex had developed each side of the river on land adjacent to Merton Abbey House.
In 1868, the Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway (TM&WR) opened a branch line from the Wimbledon and Croydon Railway between Merton Park station (now Merton Park tram stop) and Tooting Junction station (now Tooting station). Cutting through Nelson's former estate and the site of Merton Abbey, Merton Abbey station was constructed to the south of Station Road to serve the industrial complex there.
Continuing the long association of Merton with textile printing, Arts and Crafts designer William Morris opened a works at Merton Abbey Mills in 1881. Close by, the firm of Edmund Littler was known for its high quality printing and was by the 1890s sending its entire production to Liberty & Co. in Regent Street. Liberty & Co. subsequently took over the production at Merton from Littler.
Gradually, the character of the area was changing as industry developed further around the Wandle and residential development began in the late Victorian period north of the High Street and along Kingston Road and in Merton Park. In 1894 when a new Local Government Act was implemented, the parish of Merton was still considered sufficiently rural to be included as part of the Croydon Rural District (CRD).
[edit] 20th century
Following the earlier lead of neighbouring Wimbledon, Merton underwent a transformation in the first two decades of the 20th century that saw its fields developed from east to west. Population growth lead to the removal of Merton from the CRD and the creation of the separately administered Merton Urban District in 1907. Between 1901 and 1921 the parish's population nearly quadrupled from 4,510 to 16,177.
In 1913 the parish of Morden was also removed from the CRD and merged with the Merton Urban District to form the Merton and Morden Urban District.
Hotham's Merton Grove House survived until the beginning of the 20th century but had been demolished and redeveloped for housing by 1913. The Grove Tavern pub on the opposite side of Kingston Road remembers the name.
Growth was stimulated and assisted by the arrival of trams in Merton High Street in the first decade of the century and the opening of a new bus garage at the east end of Merton High Street in 1913. The combination of tram services and the extension of the Underground Electric Railways Company's City & South London Railway through Colliers Wood and South Wimbledon to Morden in 1926 destroyed demand for passenger services on the Merton Abbey branch line and these were ended in 1929. Goods operations continued until 1975 when the line was closed and tracks removed.
Liberty took over Morris & Co. in 1904 and continued to operate the Merton Abbey Mills until 1972. From the 1930s, extensive industrial estates were laid out from Lombard Road on the southern part of the former Merton Place estate between Morden Road and Phipps Bridge.
The section of the TM&WR route east of Morden Road was used to construct Merantun Way (A24) in the early 1990s. The road was built to relieve traffic congestion on Merton High Street and was originally planned to continue to the west, along the route of the defunct railway to Kingston Road, with a flyover across Morden Road. This section of the route was never constructed although the space between the carriageways where Merantun Road meets Morden Road provides the space for a flyover bridge to be constructed.
During the 20th century, the waters of the Wandle became less important to the industries remaining in the Merton Abbey complex and, in the 1980s and 1990s, the majority of these closed down or moved elsewhere. The Sainsbury's Savacentre occupies part of the site and the Mill buildings were refurbished and developed as a popular heritage and craft centre.
[edit] Heritage
A small memorial exists on the site of Merton Place. Other commemorations of Nelson's association with the parish are the Nelson Hospital on Kingston Road and the "Emma Hamilton" public house at Wimbledon Chase. The Nelson trading estate off Morden Road and Hamilton, Hardy, Nelson, Victory and Trafalgar Roads off Merton High Street are all built on land once part of the Merton Place estate.
Nelson's and Emma's pew remains in the parish church of St Mary, the Virgin and on the wall of the north aisle of the church are the funeral hatchments of both Nelson and Sir William Hamilton. outside the church, on Church Lane, are "Nelson's Steps" (now some what overgrown) reputedly used by Nelson to mount his horse.
Construction works in the Merton Abbey area including those for Merantun Way have revealed remains of Merton Priory which have been protected and preserved where possible. Further archaeological excavations are planned.
