Bulletin 160

PRESIDENT: Lionel Green PRESIDENT: Lionel Green
VICE PRESIDENTS: Viscountess Hanworth, Eric Montague and William Rudd
BULLETIN NO. 160 CHAIR: Judith Goodman DECEMBER 2006

PROGRAMME JANUARY–MARCH

Saturday 27 January 2.30pm St James’s church hall, Martin Way, Merton
‘Roman Times in Surrey’
An illustrated lecture by Dr David Bird, recently retired as County Archaeologist for Surrey.

St James’s is at the corner of Beaford Grove. It is on the 164 bus route, and is a few minutes walk
from South Merton station. No car-park, but parking is possible in local streets.

Saturday 17 February 2.30pm Snuff Mill Centre
‘The River Wey Navigation’

Hugh Compton will give an illustrated talk on this impressive piece of 17th-century
civil engineering, which boosted the economy of the Guildford area, but has not had a
problem-free history.

To reach the Snuff Mill Centre from Morden Hall Garden Centre car-park, cross the bridge
between the café and the garden centre, go through the gateway in the wall, turn right and follow
the main pathway to the right, which leads to the Snuff Mill Centre.

Please note that numbers here are limited: you are advised to arrive in good time.

Morden Hall Road is on several bus routes and close to Morden town centre.

Wednesday 28 February George Inn, Epsom Road, Morden
Annual Dinner

Please see enclosed booking form.

Saturday 24 March 2.30pm St John’s church hall, High Path, Merton
‘The Croydon Merstham & Godstone Iron Railway’
Paul Sowan of Croydon Natural History & Scientific Society will give an illustrated

lecture on the sometimes overlooked extension to the Surrey Iron Railway.

High Path is close to bus routes and to the Northern Line.
Limited parking will be available in the school grounds opposite the hall.

The Society’s events are open to the general public, but entry to lectures
for non-members will be £2 per head towards the Society’s running costs.

LOCAL HISTORY WORKSHOPS

Friday 18 August, evening meeting. Five present. Cyril Maidment in the chair.

.
….. Judith Goodman is progressing well with her project to edit the letters and papers of the Leach and Bennett
families, on loan from family member Martin Riley. She has completed the transcription of the letters, and
also of the notebooks compiled by Canon Frederick Bennett. Martin Riley has recently supplied copy
photographs of Canon Bennett and of his father, John Leach Bennett, as well as photographs of miniatures
of JLB’s mother, Sarah Jane Leach, and her five siblings. One of her brothers, William Leach, was a
surveyor by profession, and was for a time land agent at Woburn Abbey. Mr Riley has provided a photograph
of a delightful map of Bennett’s ‘Printing Manufactury and Bleaching Fields’ at Merton Abbey, drawn by
William Leach in 1812. Judy is hoping to discover more about William from Woburn Abbey. She has also
been in correspondence with the archivist at Eton College over a cousin of J L Bennett, James Chapman,
who became the first bishop of Colombo (Sri Lanka). Judy continues to research other links, as well as
various obscure technical terms.
(Rectangle comment XPMUser
23/05/2017 16:50:07
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.
….. Peter Hopkins has been following the movement of livestock between Morden and other manors of
Westminster Abbey in the 14th century, as revealed through the Morden manorial accounts which survive
from Philip’s
International Atlas 1988SAMÂLÛT
is just north of El Minyâ
in Westminster Abbey Muniment Room (see pp14-15).
.
….. Bill Rudd has been researching further into the Stanton family
(see Bulletin 157 p7), six children being baptised at St Lawrence
Morden between 1861 and 1871. Their father, John Harrison
Stanton, was elected to the Institute of Civil Engineers in
December 1860. The Institute has supplied Bill with a copy of
his candidate circular. This reveals that, having served his pupillage
at the works of R Stephenson at Newcastle, Stanton was Engineer
on the Cairo & Alexandria Railway for 3½ years, followed by
4½ years as Resident Engineer in charge of the Samalut [?] branch
line, presumably on the same railway. At the time of his
candidature for ICE he had spent seven months as Resident
Engineer of the Charing Cross Railway. In 1877 his address was
Grove House, Lower Mitcham, but by 1881 he had moved to
Shrub House, Winston, Darlington, where he died in 1903.
Bill also showed us two printing blocks that he had bought in a
sale at Liberty’s a few years ago. One was typical of the Liberty
blocks, with the metal sections of the pattern inset into a wooden
block made of four or five layers of cross-ply. The other was
smaller and more primitive in its structure, the metal pieces being
inset into a block made of pieces of wood stuck together. Bill
believes this block had come to Libertys from their predecessors
at Merton Abbey, Littlers.

.
….. Cyril Maidment brought along copies of more treasures from the Wimbledon Society Museum’s archive.
Cyril has drawn an excellent copy of their ‘Plan of some property on the River Wandle from Mr Polhill’s
Snuff Mill to Merton Bridge'(a photocopy of which is reproduced in Beating the Bounds pp20-21). The
Museum has a sealed indenture from Merton Priory dated 18 June 1355, relating to a portion of the tithes of
Mautby, Norfolk, and Cyril brought us a draft translation found in the archives. He has also reconsidered the
photograph reproduced inBulletin158 p2, which it was agreed was taken between 9 and 10am, looking due
south, and shows the junction of Mostyn Road and Kenley Road. The photograph is undated, but shows a
(gas?) street lamp. It is very similar to a watercolour of c.1906 by Helen F Layton, now in the Museum.
Cyril also passed round the first drafts for a 3D computer model of Merton Priory being prepared for Merton
Priory Trust by Paul Fright and Nick Browne of Coraider Services Ltd. Based on the ground plan uncovered
by MoLAS, it will use what is known from surviving Augustinian priories to create a ‘virtual’ reconstruction
of Merton Priory.

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 2

.
…..Lionel Green had borrowed from his local library The Time Team Guide (2005), which includes a
disappointing double-page spread on their dig at the Merton Abbey site, shown in this sketch from the book.
A neighbour in North Holmwood who was a member of Wandle Industrial Museum in the 1980s has
loaned Lionel a draft of a proposed Heritage Trail Guide.

Lionel’s main item was ‘The Master Mason comes to Merton’ (see pp 10-11).

Friday 6 October, afternoon meeting. Six present. Peter Hopkins in the chair.

.
…..Bill Rudd had won the ‘guess how long the cake took to cook’ competition at the
Merton Priory Trust event. His prize was two hand-made replicas of Merton priory tiles.
He had photographs taken at the RAF cemetery at Whyteleafe of Sergeant Pilot P K
Walley, whose Hurricane came down on 18 August 1940 on the site now occupied by
Merton College. He has given copies of the photographs to the college to be displayed.
Bill also had a copy from the Time Team book which covered their excavation on the
Merton priory site. He had noted a number of errors in it and thought that he would list
them in the Bulletin.

.
…..Lionel Green asked if anyone had heard of Faramus of Boulogne. He had been doing
some research relating to him, and was trying to find out his relationship to other people.
He was trying to put together a possible family tree for a future Bulletin article.
Lionel had been in contact with the owners of Tollsworth Manor in Chaldon and
was hoping to arrange a visit there with Peter.

Peter Hopkins
Sgt Walley’s grave
.
…..Ray Ninnis had visited the Museum of London to look at the exhibit on Merton
priory. He had bought their booklet and noticed that the entry for Merton priory had several errors.
Ray had been persuaded by Judith Goodman to write an article about the Religious Census returns 1851 for
Morden, Mitcham and Merton, to introduce extracts from the Surrey Record Society publication [see pages 11-13].

.
…..Peter Hopkins had written an article ‘Landholding in Morden around the year 1200’ [a future Bulletin
article]. He had references from a number of sources and had been trying to relate them to a map, which he
had brought along. His research included manors in Carshalton and he was in correspondence with someone
who was researching the area.
While exploring the National Archives website for Morden links, he had found an entry for the Telegraph
Construction & Maintenance Co. Morden. He wondered if anyone had heard of them.*

Rosemary Turner

*
‘Telegraph Construction & Maintenance Co Ltd, Morden & Enderby’s Wharves’ were at East Greenwich.
This interesting company laid the first trans-Atlantic cable. They occupied two adjacent wharves on the west
of the Greenwich peninsula, one called Enderby’s wharf (after a local family) and one Morden wharf, because
the land was owned by Morden College, Blackheath, founded in 1695 by a merchant called Sir John Morden.
Ed.
The next workshops will be at Wandle Industrial Museum on Friday 19 January at 2.30pm
and Friday 16 March at 7.30pm. All are welcome.

EXCAVATIONS AT 389-393 LONDON ROAD, MITCHAM

Until October 2006 the site contained three substantial detached houses, dating from the late Victorian or
Edwardian years. These have been demolished, and prior to re-development six archaeological investigation
trenches were opened on the site. Four of them lay within the footprint of the previous houses.

The dig lasted just over a week, and I visited the site on 1 November at the invitation of Compass Archaeology.
The top 1m of soil and house foundations had been removed mechanically, and below that they had found two
approximately 30cm-deep channels, probably dug for drainage purposes, running parallel to each other and at
rightangles to the road. Since they became deeper as they progressed away from the road a possible conclusion
is that they were dug to drain water from the road into a field. The date of the channels is not known at present.
There were a few fragments of late medieval (Tudor?) pottery found in the in-fill, but this could have come
from imported soil and not be an indicator of that date of the channels. One large piece (approximately 10cm
across) of probably 18th-century unglazed flowerpot rim was found in one of the excavation trenches which,
one may assume, was a piece of later garden debris. Tony Scott

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 3

‘HOUSES ROUND THE RUSHMERE’

Despite damp, chill, blustery weather on the afternoon of 12 August nine members met Cyril Maidment at
Wimbledon’s war memorial. After July’s hot weather the Common’s grass was yellow and the nearby piece of
water was less a mere than a puddle, but, as ever, it was a picturesque scene.

Cyril began with a brief account of the early history of the locality and then opened up his dossier of annotated
maps, pictures and cuttings of this part of Wimbledon to show us images of the handsome early 18th-century
Wimbledon House which, with its later fine ornamental gardens, once stood on the other side of what is now
Parkside. An early occupier was the Huguenot Sir Theodore Janssen, a director of both the Bank of England
and the South Sea Company. Many distinguished people later lived there, including the father of Frederick
Marryat the novelist. It was pulled down in 1900. No.23 Parkside, on a small part of its site, is a striking house,
designed in 1969 for his parents, by the young Richard (now Lord) Rogers. Only a glimpse of the detached
‘lodge’, a self-contained studio/dwelling, is visible from the road. The frames of both lodge and main house are
constructed from bright yellow metal I-beams.1 We looked at The Green, and its pretty Holly Lodge, and turned
into the High Street to admire 17th-century Claremont House, before we tackled Southside.

Cyril explained that once there was just a scattering of farmhouses and cottages along what was then a humble
footway at the south side of the Common. But, starting early in the 18th century, and at the end nearest to the
village, prosperous men began to build themselves grand, if not particularly distinguished, houses here, in
grounds which extended down to the Ridgway. By the late 19th century these houses in their turn were coming
under threat, and one by one they disappeared. New roads were driven through their sites, some named after the
houses they replaced – Lingfield Road, The Grange and Lauriston Road. In Southside itself there appeared an
irregular row of Victorian and Edwardian villas. Cyril pointed out that they were either built with, or soon
acquired, the essential facility of the time – a billiard room.

So Lingfield House, of 1715, a 5-bay house with a 3-bay wing and a handsome porch, was replaced by No.1
Southside in 1904. Wimbledon Villa, or The Grange, built in 1750, had some notable occupants in its time,
including the second Duke of Newcastle. It was the home of Richard Garth, a distinguished lawyer and the last
Garth to be lord of the manor of Morden, fromc.1861 to1866. In 1888 it was sold at auction, demolished and its
land developed with 23 houses.2 No.2 Southside, Grangemuir, dates from 1889, as does No.3, Canisbay, its
mirror image.

Wimbledon Lodge was built in 1792. It once stood across the line of Murray
Road, and well back from Southside. Its imposing semi-circular drive is echoed
in the present shallower curve at the north end of Murray Road. The daughter
of Gerard de Visme, the first owner, married General Sir Henry Murray, who
served with distinction at Waterloo. The house was pulled down in 1905, and
Nos 3 and 4 replace it. No.5 stands more or less on the site of Lauriston House,
originally Laurel Grove, built about 1724, and for a while the residence of
William Wilberforce MP. Its decorations by Angelica Kauffmann were lost when
the house was demolished as late as 1957. Much of its land had already gone
when Lauriston Road was laid out in 1890. Lauriston Cottage is a charming
survivor from the 17th century. Beyond Lauriston Road is No.7, South Lodge,
from 1840, and No.8,Croylands, home for several generations of the Casswell
family, one of whom had a small arch cut in the garden wall so that his chickens
could run in and out to forage on the Common. Oakholm of c.1740 was destroyed
by a bomb in 1944 and replaced by South View council flats.

Cyril had arranged for John Harvey of King’s College
School to talk to us about Rushmere and allow us to
see the back of the building, which was bought in 1993
by the school to provide teaching space for the youngest
boys, and a top-floor flat for the senior school
headmaster. The previous owner was the sculptor David
Wynne (Boy and Dolphin, Fred Perry, Kingston’s three
leaping fish, the 50p piece with the hands, the central
panel of the Queen Elizabeth gates etc.). Wynne’s studio
survives as the boys’ dining-room. Rushmere dates
from the 1770s, and was the family home of the
Watneys, farmers and, later, brewers.

The chicken arch at No. 8Southside

Rushmere House from the back

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 4

South Hayes, c.1760, became part of the school in 1897, at the time when it moved to Wimbledon.
Into Westside, which, unlike Southside, has retained most of its original houses. Here is handsome Chester
House, whose first owner was living there as early as 1692. The original building consisted of the central five
bays. Its most interesting occupant was John Horne Tooke (1736-1812), a controversial figure, charged with,
but acquitted of, high treason. Barclays Bank bought the house in 1939, and in the 1990s the land was sold for

development, though the house remains intact. A flint arrowhead was found here during archaeological
investigation.
Westside House, or the Mansion House, is much plainer and dates from 1705. Occupants have included a First

Lord of the Admiralty (Dundas) and a Lord Chancellor (Lord Lyndhurst). The six picturesque cottages dating
from the 1760s and known as Hanford Row have long ceased to be occupied by labourers. Cannizaro (originally
Warren) House was built at the same time and by the same man as Westside House, and once looked very much
like it. The present building, now a hotel, dates only from 1901, the old house having been destroyed by fire the
year before. Since 1841 it has been known as Cannizaro after the Duke of Cannizzaro (the correct spelling), an
impoverished estate in Sicily. The Duke was married to an English heiress, whose money came from the
manufacture of pins.

This was an absorbing and entertaining afternoon. Cyril had a wealth of material to tell us, and his collection of
‘visual aids’ added to our understanding. Our thanks to him and to John Harvey for a tour to remember.

1 By coincidence, in the Observer of the day after the walk it was announced that Lord Rogers had designed three striking houses, for three siblings,
to be built on a site in Home Park Road, Wimbledon.
2 See D and B Norman-Smith The Grange, Wimbledon: a centenary portrait (1984), an excellent history of the road.
See also R Milward and C Maidment Wimbledon: a Surrey Village in Maps

Judith Goodman

PRIZEWINNING PRESIDENT!

Congratulations to Lionel Green for winning second prize with A Priory Revealed … in London and Middlesex
Archaeological Society’s recent competition. The book was also nominated for the Standing Conference
on London Archaeology book prize. It didn’t win a prize there, but reached the final shortlist of six.

As a sequel to his article about Morden’s main post office in the last Bulletin BILL RUDD now looks at
MORDEN’S OTHER POST OFFICES

The 1930s saw the large-scale housing development that covered the fields of Morden. It included three parades
of shops with flats above, and each parade included a sub-post office. A combination of the electoral registers
and the 1934 and 1938 directories gives their brief story.

No.53 Epsom Road is first recorded in 1933, when it formed part of Rutland Parade, which straddled Rutland
Drive. It was occupied by Henry Thomas Thorne, together with his wife and family. He was a hardware dealer.
He was followed in 1936 by Marie Wyatt: in 1938 she was described as hardware dealer and post office. In
1939 she was joined by Winifred Dorothy Wyatt. In 1945 she had Winifred Summerfield, but was soon on her
own. In 1949 the business had been taken over by Harry and Emily Bowles. By the end of the 1950s the post
office was clearly having problems. It closed in 1960.

No.51 St Helier Avenue was in a parade built by the London County Council as part of their St Helier Estate. It
opened in 1932 with Edward Charles and Matilda Sarah Burgess. He was a draper. Not long after he was
‘indisposed’, and Fanny Adam (formerly of Central Road PO – see Bulletin 158) was brought out of retirement
as a temporary cover. The Burgesses were a remarkable couple. Records show they ran the business and the
post office for 21 years. Sadly, Mrs Burgess died in 1953. Mr Burgess left after 1954. In 1955 William and Joan
Frampton took over. The business and post office lasted another 50 years. It then suffered what in modern
terminology is called downsizing, and closed completely in February 2005.

No.105 Green Lane, in another of the LCC parades, also opened in 1932, with Roy and Minnie Elizabeth Hales,
who lived above, in 105A. In the directory for 1934 is W Findley & Co Ltd, tobacconists, but it was Leonard and
Elizabeth Clempson who were in the electoral register. They served for many years, until in 1938 it was Elizabeth
Clempson and Edward Kenneth Goddard. In 1939 it was EK and Lilian Winifred Goddard, tobacconists and
post office. In the post-war years a long list of proprietors took over. At the beginning of the 21st century Green
Lane post office was also in danger of closing. It was negotiation by all the parties concerned, including the
local MP, that resolved the matter. By knocking down the dividing wall of two former shops, which were vacant
at that time, the post office was combined with Londis convenience store and now survives to live another day.

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 5

VISIT TO THE POPPY FACTORY – 5 SEPTEMBER 2006

On 11 November 1921, three years after the guns had fallen silent on the battlefields of the Great War, the first
official poppy day was held. The inspiration for this act of remembrance had come through a moving poem
penned on 3 May 1915 by a Canadian medical officer serving in the Ypres Salient.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

Among the devastation of the Western Front the poppy grew in abundance and it is unsurprising that this

beautiful flower would be adopted as the symbol of remembrance.
As our party of 21, mostly members of Merton Historical Society, gathered in the reception area of the Poppy
Factory surely I was not alone in thinking how relevant the poppy appeal remains today, for in the days preceding
our visit another 14 service personnel had lost their lives when their Nimrod aircraft crashed whilst on operations
in the skies above Afghanistan. We were to learn during our visit that since the inception of the poppy appeal
only one year, 1968, has seen no death on military service. Before our tour we were able to study the fascinating
memorabilia adorning the walls surrounding us. Dominating the room were reproductions of the wreaths laid at
the Cenotaph by members of the royal family on Remembrance Sunday.

The poppy as a symbol of remembrance was to a great extent the work of an American teacher, Moina Michael
who in a practical show of faith made her own replica poppies and sold them to her friends, donating the
proceeds to needy ex-servicemen. She had been greatly influenced by McCrae’s poem and especially his plea
that we should “…not break faith with us that die”. She had written her own response to the poem and in the
first verse a pledge is made:

Oh! You who sleep in Flanders Fields,

Sleep sweet – to rise anew!

We caught the torch you threw

And holding high, we keep the Faith

With All who died.
In 1920 a Madame Guerin whilst on a visit to America from her home in Provence, met Moina Michael and was
touched by this simple but practical show of faith. On her return to France, she would sell handmade Flanders
Poppies as a relief project for war orphans and poor children. Thus the wearing of a red poppy to keep faith and
remember the fallen was introduced to Europe. The idea quickly grew and in 1921 Britain’s first official Poppy
Appeal raised what in today’s money would be the equivalent of £30m.

Given the origins of the Poppy Factory it is surprising that our guide for the afternoon, Brian Strutton (ex-
Middlesex Regiment) is one of only eight ex-military personnel now working at the complex. In what was to be
a very informative talk Brian told us of those origins. On 5 June 1922 at a site close to the Old Kent Road the
original Poppy Factory was founded. The factory was the brainchild of Major George Howson, a decorated
veteran of the Great War, who was deeply moved by the plight of the many disabled ex-servicemen to whom the
prospect of finding employment would be bleak: such was ‘The land fit for heroes’. To address the needs of
these veterans he formed the Disabled Society although he appreciated that his efforts would be on a very small

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 6

scale. That original factory gave employment to just five disabled WW1 veterans. However, such was the
success of Howson’s initiative the workforce increased to about 50 employees and larger premises were required.
In 1925 the factory moved to a former brewery in Petersham Road, Richmond. Manufactured poppies were
stored in a warehouse in Kings Cross, but in 1935 a disastrous fire resulted in the loss of a year’s production. In
an attempt to make up for the loss of production new premises were built close to the brewery site. Close by an
estate for workers and their families was built on a four acre site.

The production of poppies continued to grow and this growth would not diminish following Major Howson’s
death in 1936. As he had pledged at the beginning of his initiative, “He had kept faith with those who served”.
His body would lie in state at the Poppy Factory prior to his burial in the churchyard of the village of Hambledon
near Henley.

Before commencing our tour of the factory Brian provided us with some fascinating facts and figures. The
current workforce comprises 50 staff, of which 70% are disabled or suffer from a chronic illness. The factory’s
on-site workforce is supported by approximately 90 home workers who receive a fortnightly delivery of materials
directly to their homes. The annual production run finishes at the end of September in readiness for November’s
remembrance observance, but production recommences immediately in preparation for the following year’s
commemoration.

The current production figures are truly staggering and include:

35 million lapel remembrance poppies;

400,000 remembrance crosses;

100,000 commemorative wreaths;

300 special wreaths, including those to be laid by members of the royal family;

800 regimental badges;

4 million poppy petals.

Our guide made special reference to the poppy petals that we observe falling from the ceiling of the Albert Hall
at the conclusion of the annual British Legion’s Festival of Remembrance. As 800,000 petals flutter gently to
the floor we should remember that each petal represents 16 lives laid down for our freedom.

The production of poppies of course goes beyond those sold to members of the public in the weeks leading up
to 11 November. In 1928 Major Howson had instigated the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey.
Today some 130 plots dedicated to specific Regiments and Associations are laid out in the grounds of the
Abbey. The field, which takes three days to assemble, is opened on the Thursday preceding Remembrance
Sunday. For many years this simple but moving ceremony had been conducted by HM Queen Elizabeth the
Queen Mother. Since her passing the Queen has undertaken the responsibility. The field remains open for seven
days as members of the public add their own poppy cross tributes to the formal plots.

As we commenced our tour Brian pointed out a large oblong frame hanging on the wall of the warehouse in
which the materials for the poppy production are held. The frame garlanded with poppies is one of the replacement
surrounds to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. Amazingly the surround has to be
replaced twice a year as tourists remove the poppies to keep as souvenirs! Before moving into the main production
area we were able to observe an impressive poppy making machine that on its own produces up to 16,000 lapel
poppies a day.

The spacious main room houses the majority of the production team and we were privileged to observe closely
the production of individual poppies and wreaths. It was interesting to note that many of the components are
designed to facilitate fast and easy assembly by disabled employees and this certainly brought to mind Major
Howson’s early concept of providing employment to those disabled by war. Our party spent some time observing
the various processes and talking to some of the workforce before concluding our tour in the reception room
where members were able to purchase a range of poppy memorabilia in the small shop. Others took the opportunity
to take some final photographs of the ‘Royal Wreaths’ we had observed on our arrival and to write on a poppy
cross their own remembrance tribute that would in November be placed in the Field of Remembrance at
Westminster Abbey.

Certainly our party had enjoyed a very interesting and moving afternoon. All those years ago Major Howson
had started an initiative that he hoped would in a small way make life easier for a handful of disabled veterans.
I am sure he would have been astounded by what has subsequently been achieved. But what of Lieutenant
Colonel John McCrae: would he feel that the faith had been kept? Hearing about and seeing at first hand the
work undertaken by those employed at the Poppy Factory, I think he would.

Vincent Webb

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 7

‘SOME LOST COUNTRY HOUSES OF SOUTH LONDON’

This year’s Evelyn Jowett Memorial Lecture was given to a capacity audience in the Snuff Mill Centre by
Brian Bloice, who chairs Lambeth Local History Group, is vice-chair of Southwark & Lambeth Archaeological
Society, tutors at Morley College, and is a leading light in the Local History Group of the Streatham Society.

Brian began by explaining that his chosen examples were, except for one, ‘lost’ only in the sense that they were
no longer country houses. They had found new identities and uses. He reminded us that the land on the south
bank of the Thames had once held a scattering of grand houses, some owned by church dignitaries (Lambeth
Palace is a survivor). Here and there, further from the river manorial residences dotted the landscape, and we
heard that one had stood precisely on the site of Waterloo station’s busy concourse. As pressure for housing
grew the squires sold up and retreated to their country seats. However, prosperous merchants, manufacturers
and professional men found south London ideal for building their own handsome houses, convenient for the
City and Westminster, in grounds often landscaped to give them leafy views.

Brian began with Charlton House (1607-12) in the London Borough of Greenwich, a Jacobean mansion ‘of
the first order’ according to Pevsner, still set in its park. Built for Sir Adam Newton, tutor to the Prince of
Wales, it is an E-shaped house of red brick with stone dressings, with an exuberantly decorated west (entrance)
façade. The interior has very fine ceilings and fireplaces, and an elaborate carved staircase. The house is now
a community centre and library.

Southwark brewer Ralph Thrale’s grand Streatham Park (1739) became famous as a resort of many
distinguished literary and artistic figures when it was occupied by Thrale’s son Henry and his wife Hester.
Their friend Dr Johnson was one of the great figures of his time. Sadly the house was demolished in 1863, and
the site is marked only by a plaque on a council house.

Facing directly onto Vauxhall’s swirling traffic is the house now known as Brunswick House(1758), a Palladian
building with a Coade stone semi-circular portico decorated with swags. Once owned by the Duke of Brunswick,
brother of the ill-fated Queen Caroline, it was later occupied by a gas company, then, in 1855, by the South
Western Railway Company. After some years of neglect it now houses, appropriately, an architectural salvage
company.

At Roehampton, next to the Alton estate, stands another Palladian house, Parksted (1760-68) by Sir William
Chambers for the Earl of Bessborough, known as Manresa House from 1860 when it was taken over by the
Society of Jesus. Later additions have obscured the original entrance façade, but a handsome five-bayed garden
front with Ionic portico and pediment and twin flights of steps looks towards Richmond Park. Since the Jesuits
left in 1962 it has been used for other educational purposes, and its future may now be as private apartments.

Norwood Grove (1760), reached from Gibsons Hill, was built for John Ambler, a hop merchant, and looks
much as it did then, except for a late 19th-century conservatory or glazed veranda along the whole of one side.
Owned by Croydon council since 1936, it has attractive gardens and panoramic views. Community groups
meet on the ground floor and there are private flats above.

George Clive, banker, and cousin of the more famous Robert, commissioned Robert Taylor to build Mount
Clare (1770) off Danebury Avenue, Roehampton. This is another Palladian villa, with elegant interiors, and
landscaping originally by ‘Capability’ Brown. The house is now owned by Wandsworth.

Still in Roehampton, Grove House (1777) in Clarence Lane was designed by James Wyatt for Sir Joshua
Vanneck. It has a nine-bayed front with a pediment and a Venetian window. In the mid-19owner, ballet dancer Pauline Duvernet, added a large Italianate extension. The house later became the Froebel
century the then
Belair, Dulwich
th

Institute.
Belair (1785) in Gallery Road, Dulwich, was built
for a corn factor. A good-looking house originally, it
has lost its wings and been much rebuilt. It was bought

by Southwark in 1946 and is now an expensive
restaurant.
In Furzedown Drive Furzedown House (1800) was

originally a large plain house of its period, but was
much altered in the 1860s. Its conservatory, a typical
Victorian addition, is stone-built, with a barrel-vaulted
glass roof, and has survived well, unlike many of
those built of wood or metal. The building became a
teachers’ training college and is now part of a school.

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MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 8

In the middle of a Dulwich council estate is Kingswood House (1812), built for William Vizard, solicitor for
George IV in the case he brought against his wife. Later it was bought by John Lawson Johnson, inventor of
Bovril. There were alterations in the late 19th century. The building now houses a children’s library, but many
interior features remain, such as a Victorian dumb waiter.

Brockwell Hall (1811-13) and Park represent one man’s complete estate. He was John Blades, a City glass
manufacturer and his architect was D R Roper. The family occupied it until 1891, when it was acquired by the
LCC. It is now owned by Lambeth, and Brian told us that a Heritage Lottery Fund grant had just been announced.

Avery Hill (1888), in Eltham, was built for Colonel J T North, who had made a fortune out of guano. His
architect T W Cutler designed a sumptuous mostly one-storey Italianate house with lavish interiors, including
picture galleries and winter garden. It is now part of a college.

It was Park Hill (c.1830), in Streatham, that Brian
admitted to being his favourite ‘lost’ house. This stuccoed
villa, with its two-storey bay, stands on a hill and is still
surrounded by extensive grounds, including a lake. It was
built for a draper, William Leaf, and added to and
decorated by J B Papworth (who also worked at Brockwell
Hall). It was later bought by sugar manufacturer Sir Henry
Tate, who added the porte-cochère. Tate was famous for
his art collection, 65 pictures from which became the
nucleus of what is now Tate Britain. He also paid for part
of that building, as well as supporting libraries, colleges
and hospitals. Park Hill’s rich interior mainly survives,
having been well cared for by the Congregation of the
Poor Servants of the Mother of God, who bought the house
in 1923 and established St Michael’s Convent there, adding a large chapel. For more than 70 years the nuns
provided shelter and work for disadvantaged women, but, finally, shrinking numbers of postulants meant that
they had to leave Park Hill. It was sold to Barratts and CPS for housing. The Grade II* listing of the main house
protects it, and it and the chapel have been sympathetically converted into private dwellings, while new houses
have been built on part of the land. An agreement has been reached that the grounds, only, are open to guided
visitors twice a year – the next date being 5 May 2007, with tours at 2.30 and 3.30. Put it in your diaries!

This was a most interesting talk, with excellent slides, and was much appreciated by the audience.
Brian, with two Streatham Society colleagues, has brought out a comprehensive and well-illustrated 28-page
A4 booklet called Park Hill Streatham, which costs £3.99. You can contact him on 020 8764 8314 or email:
brianbloice@compuserve.com

Judith Goodman

A PART OF MERTON PLACE LIVES ON – MAYBE!

Readers might be interested in some information that I heard just recently. It is claimed that the double doors

which were the main entrance to Lord Nelson’s house in Merton are still in existence.
Nelson left Merton Place and 70 acres of her choosing to Emma Hamilton. By 1808 she was deeply in debt and
a consortium of friends took it over on trust to sell. One of them, Abraham Goldsmid, with his brother Asher,
paid nearly £13,000 for it in the following year. Over the next 14 years more land was sold off, but the house
failed to find a buyer. In 1823 it was demolished, and its site and the last few acres sold. The house had not been
lived in since 1808.

It is claimed that the exterior doors and the hall and staircase fittings were salvaged and were built into a house
in Blackheath, which much later belonged to Isaac Wolfson. He was the chief executive of Kays, the mail order
firm, in the 1940s and early 1950s. This house was destroyed by fire as a result of enemy action in the Second
World War, but the doors survived the disaster and were incorporated into the main entrance of the Kays head
office building in Worcester, where they remain today.

This information was sent to me by a friend who used to live in Mitcham until recently, but has now moved to
Worcestershire and who heard it at a lecture given by the archivist of Kays. Of course, this is not the first claim
that parts of Merton Place have survived, and I intend to try and find out what is the evidence for the authenticity
of the story.

Tony Scott

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from Park Hill, Streatham
The Streatham Society

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 9

N
rood
screen
0 5 10 15 20 25 m
0 50 100 ft
west
wall of
cloister
The use of the square involved buildingad quadratum (from quadrare = to make square or fit), and of the triangle,
N
rood
screen
0 5 10 15 20 25 m
0 50 100 ft
west
wall of
cloister
The use of the square involved building ad quadratum (from quadrare = to make square or fit), and of the triangle,
LIONEL GREEN tells how
THE MASTER MASON COMES TO MERTON

Euclid’s Elements of Geometry was introduced into England about 1120 by Adelard of Bath in a translation from
the Arabic version. But it was not necessary for the mason to understand the theoretical basis of any design. He
was able to manipulate basic figures such as the square, circle and triangle to produce lines and points from which
any structure could evolve. Each mason learned what was traditional in his lodge.

ad triangulum. Many buildings were based on a combination of the three figures. This is a plan of the priory
church at Merton at an early stage, showing possible use of squares, circle and triangles in a design which shows
that it was planned as a single construction, and not added to with afterthoughts. Most of the layout is developed
within the circle, but even the rood screen in the nave had been planned from the start.

Much can be expressed with the use of the square. By rotating a series of squares by 45°,
smaller squares can be formed within a bigger square, the area being halved each time.
From the figure it can be seen that window tracery and the plan view of pillar profiles can
be determined. Even pinnacles can be drawn from the progression of the small squares.

Cartmel Priory
The square tower of the Augustinian priory
of Cartmel, Cumbria, developed a fault
about 1400. This was probably due to the
insufficiency of the corner piers. To reduce
stresses, the tower was rebuilt with a rotation of 45° in order to
transfer these from the corners to the central walls, which had the
support of the roofs and walls of the transepts and choir. The upper
portion fits well and succeeds in reducing its mass, and time has

proved that the remedy worked.
If a square cloister is required to be built,
the same method can provide an inner
square or garth, with a proportionate

cloister walk around its edge. The first drawn (dotted) inner square is rotated through 45°
to bring its sides parallel to the outer square. It can be seen that the sum of the areas of the
four displaced corners of the original square equals the area of the inner square, and
hence that the area of the walkway equals the area of the garth.

1.4141.118
The square can be used to produce other designs. The ratio of the sides of a square is
1:1, but the rectangle made by halving the square produces a ratio of 1:2. If the length of
one side of the square is 1, the length of the diagonal is the square root of 2, which is

(approx.) 1.414. The length of the diagonal of the rectangle which is half of the square is
the square root of 12 + 0.52, which equals (approx.) 1.118. Adding the half side (0.5)
gives a length of (approx.) 1.618. The ratio 1: 1.618 is known as the Golden Section or
Ratio, a ratio of ‘perfection’, and is often used in geometry, architecture and art. It can be
produced without mathematical calculations, by using a mason’s square and a pair of
compasses.

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 10

There is evidence of the use of the square root of 2 ( 2) at Merton. The side of the cloister next to the church would
appear to have been 24 metres (78′ 9″). Assuming that the cloister was square, the diagonal would have been 24 x
2 = 33.9m (111′ 3″). This is closely related to the internal length of the nave at Merton. A similar relationship of the
cloister to the nave occurred at the cathedrals and abbeys at Canterbury, Durham, Norwich, Tewkesbury, Westminster,
Winchester and Worcester.1

1
1
1.414
1.414
1. E Fernie The Architecture of Norman England Oxford University Press p.289
<--------- 0.5 ---------> <------------------------- 1.118 ------------------------>

1.1181
1
RAY NINNIS introduces some extracts of local interest from
THE 1851 RELIGIOUS CENSUS: SURREY,
Surrey Record Society Vol. XXXV (1997)

In his introduction and the many statistical tables and appendices, the editor David Robinson provides extensive
analysis of the first, and only, religious census in the mainland of Britain, part of the national census of 1851, as it
regards the county of Surrey.

This census was introduced, together with a census of education, because the need for statistics dealing with both
religion and education had been felt at the Home Office. As The Times stated: ‘It is our present problem to carry
down to the lower strata of the social scale, growing as they are every day in importance and actual power,
influences which have proved, where they have spread, the best auxiliaries of national vigour and national piety’.1

The establishment of the Church of England was being challenged by Nonconformists, who were increasing in
number, wealth, status and self-confidence, but were required by law to support their parish church through
church rates, and the parish clergy through payment of tithes, including the Easter ‘offering’. But by the 1850s this
support was becoming largely voluntary.

Potential problems were recognised as accompanying the spread of industry and commerce, and the increase in
population. The Wandle valley had become industrialised in the 18th century; the population of Mitcham had
reached 3,466 by 1801; Wimbledon in 1851 had a railway station on the Southampton line, and a population of
2,693. The parish churches in both places had been rebuilt, at least partly, to accommodate increased congregations.

Congregations of most dissenters were independent, and their denominational identity might change over time.
For instance, in Mitcham, Zion Chapel (485)2 was later to be identified as Congregational.3 The building survived,
though commercially used, until 1988, when its site became part of a new road system. Also in Mitcham, the
Wesleyan chapel (484), where John Wesley himself had preached,4 survives on its original site, but converted to
domestic use, on the south side of the Cricket Green; the present, much larger, Methodist church is on the opposite
side of the Cricket Green.

The Roman Catholic hierarchy had been re-established in 1850 and although Catholic places of worship do not
appear in the local parishes, from 1853 regular Sunday Mass was to be offered at the Simpson family home,
probably Elm Lodge, in Mitcham.5

The extensive remarks under both (482) and (487) concern accommodation, and it might be noted that Horace
Mann, a barrister, supervised the religious and educational censuses and that the columns referred to under (487)
were included in the forms sent to Nonconformist places of worship.

1. Except where otherwise noted the source is the above publication.
2. Reference numbers are those used in the above publication.
3. E E Cleal The Story of Congregationalism in Surrey London (1908) pp.85-89
4. E N Montague Mitcham Histories 1, The Cricket Green MHS (2001) p.61
5. R A M (Tony) Scott ‘SS Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Mitcham’ MHS Bulletin 158 (June 2006) p.14
MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 11

LOCAL EXTRACTS (reproduced from pp129-132).

481. MERTON St Mary.
Consecrated before 1800.
Endowed with: tithe £14; fees and Easter offerings £79; Total £93.
Free sittings 160. Other sittings 270.
Present on 30 Mar 1851 Morning Afternoon Evening

General Congregation nearly full 2/3rds full If we had a larger church we should have a larger congregation. It is difficult to find sittings for the people often.
It would be more advantageous to the hearing if it could be increased.
William Edelman, perpetual curate.

482. MITCHAM St Peter and St Paul parish church.
Consecrated before 1800.
Endowed with: tithe £456; fees, dues, Easter offerings uncertain.
Present on 30 Mar 1851 Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 391 50 360
Sunday Scholars 314 172 189
Average attendance Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 500 60 450
Sunday Scholars 300 170 180

H.J. Wharton, vicar.
A further return states:
Free sittings 500. Appropriated sittings 900.
H.J. Wharton, vicar, to Horace Mann, esq., 11 February 1852.
The accompanying statement I believe to be correct. The church was by the contract to be capable of containing
at least 1,200 persons but judging of its capabilities from what I have seen of them at confirmations when the
children of several adjoining parishes, in conjunction with those of our own, are assembled in the church I
should think it will hold at least 1,400 persons. By arrangement with the Church Building Commissioners when
the church was rebuilt 500 free sittings were to be set apart for the poor and there is at least that number. I have
the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant. H.J. Wharton, vicar, The Vicarage, Mitcham, 11 February
1852.
483. MORDEN St Lawrence.
Consecrated about 1665.
Endowed with: tithe rent charge commuted £425; glebe 14 acres £16 10s; Pew Rents, Dues, Easter Offerings
none; fees about £5 10s.
Free sittings 100. Other sittings 200.
Present on 30 Mar 1851 Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 200 150
Sunday Scholars 96 96
Average attendance Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 200 130
Sunday Scholars 90 90

Robert Tritton, rector.

484. MITCHAM Wesleyan chapel.
Wesleyan Methodist. Erected 1789. Separate building exclusively used for worship.
Free sittings 30. Other sittings 80.
Present on 30 Mar 1851 Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 40 50
Sunday Scholars 30

John Wade, steward, Lower Green, Mitcham.
A further, deleted, return states:
MITCHAM Chapel.
Wesleyan. Erected 1789. Separate building exclusively used for worship.
Revd T. Wilkinson, Croydon.

485. MITCHAM Zion Chapel.
Independent. Erected 1818. Separate building exclusively used for worship.
Free sittings 125. Other sittings 290.
Present on 30 Mar 1851 Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 162 307
Sunday Scholars 90
Average attendance Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 210 300
Sunday Scholars 100

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 12

The morning congregation on the 30th inst. decidedly below the average, very heavy rain just before divine
service preventing the attendance of many. Also many detained at home by influenza.
Thomas Kennerley, minister, Mitcham.

486. MERTON Salem chapel.
Independent. Erected about 1840. Not a separate building, nor exclusively used for worship.
All sittings free, about 60. Standing room for about 70.
Present on 30 Mar 1851 Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 45 45
Sunday Scholars none none
Average attendance Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 30 48
Sunday Scholars none none

Joseph Redworth, deacon, Nelson Place, Merton.

487. MERTON Merton Chapel.
Independent. Erected in 1839 in lieu of a building in another part of the parish in which public worship was first
celebrated in 1798. Separate building, exclusively used for worship.
Free sittings 54. Other sittings 180.
Present on 30 Mar 1851 Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 102 143
Sunday Scholars 120 122

The statement of sittings made under VII refers to the area of the chapel. By the erection of a gallery 150 more
might be accommodated at a cost of about £75. In addition to sittings referred to there is a gallery or raised
platform which accommodates 35 children. The rest of the children occupy the free sittings in the morning; the
children who are unable to read have service in the school room.
John Shedlock, M.A., minister, Morden Road, Merton. Merton Independent chapel.
It will be seen by the return made under column VIII that the general congregation averaged 122 but from actual
observation it was found that there were only 40 persons who were present at both services. So that if the 62
persons who were present in the morning and unavoidably absent in the evening be added to the 143 present it
will be seen that 205 people worshipped in the chapel and doubtless all other places of worship, could they have
been as accurately tested as this, would have shewn a result nearly similar.
This note is not appended to magnify the attendance at the Independent chapel but to point out that the average
attendance being taken will make it appear that a far greater portion of the population neglect public worship
than really do. I am satisfied that, whilst the average attendance upon my ministry is about 120 (Sunday school
excepted), about 300 persons have no other place of worship. J. Shedlock, M.A., Merton.

488. WIMBLEDON St Mary.
Ancient parish church. Reconsecrated 1843 as being almost a new church though upon the site of an old one.
Endowed with: land, some; tithe, yes; glebe, some; other permanent endowment and pew rents, none; fees
about £40; Easter offerings about £60; other sources (being Lord Spencer’s payments) £40.
Free sittings 350. Other sittings 650.
Present on 30 Mar 1851 Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 550 500
Sunday Scholars 200 150
Small attendance – a wet day.
Attendance normally Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 700 600
Sunday Scholars 300 200

Great tithes, glebe, etc. in the hands of Earl Spenser as lay impropriator holding on lives from the Dean and
Chapter of Worcester. Supposed value between £700 and £800 a year from out which he pays £40 to the
perpetual curate.
Richard Leonard Adams, incumbent.

489. WIMBLEDON Wimbledon chapel, High Street.
Independent. Erected before 1800. Separate building exclusively used for worship.
Free sittings 100. Other sittings 50.
Present on 30 Mar 1851 Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 28 75
Sunday Scholars 32 70
Average attendance Morning Afternoon Evening
General Congregation 35 75
Sunday Scholars 40 70

James Crouch, manager, Wimbledon.

The original returns are at The National Archives HO 129/46 (Merton, Mitcham and Morden) and 129/47 (Wimbledon).

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 13

PETER HOPKINS has been following
THE MOVEMENT OF LIVESTOCK BETWEEN MORDEN
AND OTHER MANORS OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY

Westminster Abbey owned the manor of Morden from Saxon times until the Dissolution of the monasteries
under Henry VIII. Attached to the manor for administrative purposes were four properties in Ewell, known as
the Morden fee. Morden was just one small estate among dozens of properties scattered all over southern
England and the Midlands.

The Abbey held a large estate at Battersea, which included properties in Wandsworth. They also had a number
of properties in Middlesex, some near Westminster – around Paddington and Hampstead – others in the Ashford,
Staines, Sunbury, Teddington area, and a group comprising Northolt and Greenford with Hanwell.

Morden had particularly close links with Battersea, Teddington, Greenford, and Echelford manor in Ashford,
Middlesex, exchanging excess crops or livestock as need arose. Oxen regularly came from Hendon, but also
from Echelford and Battersea.1

Following the upheaval of the Black Death, there was much more interchange among these manors. In May
1349, Morden sent its excess livestock to Greenford – 4 oxen, 4 dry cows, 2 steers and 2 heifers. On the death
of manorial tenants, the lord of the manor could claim the best beast as heriot, and this rule was still applied in
the year of the pestilence.2 However, Morden also received a mare and 3 cows from Teddington during the year,
and 6 heifers from Hendon the following year.3

The manor of Morden had always had a small dairy herd, but from 1311 the dairy had been let, the farmer
taking the dairy products – milk, cheese and butter, and sometimes the calves.4 In 1348/9 this arrangement
collapsed,5 and in January and April 1352 Morden sent its entire dairy stock to Teddington and Greenford.6
However, the next year the manor brought in cows from Paddington and Greenford, but murrain killed 3 cows
and 5 oxen that year, and the experiment was not repeated.7 The last cow, dry and sterile, was sold in 1353/4.8

Between 1349 and 1353 Morden also disposed of its entire stock of pigs, dividing them among Greenford,

Teddington and Battersea.9
Morden saw a revival of sheep farming in the decade following the Black Death. The manor had kept a very
small flock until 1303, when the last 27 wethers were sold before shearing.10 However, a manorial shepherd
was employed from the 1320s until 1348 to care for ‘alien sheep’ – those belonging to other owners but feeding
on the manorial pastures.11 Up to 200 a year are recorded.12 From 1339 to 1349 the manor once more had a very
small flock of its own, but all was about to change.13

-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
550
600
650
1339-401340-411341-421342-431343-441344-451345-461346-471347-481348-491349-501350-511351-521352-531353-541354-551355-561356-571357-581358-59
not shorn here





lamb fleeces





sheep fleeces
wool fells
lambskins
sheepskins
No account survives for this yearNo account survives for this yearNo account survives for this year
the accounting year normally ran
from September to September
Only the Michaelmas to January account survives (died after shearing, so shown
here as negative, because
their fleeces already counted)
(died before shearing, except
for the two in 1349-50)
(died before shearing)
(eg sheep sold or transferred
before shearing in June)
Sheep, wool and skins in the annual accounts for Morden manor
MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 14

In October 1349 175 assorted sheep arrived from Teddington, of which 104 were later returned to Teddington
before shearing, and a further 51 sold.14 In June 1350 172 lambs came from Battersea.15 In July 1352 26 lambs
came from Teddington, and 43 from Echelford, while 65 adult sheep were sent to Teddington after shearing.16
In May 1353 26 lambs arrived from Greenford and 35 from Battersea, followed the next month by 77 from two
of the Abbey’s manors in Essex.17 In August 48 female sheep arrived from Teddington, and 32 young male
sheep were sent back there. That November 41 young female sheep arrived from Echelford.18

In July 1354 4 rams came from Echelford and 40 ewes from Greenford, while 79 lambs were sent to Greenford
and 32 young male sheep went to Battersea after shearing.19 In December 1355 30 young female sheep arrived
in Morden from Greenford and 20 ewes from Battersea. 189 lambs of issue were recorded at Morden during
1355/6, but 104 of these died during the year, most while still suckling. 44 of the 188 yearling lambs also died.20
In October 1356 another 61 young male sheep went from Morden to Teddington, while 72 lambs were despatched
to Greenford.21 In 1358 60 ewes were purchased at Greenford, and 133 lambs were sent to Greenford.22 But in
1359 all 247 sheep were sold, together with other spare livestock, as the manorial demesne of Morden was let
to a tenant farmer from another Westminster Abbey manor, Parham in Sussex, with just the basic complement
of 2 carthorses, 8 oxen, 8 geese, 1 cock and 12 hens.23

This constant traffic of livestock between Morden, Teddington and Greenford has fascinated me for quite a
while, and last July I decided to attempt to follow the trail, though I chose to follow the still waters and green
pastures, rather than follow the drove roads. My predecessors in the 14th century are unlikely to have taken that
route, as the valuable riverside meadows were off-limits to all livestock until after the haymaking was completed.
The meadows were only used for grazing between Michaelmas (29 September) and Candlemas (2 February).24

Starting from Morden Common (well, Green Lane), I
joined the Hogsmill Trail to Kingston, and crossed
Kingston Bridge in the vain hope of finding a riverside
walk to Teddington. Instead I was able to follow the
quieter medieval road into Teddington, where I found
somebody just about to lock up the old parish church,
but who allowed me to have a glance round and to buy
a guide. The south aisle dates from the early 15th
century, and the rest of the building is later, so my 14thcentury
herdsmen would not have known this building.
At Teddington Library I was delighted to buy a book
on Medieval Teddington, the author of which had
studied the local court rolls and account rolls. It should

St Mary’s, Teddington

Holy Cross, Greenford

prove a useful comparison to my studies on Morden.

As it was now midday I decided to take a couple of

buses to Greenford, where I found the medieval church

(rebuilt from the 15th century onwards) closed, but the

Library open and helpful, though with little of interest,

as no medieval accounts survive. Then I followed the

Brent River Park Walk back through Hanwell to

Brentford, cut through Syon Park (alas a 15th-century

monastic site, so not known to my 14th-century

herdsmen), and then followed an arm of the River Crane

Walk (the [artificial] Duke of Northumberland’s River)

to Twickenham. The last stretch, alongside the Rugby

ground, was very narrow and overgrown with nettles

and brambles, so I gave up at Twickenham and took the

train home. Another couple of miles would have got me

to Teddington, and would have enabled me to say that I

had walked the whole route between Morden and

Greenford, but I think 19 miles was enough for one day!

1 Westminster Abbey Muniments (WAM) 27323 2 WAM 27322 3 WAM 27323 4 WAM 27303

5 WAM 27322 6 WAM 27326 7 WAM 27327 8 WAM 27331 9 WAM 27323, 27326, 27327

10 WAM 27282-27297 11 WAM 27306 ff 12 WAM 27311 13 WAM 27314-27322 14 WAM 27323

15 WAM 27323 16 WAM 27326 17 WAM 27327 18 WAM 27329 19 WAM 27331

20 WAM 27333 21 WAM 27335 22 WAM 27337 23 WAM 27339 24 Cambridge University Library Kk 5.29 f 40r

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 15

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LIFE IN VICTORIAN MERTON

This exhibition at Merton Heritage Centre, The Canons, Madeira Road, Mitcham, is on until February.
Admission free. Tel: 020 8640 9387 or www.merton.gov.uk/libraries

Letters and contributions for the Bulletin should be sent to the Hon. Editor. The views expressed in this
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Printed by Peter Hopkins

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 160 – DECEMBER 2006 – PAGE 16