Ravensbury

Although the manor of Ravensbury included scattered holdings across Mitcham, the centre of the estate was that part of Lower Mitcham lying on the north bank of the river Wandle between Mitcham Bridge and Morden Hall Park, and bounded on the north by Morden Road, together with a large area south of the river, stretching as far as Central Road, Morden.

Within this area is the site of one of the largest Anglo-Saxon cemeteries known in southern England.

In the Middle Ages two large houses occupied sites by the waterside. Over a period of six centuries a succession of houses here were to be the country residences of government officials and city merchants, bankers and industrialists, each of whom made their own contribution to the life of the village outside their gates.

The grand houses have now vanished, and with them the textile printing industry and snuff and tobacco manufactory for which the area was once renowned, but the Wandle still provides a visually attractive feature through Ravensbury Park.