topics

Admiral Lord Nelson

Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) bought Merton Place in October 1801. His lover Emma Hamilton had negotiated the purchase while he was at sea. He lived there with her and her husband Sir William until Sir William’s death. When Nelson returned to sea in May 1803 Emma stayed on at Merton. In August 1805 Nelson came home for 25 days before departing for Trafalgar and leaving his “dear, dear Merton” for ever. It was at Merton that Emma received the news of the battle and his death.

Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, Mitcham

A large post-Roman or ‘Anglo-Saxon’ cemetery was excavated by Harold Bidder and members of his family between 1888 and 1922. A definitive article by John Morris on the cemetery and the grave goods recovered has appeared in Surrey Archaeological Collections LVI (1959) pp.51-131 – accessible at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/surreyac/contents.cfm?vol=56.

Cricket on Mitcham Green

Cricket has been played on the Lower Green, Mitcham, for more than 300 years. The game became popular in Southeastern England in Restoration times and ‘Crickette on Ye Olde Meecham Green’ is reputed to have been shown in a print dated 1685.

Fry’s Metals, formerly Eyre Smelting Co Ltd, the Tandem Works

Archive of Fry’s metals, formerly ‘The Eyre Smelting Co. Ltd, Tandem Works, Merton Abbey, London.

John Innes

John Innes (1829-1904) used some of the money he made from developing office property in the City of London to buy nearly 200 hectares in Merton (mainly), Morden and Wimbledon. From c.1870 on part of this land he laid out roads, planted trees and hedges and built houses of various sizes. He named this ‘garden suburb’ and its station Merton Park and he lived as its squire in Manor House, Watery Lane. He left most of his money for horticultural research, and it was the John Innes Horticultural Institution that devised the formulae for the familiar garden composts which bear his name. The John Innes Centre, as it now is, internationally famous for plant research, is now at Norwich.

Liberty’s

An old textile-printing works on the banks of the River Wandle, just upstream from the Morris & Co site, was taken over in 1832 by Edmund Littler, a member of a family of established printers.

Merton priory

What does Merton priory mean to us in the 21st century? The name may conjure up different thoughts to different people.

Mitcham Fair

The Fair Green, Mitcham, is the commonly used alternative name for the Upper Green and derives its name from the fair which was held there on 12th-14th August each year until 1924. There is a common belief, unsubstantiated by documentary evidence, that Mitcham Fair was established under a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I. Although it could well have originated as a Tudor fair, the first documentary evidence of its existence is found in 1732 when an inquest was recorded on an itinerant fiddler who died in a local house.

Mitcham Herbal Industries

THE MITCHAM HERBAL INDUSTRIES

St Helier Estate

The St Helier Estate was built by the London County Council in the early 1930s. At 825 acres, spanning the boundary of Morden and Carshalton, it is the second largest of the Council’s cottage estates. The council architect, G Topham Forrest, included as many of the natural aspects as possible in the design plan, such as trees and hedges. This was supplemented with new planting, shrubberies and greens to soften the effect.

The Film Industry in Merton

G H Cricks and H M Sharp had a film studio in London Road, Mitcham from 1901 to 1908, when the partnership broke up. Cricks joined up with J H Martin in Mitcham and then in Croydon before, in 1913, he set up his own studios in Quintin Avenue, Merton. Products included ‘shorts’, a few longer dramatic pieces, and, during the first World War, some propaganda pieces. Film processing continued on the site until the next war.

The Surrey Iron Railway

The Surrey Iron Railway was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1801 and was the first public railway although predated by private railways used exclusively by the owners for moving their own goods. Tolls were levied on carriers for their use of the tracks.

We are building up a bank of Topics relating to our area.
The first few are listed on the right.
Entries are in alphabetical order, people being indexed by surname.

William Morris

William Morris (1834-1896), designer, poet, craftsman, novelist, typographer, businessman, socialist political activist and lecturer, moved his workshops to Merton Abbey in 1881. He leased a textile printing works and nearly three hectares of land on both sides of the River Wandle. Using the site’s old weatherboarded buildings, including a waterwheel, he set up dye vats, printing-tables, looms for carpets and tapestries, and a stained-glass workshop. The working conditions and pay were unusually good for the time. Morris, who lived at Hammersmith, travelled to Merton by train or on foot.