Similar to most boroughs in London Merton as also formed by a merger in 1965. Two of the former Municipal Boroughs within Surrey – Mitcham and Wimbledon formed Merton. It is unclear what the name means exactly but it is only known that it comes from the parish of Merton which was located exactly in these areas. About half of the population is White British while the other half accommodates over 10 different ethnicities. Interestingly enough the local newspaper has two editions. It is called The Wimbledon Guardian and the only difference between the two editions is the front page. Below we will take a look at some of the districts of the London Borough of Merton as there are some interesting facts and landmarks to talk about.
Lower Morden used to be a small hamlet in the south west corner of what today is Merton. Unfortunately nothing nowadays is left from these times and nothing resembles what the old hamlet of Morden looked like. Only a few very old trees date back to these times. There used to be a farm called Peacock Farm which today is covered by streets – namely Cranmer Close and Cardinal Avenue. Development of the area along with building of new homes began during the late 30s. Morden is known for its Tudor style houses.
Typical for most districts in Merton, Merton Park was also a rural area until a certain time in the 19th century. The whole area was farm land and it was owned by just one person, His name was John Innes and apparently he was the local lord. He then started selling this land piece by piece for housing in order to further increase his fortune. There are not a lot of impressive landmarks here but we can mention Merton Park Primary School along with Rutlish School for boys.
In comparison to the two areas mentioned above Mitcham is bigger both in territory and population. It is pretty developed in a number of ways and some key routes pass through it. Maybe this is why Mitcham means “big settlement” in Old English. The notable buildings here are a lot but we will list just a few:
- The Canons – a house dating all the way back to the 17th
- Mitcham Common Windmill – constructed in 1806
- Poulters Park
- Imperial Fields.
Morden is a pretty decent district of the London Borough of Merton with a population of about 50 000 people. This place really has it all and is a fantastic area to live. Morden Hall Park is extremely close to the town centre and you can just walk to it. Morden also has a diverse community. The Bait’ul Futuh Mosque is the largest mosque in Western Europe and its construction cost was about £5.5 million and was complete in 2003. Certainly there is also a very nice church there and it is called St. Lawrence Church. This building was erected during the beginning of the 17th century. An indie music band called Good Shoes originates from Morden. Crown Lane is the main street with all the restaurants and nice bars. This is also the main shopping area of Morden.
If you happen to be in Raynes Park make sure to visit the Raynes Park Tavern in order to have a good time. Even though we are mentioning a building here, it needs to be noted that Raynes Park accommodates some of the largest green areas in South West London.
Wimbledon is not related only to tennis
South Wimbledon was formerly known as New Wimbledon. It now has a very popular Tube station with the same name. The area is part of the district of Wimbledon in southwest London. This is where the Wimbledon Tennis Championships is annually conducted and the area is perhaps known best because of it. Along with that, however, other sports are also well-developed such as football, horse riding, running, rifle shooting etc. The list of churches and notable residents is huge and we can list only a few of each. The All Saint’s Church and the Holy Trinity Church stand out among others in Wimbledon. As far as people go we can mention Alan Pardew –a football manager as well as Victoria Hamilton – an actress.
