83-550: Morden is a district and town in South London, England, now within the London Borough of Merton , in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton to the south and Worcester Park to the west, and is around 8 miles (13 km) south-southwest of Charing Cross . Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, for local government purposes, Morden
166-529: A new stadium back on Plough Lane, using the former Greyhound Stadium around a hundred yards from its old stadium site and still within the London Borough of Merton. In 2018 the final agreements were signed off and demolition work started on the site (for both stadium and 600 flats) in April 2018. Building was completed for the 2020–21 season. The first competitive game in front of fans was played on 14 August 2021,
249-575: A 'Privilege Card' which provides discounts and benefits within the town centre. The UK's leading car-sharing company Zipcar has its UK headquarters in Wimbledon. Other notable organisations with head offices in Wimbledon include CIPD , Ipsotek, United Response , the Communication Workers Union (United Kingdom) and, until 2022, Lidl . The Wimbledon Times (formerly Wimbledon Guardian ) provides local news in print and online. In
332-430: A 3–3 draw against Bolton Wanderers . The borough also has five non-League football clubs: Colliers Wood United F.C. who play at Wibbandune Sports Ground; Raynes Park Vale F.C. who play at Prince George's Fields; Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. who play at Imperial Fields, Morden; and Merton Forest F.C. who also play at Prince George's Fields and a Celebrity Fundraising Football team – Celeb FC who play all over
415-464: A figure which has remained reasonably stable since. Wimbledon is covered by several wards in the London Borough of Merton, making it difficult to produce statistics for the town as a whole. The largest ethnic groups (up to 10%) in the wards according to the 2011 census are: At the time the Domesday Book was compiled (around 1086), Wimbledon was part of the manor of Mortlake. From 1328 to 1536,
498-481: A football team in 1889 when Wimbledon Old Centrals were founded, and were soon a member of the local football leagues. The club later adopted the title Wimbledon FC and moved into a new stadium at Plough Lane in 1912, where it would spend the next 79 years. As the 20th century wore on, the club enjoyed considerable success in non-league football. The club was elected to the Football League in 1977 and enjoyed
581-682: A great run of success when began in 1983 with the Fourth Division title, and saw them reach the First Division in 1986 – a mere nine years after joining the Football League. They quickly established themselves in the highest division of English football, and as clear underdogs, pulled off a shock win in the 1988 FA Cup Final against Liverpool , England's most successful and dominant club side in Europe during that era. They were founder members of
664-459: A large adjoining library. At around the same time, Morden Underground Station, originally a single storey building, with shops, had three-storey office accommodation incorporated above it. A further office building with a large supermarket (now a Sainsbury's ) at ground-floor level was built in the 1980s at the other end of the town centre. The cinema and adjoining garage were demolished and replaced by shops some years ago. Morden plays host to
747-588: A little of the earlier rural nature of Morden has survived; for instance several grand period buildings remain, especially within Morden's parks. The area retains a good provision of parks and green spaces, many of them created from former country estates. The 125-acre (51 ha) Morden Hall Park is of particular note and is run by the National Trust (see below). Its main entrance is only 0.25 miles (0.40 km) from Morden Underground Station. The largest building in
830-610: A manor of Wimbledon was recorded as belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury . The manor of Wimbledon changed hands many times during its history. Wimbledon was an Ancient Parish from the medieval period, later being re-organised as the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon within the county of Surrey . In 1965, the London Government Act 1963 abolished the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon, Merton and Morden Urban District and
913-428: A number of buildings and parks worthy of note including: Morden has a Non-League football club Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. who play at Imperial Fields. Nearest tube station: Nearest railway stations and tramlink stops (in order of proximity): The local day and night buses that serve Morden are: London Borough of Merton The London Borough of Merton ( / ˈ m ɜːr t ə n / )
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#1732852404773996-540: A poverty rate of 14% in 2020, the 2nd lowest rate in London. It also found that the 2023 level of pay inequality in Merton is lower than in any other borough, except Kingston. According to the council's comparative assessment of wards made in 2004, the most deprived wards within the borough were in the south and east where unemployment rates, educational attainment and the quality of health were worst. The most affluent wards were in
1079-526: A school. The other main public house in the village was the Crown Inn, located to the north east of the village with a small cluster of cottages on Crown Road. The rest of what is now the commercial centre of Morden was fields. In the late 19th century the principal industry remained agriculture, although some industrial activity did exist along the River Wandle where watermills ground tobacco to snuff and
1162-493: A stable rural population coexisting with nobility and wealthy merchants from the city. In the 18th century the Dog and Fox public house became a stop on the stagecoach run from London to Portsmouth , then in 1838 the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) opened a station to the southeast of the village at the bottom of Wimbledon Hill. The location of the station shifted the focus of
1245-652: A varnish works existed close to the site of Poplar Primary School. By 1898, the varnish works had gone and there was a brickworks on the site of Mostyn Gardens in Martin Way (then called Green Lane). Under the Local Government Act, 1894 , the parish of Morden formed part of the Croydon Rural District of Surrey . The first two decades of the 20th century saw little change in the village, with industry still mainly agricultural in nature; however, development in
1328-572: Is 7 miles (11.3 km) south-west of Charing Cross . The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It is considered an affluent suburb with its grand Victorian houses, modern housing and low-rise apartments. The residential area splits into two sections: the village and the town, with the village near the common centred on the High Street, being part of
1411-664: Is a London borough in London , England . The borough was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham , the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton and Morden Urban District , all formerly within Surrey . The main commercial centres in Merton are Mitcham , Morden and Wimbledon , of which Wimbledon is the largest. Other smaller centres include Raynes Park , Colliers Wood , South Wimbledon and Wimbledon Park . The borough
1494-560: Is a district and town of south-west London, England, 7.0 miles (11.3 km) southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross ; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton . Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes the electoral wards of Abbey, Wimbledon Town and Dundonald, Hillside, Wandle, Village, Raynes Park and Wimbledon Park. It is home to the Wimbledon Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre , and contains Wimbledon Common , one of
1577-499: Is an affluent area of London with a high proportion of city workers, while Mitcham and Morden is relatively deprived by comparison, which explains the geographical split of political representation of the borough at both national and local elections. Merton currently operates a Police Cadet scheme under the Metropolitan Police Service. Each year The Championships, Wimbledon , better known as simply Wimbledon, one of
1660-683: Is now approved by the British Horse Society and the Association of British Riding Schools. It offers horse-riding lessons and hacks on Wimbledon Common and in Richmond Park. In 1792 the Rev. Daniel Lysons published The Environs of London: being a historical account of the towns, villages, and hamlets, within twelve miles of that capital in which he wrote: "In the early part of the present century there were annual races upon this common, which had then
1743-587: Is the Wimbledon Times (recently changed name from Wimbledon Guardian). This newspaper was founded in 1977 by a former Conservative councillor on Merton Council, but since then the paper has been sold on and it is now widely published in different editions across South London. The newspaper is available free, though there is a charge if bought from a newsagent. It is published each Friday. Notable businesses with their headquarters in Merton including: London's Poverty Profile (a 2017 report by Trust for London and
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#17328524047731826-569: Is the host of the Wimbledon tournament , one of tennis 's Grand Slam competitions. The borough derives its name from the historic parish of Merton which was centred on the area now known as South Wimbledon . The local authority is Merton London Borough Council , which is based in Morden . The area of the modern borough broadly corresponds to the four ancient parishes of Merton , Mitcham , Morden , and Wimbledon , all of which were historically in
1909-449: Is the only London Borough which has tube, rail and tram services. London Underground stations Tramlink stops National Rail stations In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: driving a car or van, 19.2% of all residents aged 16–74; underground, metro, light rail, tram, 13.0%; train, 13.0%; bus, minibus or coach, 7.5%; on foot, 5.0%; work mainly at or from home, 3.4%; bicycle, 2.4%. In 2001,
1992-410: Is thought to have been constructed. In 1086 when the Domesday Book was compiled, Wimbledon was part of the manor of Mortlake . The ownership of the manor of Wimbledon changed between various wealthy families many times during its history, and the area also attracted other wealthy families who built large houses such as Eagle House, Wimbledon Manor House and Warren House . The village developed with
2075-465: The Dog and Fox made the journey to London routine, although not without the risk of being held-up by highwaymen , such as Jerry Abershawe on the Portsmouth Road. The stagecoach horses would be stabled at the rear of the pub in what are now named Wimbledon Village Stables. The 1735 manor house burnt down in the 1780s and was replaced in 1801 by Wimbledon Park House, built by the second Earl . At
2158-665: The FA Premier League in 1992 and survived at that level until 2000, before relocating to Milton Keynes , some 70 miles away in Buckinghamshire , in a controversial move in 2003, being rebranded as Milton Keynes Dons in 2004. The club had left its Plough Lane stadium in 1991 to ground-share with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park , with numerous plans to build a new stadium in a number of different locations (including back in London and even in Dublin or Cardiff ) being considered over
2241-509: The Iron Age when the hill fort on Wimbledon Common , the second-largest in London, is thought to have been constructed. The original nucleus of Wimbledon was at the top of the hill close to the common – the area now known locally as "the village". The village is referred to as "Wimbedounyng" in a charter signed by King Edgar the Peaceful in 967. The name Wimbledon means "Wynnman's hill", with
2324-480: The London Underground 's Northern Line ), that the fast and direct route to Central London opened up the village for residential development. To complement the new tube station, a garage was constructed on the other side of London Road, adjacent to the railway cutting and, in 1932, Morden Cinema was built next to it on the corner of Aberconway Road. Around the station, which, itself, had several shops built into
2407-432: The Merton and Morden Urban District . Mitcham was made an urban district in 1915, which was incorporated to become the municipal borough of Mitcham in 1934. The modern borough was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963 , covering the combined area of the former boroughs of Mitcham and Wimbledon and the Merton and Morden Urban District. The area was transferred from Surrey to Greater London to become one of
2490-532: The Municipal Borough of Mitcham , creating instead the London Borough of Merton. Initially, the new administrative centre was at Wimbledon Town Hall, but it moved to the 14-storey Crown House in Morden in the early 1990s. It is now in the Parliamentary constituency of Wimbledon , and since 2005 has been represented by the Conservative MP Stephen Hammond . Since 2005, the north and west of
2573-610: The New Policy Institute ) found that 40% of Merton's 19-year-olds lack level 3 qualifications. This is the 5th worst figure out of 32 London boroughs. Merton is served by a wide range of National Rail stations across the borough, as well as the southern tip of London Underground 's Northern line and the District line on the Wimbledon branch. The borough is also served by several Tramlink stops from Wimbledon, that goes to Croydon , New Addington , Elmers End and Beckenham . It
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2656-684: The Worshipful Company of Girdlers and a director of the British East India Company built Eagle House as a home at an easy distance from London. The Cecil family retained the manor for fifty years, before it was bought by Charles I in 1638 for his Queen, Henrietta Maria . Following the King's execution in 1649, the manor passed rapidly among various parliamentarian owners, including the Leeds Member of Parliament (MP) Adam Baynes and
2739-474: The census recorded that 25% of the population of the borough was from an ethnic minority . The highest ethnic populations were recorded in wards in the east of the borough in Mitcham , Eastfields and Pollards Hill . The percentage of population from ethnic minorities is predicted to rise across the borough within the next decade. A report by Trust for London and the New Policy Institute found that Merton had
2822-518: The civil war general John Lambert ; Lambert drafted the Instrument of Government , the founding document of the Protectorate , at Wimbledon. After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, it was returned to Henrietta Maria (now as mother of the new King, Charles II ). The Dowager Queen sold the manor in 1661 to George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol , who employed John Evelyn to improve and update
2905-527: The 1820s employed a young Joseph Paxton as one of his gardeners, but in the 1840s the Spencer family sold the park off as building land. A period of residential development began with large detached houses in the north of the park. In 1864, the Spencers attempted to get parliamentary permission to enclose the common as a new park with a house and gardens and to sell part for building. Following an enquiry, permission
2988-520: The 1870s, at the bottom of the hill on land between the railway line and Worple Road, the All-England Croquet Club had begun to hold its annual championships. But the popularity of croquet was waning as the new sport of lawn tennis began to spread, and after initially setting aside just one of its lawns for tennis, the club decided to hold its first Lawn Tennis Championship in July 1877 . By 1922,
3071-516: The 1930s, residential expansion had peaked in Wimbledon and the new focus for local growth had moved to neighbouring Morden , which had remained rural until the arrival of the Underground at Morden station in 1926. Wimbledon station was rebuilt by the Southern Railway with a simple Portland stone facade for the opening of a new railway branch line from Wimbledon to Sutton in 1930. In 1931,
3154-559: The 32 London Boroughs. The name Merton for the borough was chosen as a compromise, following a dispute between Wimbledon and Mitcham over the new borough's name. Areas in the borough include: The local authority is Merton Council, based at Merton Civic Centre in Morden. Since 2000, for elections to the London Assembly , the borough forms part of the Merton and Wandsworth constituency. A lot of filming for former ITV police drama The Bill took place in Merton, particularly in
3237-530: The Estate's accounts of 1236–37. Stables on the current site, behind the Dog & Fox pub in the High Street, were founded in 1915 by William Kirkpatrick and named Hilcote Stables; William's daughter Jean took over on his retirement and continued to visit the stables until her death in 2005. From 1969 Hilcote Stables were leased to Colin Crawford, and when they came up for sale in 1980 renamed Wimbledon Village Stables. It
3320-551: The Garth family arms and the fret from the arms of Merton Priory . The motto, "In Libertate Vis" , means "Our Strength is our Freedom" . In 1965, under the London Government Act 1963 , the Merton and Morden Urban District Council was abolished and its area combined with that of the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Municipal Borough of Mitcham to form the present-day London Borough of Merton. It then became part of London and not Surrey any more. Despite London's suburban expansion,
3403-588: The LCC. The estate was, at the time, the largest local authority development in South London and has its road names arranged in alphabetical order, from the North-West corner ( Abbotsbury Road) to the South-East corner ( Woburn Road). Reflecting the previous ownership of the land by Westminster Abbey , all are named after religious establishments. In 1943, the council was granted a civic coat-of-arms incorporating lions from
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3486-529: The Moor". Human activity in Morden dates back to the Iron Age period when Celtic tribes are known to have occupied areas around Wimbledon , but the first significant development in Morden was the construction of the Roman road called Stane Street from Chichester to London. The route of Stane Street through Morden followed the current A24 , London Road up Stonecot Hill from the south west crossing Morden Park to
3569-695: The UK without charge for small UK charities. The Talkback Thames television studio on Deer Park Road was used as Sun Hill Police Station in the ITV police drama The Bill from its inception in 1984 until it was axed in 2010. The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Merton. 51°23′N 0°10′W / 51.383°N 0.167°W / 51.383; -0.167 Wimbledon, London Wimbledon ( / ˈ w ɪ m b əl d ə n / )
3652-640: The area although there is no evidence of any settlement. Ethelstan the Etheling, son of Ethelred the Unready , left "land at Mordune" to the abbey of Christ and St. Peter in his will of 1015, which became the site of the first Saxon parish church of St Lawrence . In 1086, the Domesday Book recorded the manor as Mordone , part of Wallington Hundred . It was held by Westminster Abbey and its assets were: 3 hides ; 1 mill worth £2 and 7 ploughs . It rendered £15 in total. Fourteen people were recorded as living in
3735-637: The area. The manor and village remained abbey property until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in Henry VIII 's reign when the manor was sold to Lionel Ducket and Edward Whitchurch. Together, they sold it on the following year to Sir Richard Garth who became Lord of the Manor . The Garth family owned the land and maintained their connection with the parish for the next four centuries, living at Morden Hall Park until
3818-413: The borough council, to house some of those who had lost their homes. During the 1970s and 1980s, Wimbledon town centre struggled to compete commercially with more developed centres at Kingston and Sutton . Part of the problem was the shortage of locations for large anchor stores to attract customers. After some years in which the council seemed unable to find a solution, The Centre Court shopping centre
3901-550: The borough have been represented in Westminster by Paul Kohler , a Liberal Democrat MP. The east and south of the Borough are represented by Siobhain McDonagh , a Labour MP. In 2012 the businesses in Wimbledon voted to introduce a Business Improvement District. "Love Wimbledon" was formed in April 2012, funded and managed by the business community to promote and enhance the town centre. Those who work within Wimbledon can apply for
3984-502: The building, a new adjacent commercial centre grew quickly as shops sprang up along London Road and Crown Lane, including a rebuilt and enlarged Crown Inn public house (opened in 1932) and a large Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS) department store (opened in 1940). Away from the new commercial centre of Morden, the existing rural roads were widened and rebuilt and the fields were rapidly divided into building plots and laid out for new housing. Further transport improvements came with
4067-447: The city. Renewed upheaval came in 1838, when the opening of the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) brought a station to the south-east of the village, at the bottom of Wimbledon Hill. The location of the station shifted the focus of the town's subsequent growth away from the original village centre. For several years Wimbledon Park was leased to the Duke of Somerset , who briefly in
4150-454: The company meant it was never finished. The next owner was Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough , who increased the land belonging to the manor and completed the construction of a house to replace Jansen's unfinished effort in 1735. On her death in 1744, the property passed to her grandson, John Spencer, and subsequently to the first Earl Spencer . The village continued to grow and the 18th-century introduction of stagecoach services from
4233-408: The construction of a new Southern Railway branch line from Wimbledon to Sutton via stations at South Merton and Morden South (so named to differentiate it from Morden Underground Station and Morden Road (now Morden Road tram stop), although it was actually North-East of the original village centre). The new line opened between January 1930 and 1933. As a result of the new train and bus links,
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#17328524047734316-638: The council built a new red brick and Portland stone Town Hall next to the station, on the corner of Queen's Road and Wimbledon Bridge. The architects were Bradshaw Gass & Hope . Damage to housing stock in Wimbledon and other parts of London during World War II led to a final major building phase when many earlier Victorian houses with large grounds in Wimbledon Park were sub-divided into flats or demolished and replaced with apartment blocks. Other parts of Wimbledon Park, which had previously escaped being built upon, saw local authority estates constructed by
4399-421: The county of Surrey . The parish of Wimbledon was made a local government district in 1866. Such districts were converted into urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894 . The Wimbledon Urban District was subsequently incorporated to become the municipal borough of Wimbledon in 1905. Merton was made an urban district in 1907, which was enlarged in 1913 to take in neighbouring Morden, becoming
4482-656: The districts of Mitcham and Colliers Wood . The set of Sun Hill police station was also located in the Borough. Ray Austin, born at 9 Abbey Rd Merton on the 5 December 1932, is an English television and film director, television writer, novelist and former stunt performer and actor who worked in both the United Kingdom and the United States. He filmed episodes of The Avengers and The Saint in and around Merton. He served as director on episodes of some 150 programs between 1968 and 2010. The main local newspaper in Merton
4565-565: The early 20th century, as was recognised in 1905, when the urban district was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon , with the power to select a mayor. By 1910, Wimbledon had established the beginnings of the Wimbledon School of Art at the Gladstone Road Technical Institute and acquired its first cinema and the theatre. Unusually, the facilities at its opening included Victorian-style Turkish baths . By
4648-482: The final element of the name being the Celtic "dun" (hill). The name is shown on J. Cary's 1786 map of the London area as "Wimbleton", and the current spelling appears to have been settled on relatively recently in the early 19th century, the last in a long line of variations. At the time the Domesday Book was compiled (around 1086), Wimbledon was part of the manor of Mortlake , and so was not recorded. The ownership of
4731-454: The following decade before the club's owners chose Milton Keynes as their destination. However, a new Wimbledon club – AFC Wimbledon – was formed to represent the local area in 2002 by fans of the original club after the move to Milton Keynes was given the go-ahead. The new Wimbledon club's progress was rapid, and after just nine years in existence they won promotion to the Football League in 2011. The club gained permission in 2016 it to build
4814-649: The four tennis Grand Slam tournaments (along with the US , French and Australian Opens ) is held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Church Road Wimbledon . The event takes place over a fortnight at the end of June and beginning of July and is the largest annual sporting event to take place in the United Kingdom with over 200,000 visitors during the Wimbledon fortnight. The borough gained
4897-581: The landscape in accordance with the latest fashions, including grottos and fountains. After his death in 1677, the manor was sold again to the Lord High Treasurer , Thomas Osborne , Earl of Danby . The Osborne family sold the manor to Sir Theodore Janssen in 1712. Janssen, a director of the South Sea Company , began a new house to replace the one built by the Cecils, but the spectacular collapse of
4980-420: The largest areas of common land in London. The residential and retail area is split into two sections known as the "village" and the "town", with the High Street being the rebuilding of the original medieval village, and the "town" having first developed gradually after the building of the railway station in 1838. Wimbledon has been inhabited since at least the Iron Age when the hill fort on Wimbledon Common
5063-417: The manor of Wimbledon changed hands many times during its history. The manor was held by the church until 1398 when Thomas Arundel , Archbishop of Canterbury fell out of favour with Richard II and was exiled. The manor was confiscated and became crown property. The manor remained crown property until the reign of Henry VIII when it was granted briefly to Thomas Cromwell , Earl of Essex , until Cromwell
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#17328524047735146-405: The manor was sold by another Sir Richard Garth in 1872. The prominence of the Garth family is recorded locally in the name of Garth Road, Lower Morden and the former Garth School. The two lions included in the present civic arms of the London Borough of Merton are adopted from the arms of Sir Richard. Despite the rapid suburban development of nearby Wimbledon occasioned by the arrival of
5229-441: The mother of the writer Frederick Marryat . Their association with the area is recorded in the names of nearby Calonne and Marryat roads. Directly south of the common, the early 18th-century Warren House ( Cannizaro House from 1841) was home to a series of grand residents. The first decades of the 19th century were relatively quiet for Wimbledon, with a stable rural population coexisting alongside nobility and wealthy merchants from
5312-441: The new railways constructed in the mid 19th century, Morden remained a rural parish throughout the 19th century. While the population of Wimbledon grew hugely from 1,591 in 1801 to 41,652 in 1901, the population of Morden was 512 in 1801 and, one hundred years later, had grown to just 960. In 1871, the area of the parish of Morden was 1,474.926 acres (596.881 ha) with the small village clustered around St Lawrence's church at
5395-400: The north and west of the borough. Comparative crime rates appear to be unrelated to the deprivation ranking of wards. The wards containing Mitcham town centre and the St Helier Estate are ranked highest for crime within Merton with the wards containing the commercial shopping centres of Colliers Wood and Wimbledon also featuring high in the ranking. The constituency area of Wimbledon
5478-423: The original medieval village, and now a prime residential area of London commanding high prices, and the "town" being part of the modern development, centred on The Broadway, since the building of the railway station in 1838. The majority of the adult population of around 68,200 adults belong to the ABC1 social group. The population grew from around 1,000 at the start of the 19th century to around 55,000 in 1911,
5561-417: The parish of Merton to the north led to that area being removed from the rural district to form the Merton Urban District in 1907. Morden was merged with the Merton Urban District in 1913 to form the Merton and Morden Urban District . It was not until 1926, when Morden Underground station opened as the terminus of a new extension (from Clapham Common) of the City & South London Railway (now part of
5644-426: The popularity of tennis had grown to the extent that the club's small ground could no longer cope with the numbers of spectators and the renamed All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club moved to new grounds close to Wimbledon Park. Wimbledon historian Richard Milward recounts how King George V opened the new courts. "He (the king) gave three blows on a gong, the tarpaulins were removed, the first match started – and
5727-419: The population of Morden increased rapidly, from 1,355 in 1921 to 12,618 in 1931. In the next fifteen years, the population continued to grow, as most of the parish was covered in new suburban homes. One of the main residential developments in the 1930s was the St. Helier Estate, built by the London County Council (LCC) to house workers from Inner London and named in honour of Lady St. Helier, an alderman of
5810-464: The property until 1574 when she gave the manor house (but not the manor) to Christopher Hatton , who sold it in the same year to Sir Thomas Cecil , Earl of Exeter . The lands of the manor were given to the Cecil family in 1588 and a new manor house, Wimbledon Palace , was constructed and gardens laid out in the formal Elizabethan style. Wimbledon's proximity to the capital was beginning to attract other wealthy families. In 1613 Robert Bell, Master of
5893-400: The rain came down." The club's old grounds continue to be used as the sports ground for Wimbledon High School . Wimbledon Village Stables is the oldest recorded riding stables in England. The late Richard Milward MA, a local historian, researched the background of horses in Wimbledon over the years and found that the first recorded stables belonged to the Lord of the Manor, and are detailed in
5976-583: The rebuilding of St Mary's Church in 1849 and the construction of Christ Church (1859) and Trinity Church (1862). Street names reflect events: Denmark Road, Denmark Avenue and the Alexandra pub on Wimbledon Hill mark the marriage of Edward, Prince of Wales , to Princess Alexandra of Denmark . The change of character of Wimbledon from village to small town was recognised under the Local Government Act 1894 , which formed Wimbledon Urban District with an elected council . Wimbledon's population continued to grow in
6059-508: The roads from the centre towards neighbouring Putney, Merton Park and Raynes Park . Transport links improved further with railway lines to Croydon (Wimbledon and Croydon Railway, opened in 1855) and Tooting (Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway, opened in 1868). The District Railway (now the London Underground District line ) extended its service over new tracks from Putney in 1889. The commercial and civic development of
6142-414: The time the manor estate included Wimbledon Common (as a heath ) and the enclosed parkland around the manor house. Its area corresponded to the modern Wimbledon Park . The house stood east of St Mary's church . Wimbledon House, a separate residence close to the village at the south end of Parkside (near Peek Crescent), was home in the 1790s to the exiled French statesman Vicomte de Calonne , and later to
6225-455: The top of the hill on the road from London to Epsom (now London Road/Epsom Road). Approximately 1 ⁄ 2 mile (0.80 km) to the west of the main village and the grounds of Morden Park stood the hamlet of Lower Morden . Close to the church were the George Inn, a 17th-century coaching inn (now modernised and part of a national pub restaurant chain), the estate of Morden Park and
6308-399: The town also accelerated. Ely's department store opened in 1876 and shops began to stretch along Broadway towards Merton. Wimbledon built its first police station in 1870. Cultural developments included a Literary Institute by the early 1860s and the opening of Wimbledon Library in 1887. The religious needs of the growing population led to an Anglican church-building programme, starting with
6391-419: The town centre is Crown House, sixties-built and 14 storeys tall; designed in 1959 by A. Green ARIBA and built between 1960 and 1962. The concaved frontage of the building lends it some distinction, as does the "chessboard" style juxtaposition of its light and dark facade features. It incorporated The Crown public house , on which site part of the building covered. The building is home to Merton Civic Centre and
6474-493: The town's subsequent growth away from the original village centre. Wimbledon was a municipal borough in the county of Surrey from 1905 to 1965, when it became part of the London Borough of Merton as part of the creation of Greater London . Wimbledon has established minority groups ; among the prominent ones being British Asians (mainly British Pakistanis and British Sri Lankans ), British Ghanaians , Poles and Irish people . Wimbledon has been inhabited since at least
6557-519: The west of the current dual carriageway road and passing through the pitch and putt golf course and the grounds of St Lawrence's Church . The road then descended the other side of the hill towards the town centre passing west of the Underground station and crossing the north corner of Morden Hall Park heading in the direction of Colliers Wood and Tooting . Small Roman artifacts , mainly coins and pottery, have been found at various locations within
6640-673: Was developed on land next to the station, providing a much-needed focus, and opened in 1990. The shopping centre incorporated the old town hall building. A new portico, in keeping with the old work, was designed by Sir George Grenfell-Baines , who had worked on the original designs over fifty years before. Wimbledon lies in the south-west area of London, three miles (4.8 km) south of Wandsworth , two miles (3.2 km) south-west of Tooting , three miles west of Mitcham , four miles (6.4 km) north of Sutton and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of Kingston upon Thames , in Greater London . It
6723-400: Was executed in 1540 and the land was again confiscated. The manor was next held by Henry VIII's last wife and widow Catherine Parr until her death in 1548 when it again reverted to the monarch. In the 1550s, Henry's daughter, Mary I , granted the manor to Cardinal Reginald Pole who held it until his death in 1558 when it once again become royal property. Mary's sister, Elizabeth I held
6806-542: Was in the administrative and historic county of Surrey . At the 2011 census , Morden had a population of 48,233, including the wards of Cannon Hill, Lower Morden , Merton Park, Ravensbury and St Helier. Morden Hall Park , a National Trust park on the banks of the River Wandle adjacent to the town centre, is a key feature of the area. Morden's name may be derived from the Common Brittonic words Mawr (great or large) and Dun (fort), or possibly "The Town on
6889-470: Was refused and a board of conservators was established in 1871 to take ownership of the common and preserve it in its natural condition. In the second half of the century, Wimbledon experienced a very rapid expansion of its population. From under 2,700 residents recorded in the 1851 census, the population grew by a minimum of 60 per cent each decade up to 1901, to increase fifteen-fold in fifty years. Large numbers of villas and terraced houses were built along
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