Did You Know?

The craft village of Merton Abbey Mills' is a lovely place to visit. It has some great history and fabric by Liberty' was once manufactured here. Merton Abbey Mills has a beautiful restored water wheel, some lovely shops, a riverside pub and a choice of restaurants offering all types of food from Thai to Caribbean. There is also a regular craft and antiques market and toy collectors fair.

Mitcham, Morden, Merton and Wimbledon merged to form the London Borough of Merton in 1965, but the area was settled much earlier. Archaeology has shown that Merton was active even in prehistoric times. Celtic warriors were roaming Wimbledon Village long before the shoppers and drinkers of today. You can find the remnants of an Iron Age hill fort to the southwest of Wimbledon Common windmill, and there is evidence of another Celtic fort in the Pollards Hill area of Mitcham. Now known as Caesar's camp, the fortified village on Wimbledon Common was actually inhabited about five hundred years before Julius Caesar was born.

The local Celtic tribes were quickly subdued when the Romans invaded Britain in AD 43. Shortly after they arrived the Romans set about building an important road through the borough called Stane Street. This was a fast overland link between London and the Roman port of Chichester, and quickly became a busy trade route.

Anglo-Saxons were quick to replace the Roman settlers when the empire collapsed in AD 410. The invaders penetrated Surrey up river valleys such as the Wandle, and there is evidence of some violent meetings with the native Britons. However, Merton's proximity to London meant it continued to prosper despite the loss of Stane Street's imperial link with the continent. The names Mitcham, Merton and Morden are all Anglo-Saxon in origin. The name Merton dates from the 10th Century, and means 'farmstead by the pool'

Merton grew in significance when Henry I granted the estate to a knight called Gilbert in 1114. Gilbert founded an Augustinian priory in 1117 at the point where the old Roman road crossed the River Wandle, where Sainsbury’s and Merton Abbey Mills now stand. It became nationally important when it was used for royal councils and conferences.

By 1750, Merton Abbey and Mitcham were amongst the main centres of calico cloth printing in England. Increased industrial output in the Wandle Valley led to the construction of the world's first public railway, the horse-drawn Surrey Iron Railway, which opened in 1803.

Admiral Lord Nelson moved into Merton Place House off Merton High Street in 1801.