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Mitcham
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mitcham is a place in the London Borough of Merton, it is a suburb south of Streatham situated 7.5 miles (12.1 km) south/south-west of Charing Cross.
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Mitcham is located between Croydon and Morden. The River Wandle bounds the town to the southwest. The original village lies in the west, although expansion has pushed the eastern boundary the furthest. Mitcham Common takes up the greater part of the boundary and area to the south. Mitcham has never been well serviced by railway, due to it being equidistant between the historic lines of Waterloo to Southampton and London Bridge to Brighton. An 18th century milestone on Figges Marsh indicates Mitcham to be 8.5 miles from Whitehall
The name "Mitcham" is Anglo-Saxon in origin and is believed to mean big settlement. Even before the Romans and Saxons were present, there was a Celtic settlement in the area, with evidence of a fort being located in the Pollards Hill area. The discovery of Roman-era graves and a well on the site of the Mitcham gas works evince Roman settlement. The Saxon graveyard, located on the North bank of the Wandle is the largest discovered to date, and many of the finds therein are on display in the British Museum. The area is a possible location for the Battle of Merton, 871, in which King Ethelred of Wessex was either mortally wounded or killed outright. The parish church of St Peter and St Paul dates back to the Saxon era. Although it was mostly rebuilt in 1819–1821, the current building still incorporates the original Saxon tower. Mitcham was listed in the Domesday Book as a small farming community, with 250 people living in two hamlets; Mitcham, an area known today as Upper Mitcham; and Whitford, today known as the Lower Green area.
The area lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Wallington hundred.
Mitcham appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Michelham. It was held partly by the Canons of Bayeux; partly by William, son of Ansculf and partly by Osbert. Its domesday assets were: 8 hides and 1 virgate. It had ½ mill worth £1, 3½ ploughs, 56 acres of meadow. It rendered £4 5s 4d.[1]
During her reign Queen Elizabeth I made at least five visits to the area. John Donne and Sir Walter Raleigh also had residences here in this era. It was at this time that Mitcham became gentrified, as due to the abundance of lavender fields Mitcham became renowned for its soothing air. This air also led people to settle in the area during times of plague. When industrialisation occurred, Mitcham quickly grew to become a town, and most of the farms were swallowed up in the expansion. Remnants of this farming history today include: Mitcham Common itself; Arthur's Pond, sited on the corner of Watney's Road and Commonside East, and named for a local farmer; Alfred Mizen School (Now named Garden Primary), named after a local nursery man who was very charitable towards the burgeoning town; and the road New Barnes Avenue, which was named after the farm that stood on that site.
The industrialisation of Mitcham occurred first along the banks of the Wandle, where snuff, copper, flour, iron and dye were all worked. Mitcham, along with nearby Merton Abbey, became the calico cloth printing centres of England by 1750. Peppermint and lavender oils were also distilled, and Mitcham became home to many lavender fields, an association reflected today in Merton Council's Coat of Arms and the badge of the local football team, Tooting & Mitcham United F.C., as well as the name of a local council ward, Lavender Field.
| 19th Century | 20th Century | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1801 | 3,466 | 1901 | 14,903 |
| 1811 | 4,175 | 1911 | 29,606 |
| 1821 | 4,453 | 1921 | 35,119 |
| 1831 | 4,387 | 1931 | 56,859 |
| 1841 | 4,532 | 1941¹ | war |
| 1851 | 4,641 | 1951 | 67,269 |
| 1861 | 5,078 | 1961 | 63,690 |
| 1871 | 6,498 | 1971 | 60,608 |
| 1881 | 8,960 | 1981 | 57,158 |
| 1891 | 12,127 | 1991² | n/a |
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| source: UK census | |||
The activity along the Wandle led to the construction of the Surrey Iron Railway, the world's first public railway in 1803. The collapse of the railway in the 1840s also heralded a change in industry, as horticulture gradually gave way to manufacturing, with paint, varnish, linoleum and firework manufacturers moving into the area. The work provided and migratory patterns eventually resulted in a doubling of the population between the years 1900 and 1910.
Social housing schemes in the 1930s included New Close, aimed at housing people made homeless by a factory explosion in 1933 and Sunshine Way, for housing the poor from inner London. This industry made Mitcham a target for German bombing during World War II. During this time Mitcham also returned to its agricultural roots, with Mitcham Common being farmed to help with the war effort.
From 1929, the electronics company Mullard had a factory on New Road.
Post war, the areas of Eastfields, Phipps Bridge and Pollards Hill were rebuilt to provide social housing. Further expansion of the housing estates in Eastfields, Phipps Bridge and Pollards Hill occurred after 1965. In Mitcham Cricket Green, the area lays reasonable, although not definitive, claim to having the world's oldest cricket ground in continual use, and the world's oldest club in Mitcham Cricket Club. The ground is also notable for having a road separate the pavilion from the pitch. Local folklore also claims Mitcham has the oldest fair in England, believing it to have been granted a charter by Queen Elizabeth I, although this claim has not been proven.
Mitcham was an ancient parish which became part of the Croydon Rural District under the Local Government Act 1894. When the rural district was abolished in 1915, Mitcham became part of the Mitcham Urban District. In 1934 the urban district gained the status of municipal borough. In 1965 the Municipal Borough of Mitcham was abolished and its area combined with that of the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton and Morden Urban District to form the present-day London Borough of Merton.
Mitcham is part of the Mitcham and Morden parliamentary constituency, a safe Labour seat, as of 2005. Mitcham has been disturbed by a number of incidents in recent years. Some major incidents include, a body being found on Mitcham Common (July 2006), the armed robbery of Natwest Bank (2007), the shooting outside St Marks Church (2006), the murder of Matthew Carter on Rowan road (2006) and the gang fight and eventual knife killing of 16 year old Eugene Attram (November 2006) which incidentally was the beginning of a long line of murders across South London and the rest of the capital for the next 12 months.
Little areas within the town include Pollards Hill, Eastfields and Phipps Bridge but these areas are not to be mistaken for separate towns.
- The Canons, built in 1680 and now home to Merton Heritage Centre.
- Eagle House, built in 1705.
- Mitcham Common Windmill, a post mill dating from 1806.
- Old Mitcham Station, on the Surrey Iron Railway route. Now called Station Court, the building was a former merchant's home and is possibly the oldest station in the world.
- The Tate Almshouses, built in 1829 to provide for the poor by Mary Tate.
- The Watermead Fishing Cottages, now maintained by the National Trust.
- Vestry Hall, the annex of which now houses the Wandle Industrial Museum.
- Mitcham Public Library, built in 1933.
- Elm Lodge, 1808. This listed Regency house was occupied by Dr. Parrott, a village doctor, in the early 19th century, and for a short time by the artist, Sir William Nicholson. The curved canopy over the entrance door is a typical feature of this period.
- Mitcham Court. The centre portion, first known as Elm Court, was built in 1840, the wings later. Caesar Czarnikow, a sugar merchant, lived here c. 1865-1886 and presented the village with a new horse-drawn fire engine. Sir Harry Mallaby Deeley, M.P., conveyed the house to the borough in the mid-1930s. The Ionic columned porch and the ironwork on the ground floor windows are notable features.
- Renshaw's factory, a marzipan factory, founded in 1898 in the City and thus one of the earliest in the country, which came to Mitcham in 1924. It was sited on Locks Lane, where it remained until 1991 when the company moved its operations to Liverpool. The factory was featured in three 1950's British Pathe News shorts. The building has lent its name to the area where it stood, Renshaw Corner.
- Mitcham Greyhound Stadium, which has long been demolished.
- Imperial Fields, Tooting & Mitcham United F.C.'s home ground.
- Mitcham Junction station
- Mitcham tram station
- Tooting railway station
- Morden tube station
- Colliers Wood tube station
- Norbury railway station
- Streatham Common railway station
A station is currently proposed to the north of Mitcham Junction. This is to fill in a gaopp in the rail system and has the potential to serve the centre of Mitcham more directly. The proposed station is tentatively called Eastfields railway station in the area of Eastfields.
- The Town Of Mitcham. The Wandle Valley Railway - Reflections. Retrieved on May 16, 2005.
- Merry Making at Mitcham. University of Sheffield National Fairground Archive. Retrieved on May 16, 2005.
- Making Merton. London Borough of Merton - Making Merton. Retrieved on May 16, 2005.
- A Brief History of Merton by John Precedo: Part 1 - Romans to the Norman Conquest. Tooting Website - History. Retrieved on May 16, 2005.
- Mitcham. The Surrey Choicenet Website. Retrieved on May 16, 2005.
- Mitcham Cricket Club - History. Mitcham Cricket Club - The Oldest Cricket Club in the World. Retrieved on May 16, 2005.
- The 'Canons' Mitcham. by E.N. Montague. Retrieved on January 7, 2006.
- North Mitcham. by E.N. Montague. Retrieved on January 7, 2006.
- Historic River Wandle: Phipps Bridge to Morden Hall. by E.N. Montague. Retrieved on January 7, 2006.
- Mitcham - 1911 Encyclopedia article
- Merton Borough Council
- Mitcham Cricket Club
- Tooting & Mitcham United Football Club
- A Mitcham Walk
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| Districts |
Colliers Wood · Lower Morden · Merton Park · Mitcham · Morden · Morden Park · Motspur Park · Raynes Park · St. Helier · South Wimbledon · West Barnes · Wimbledon · Wimbledon Park |
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| Attractions | ||
| Constituencies | ||
| Parks and open spaces in Merton | ||