This post is not finished it is not edited or checked
Circle Gardens
Supposed to have been a church
Crown Lane.
Crown House The mediocre shopping centre
around the L.T. station has this as its focus by A. Green, 1959- 61, a curved
slab of twelve storeys on a two-storey podium with shops on the ground floor.
Quite an early example of the type in outer London
23-37 North's
Cottages, a
two-storey late c 19 terrace built by Thomas North, owner of a local
sheet-metal works. Brick ground floor, upper floor and roof originally all clad
with corrugated iron. Modest curiosity,
31 the best preserved, with tiny
corrugated iron dormers as well.
33 has a neat porch in the same
material
Kingston Road
Corner Rutlish Road two nice houses
London Road
St.
Lawrence. Originally a medieval church here
was provided by Westminster Abbey for its tenants. Morden parish church. Built 1636,
which is an interesting and rare date for churches. Red brick, mainly in
English bond and probably a refacing of an older building - see the stone
plinth and thick walls. The Nave and chancel are in one. Vestry 1805. Embattled
tower restored in 1887. Simple whitewashed interior. The Roof with tie-beams
and kingposts, is purely utilitarian. The Pulpit, Formerly a three-decker, with
original stair and sounding board, 1720. Communion Rail; Three-sided, with
twisted balusters, also 1720. There is a
Stained glass window largely c17, with figures of Moses and Aaron with the
Tablets of the Law; kneeling donors beneath which was. Partly renewed including
the painted dove in the tracery in 1828.
Monuments: Mrs Elizabeth Gardiner 1719 benefactress of the parish and
donor of pulpit and communion rail. Inscription on feigned drapery within a
Corinthian aedicule. Sir P. Leheup 777. Bust before a black triangle. Mrs Leheup 1775. Good, large, simple tablet.
No figures. Many good minor tablets to
the Garth family of Morden Hall, and others.
Churchyard with several bulgy sarcophagi. The great gale in October 1987, that caused such devastation over
south-east England, damaged several trees in the St Lawrence, Morden, parish
churchyard and brought the loss of the old chestnut
by the Rectory and the hawthorn near the north boundary. It also did away with
a lot of dead and decayed wood. In the clearance that followed the hawthorn was
found to be particularly affected. Beneath the roots some brick foundations
were uncovered comprising a main 14in rear wall and two internal 9in walls
which formed a right angle enclosing a small area oriented north south, open
ended towards the north. It suggests a small storage space. Research has since
disclosed that the walls form part of a wheelwright's shop dateable to the
early 19th century. In 1797 Jeffrey Muggeridge, wheelwright, obtained a licence
from the lord of the manor (then Owen Putland Meyrick) to enclose a piece of
waste land 'adjoining the churchyard and behind the Pound whereon a workshop
now stands'. In 1810, Muggeridge surrendered it to Philip Puttock, wheelwright,
and at the same time there was a licence to enclose two more pieces of land,
one the site of the pound, the other the site of the 'movable workshop of
Edward Polhill, Esq. (Of Morden Park c.
1789-1802). Just south of the workshop area Philip Puttock built a house and a
shop, which was run by his spinster sister, Sarah. The church has in its collection
an engraving (undated) showing what appears to be a sawpit on the north-east
corner of the churchyard. In 1831
Puttock surrendered the whole property to John Walker, wheelwright, subject to
annuity of £38 to Philip Puttock and his sister. Walker was to be admitted to
another small piece of land south of the shop. Sadly, John Walker lost his
young wife, Margaret, who died in November 1833, aged 25. She has a headstone
on the south side of the churchyard.
Church Farm Cottage 1813
. A small rural
weather boarded survival, restored.
Morden Station.
Opened 13th September 1926. It is the
Terminus of the Northern Line from South Wimbledon Built by the City and South
London Railway. The southernmost of Charles Holden's stations on the City and
South London Railway extension. Yet another variation on his theme. It is Approximately 10 miles from central
London. The longest continuous tunnel in the underground system runs from
Morden to East Finchley via Bank a distance of over 17 miles! Morden in 1926 was a rural area and the station was built on open farmland
giving Holden, more space than had been available for the majority of the
stations on the new extension. A parade of shops was incorporated into the
design each side of the imposing station entrance. In 1960 a Three-storey office block added above. The structure had been designed from the
beginning with the intention of enabling upward development. Originally fares
were set low to encourage developments.
By 1970s it was called the ‘misery line’ because of the delays and
violence and robberies on it.
Merton Civic Centre. Formerly
Crown House. Initially this building was a commercial development for Merton
and Morden Urban District Council by A. Green in 1965. This reinforced concrete
complex consists of a curved 15 storey office block in a podium containing
shops office and a public house. It was acquired and re named by Merton in
1985. A three storey council suite and library was added to the front in 1990.
With wind turbines.
Morden
Called ‘Mordune’ in 969 in a spurious Anglo-Saxon
charter.. It is ‘Mordone’ in 1086 in the Domesday Book. Morden 'Mordone', 'mor'
means marsh, 'den' means hill, Morden is the Mound on Scorpio in the Kingston
Zodiac. ‘Moreden’ in 1204, ‘Moorden’ in 1440. It means
'hill in marshy ground', from Old English ‘mor’ and ‘dun’, referring to its
situation on slightly elevated land between the valleys of Beverley Brook and
the River Wandle. It will be noted that the spelling ‘den’ - for the more
historical ‘don’ - occurs from quite an early date.
Mordeb
Hall Roiad
Morden Hall. Little
altered since its construction c. 1770, Morden Hall is a three storey house
flanked by two wings to the north, enclosing a courtyard furnished with a
fountain, set behind modern iron gates. Moated by man-made channels fed from
the Wandle the house is now leased. The
exterior has been deprived of its attraction by later stucco and alterations of
c. 1840. The house lies close to the road, hidden by a tall wall and trees. Three
storeys, the front nine windows wide, the front with four-window centre, and
two long projecting wings flanking a courtyard. An old view shows the centre
with one-storey portico between full-height re-entrant projections now
disguised by later additions. Large entrance hall with mid c18 fireplace;
Palladian staircase around a well; staircase ceiling with mid c18 plaster-work.
Internally
the Hall is quite plain, the entrance doors being transferred to the North side
and leading via a vestibule to the main ground floor hall, which overlooks the
river and lawns. In the centre of the hall is a large fireplace, while the only
other decoration is in the ornate cornices and moulded architraves. A heavily
constructed staircase with massive newels leads to the upper floors. Various
additions have been made to the wings to satisfy the needs of different
occupiers. The Hatfields added a Billiard Room to the East wing, large enough
to take two tables, the walls decorated with the mounted heads of game animals.
Also an extremely ugly recent addition to the West wing. Eighteenth century Gothic.
They evidently had no wish to reside in the wilds of
Surrey whilst they had fashionable town houses in London. Ownership of the Hall
passed to other branches of the family, who in turn leased it on to various
tenants. By 1830 Morden Hall was in the possession of an in-law to the Garth
family, Mr William Lowndes Stone, who leased it for 21 years at £110/10/00 per
year, to the Reverend J and Mr. T. White for the purpose of running an academy
for young gentlemen. An arched belfry was added to the top of the main facade
to house the school bell, which no doubt served to recall the more adventurous
boys from explorations of the rest of the estate. The boarding school tutored
some 75 young men, mainly from London and the Home Counties. The weekly school
journal, The Mordonian Juvenile Gazette, reveals particulars of the pupils'
regime and activities. Naturally end of term was a favourite date in the
Calendar and the issue of June 1849 records that "the amusements which
were kept up in great spirit concluded at 4 a.m. when we retired to our
dormitory". In 1867 Richard Garth M.P. agreed to sell the freehold of
Morden Hall and other properties to Gilliat Hatfeild. The agreed sale took some
time to realize for Hatfeild did not take possession until 1872. The only other
owners were the
Fontain with Statue of
Neptune and Venus,
Morden Hall Farm. Stood oin
the form Library. Dairy cattle grazed in the
water-meadows by the Wandle and milk was produced by the nearby Morden Hall
Farm, which lay on the site which is now Morden Library, until after World War
Two.
Comments