Merton Abbey is an area in southwest

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. It lies between South Wimbledon and

Colliers Wood Colliers Wood is an area in south west London, England, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a mostly residential area, but has a busy high street around Colliers Wood tube station on London Underground's Northern line. The high street is pa ...

in the

London Borough of Merton The London Borough of Merton () 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 ...

. Merton Abbey takes its name from

Merton Priory Merton Priory was an English Augustinian priory founded in 1114 by Gilbert Norman, Sheriff of Surrey under King Henry I (1100–1135). It was situated within the manor of Merton in the county of Surrey, in what is today the Colliers Wood ...

, which once stood on the northern edge of the district. The area is bounded by Merton High Street to the north, the

River Wandle The River Wandle is a right-bank tributary of the River Thames in south London, England. With a total length of about , the river passes through the London boroughs of London Borough of Croydon, Croydon, London Borough of Sutton, Sutton, Londo ...

to the west, Christchurch Road to the east and Deen City Farm to the south. Despite the area being considered by many to be part of neighbouring Colliers Wood, most of Merton Abbey falls within Merton's "Lavender Fields" ward. The area is within the

SW postcode area The SW (South Western) postcode area, also known as the London SW postcode area, is a group of 20 postcode districts within the London postal district, London post town in England. The area comprises the South Western operational district (cover ...

History

Most of what is now the Merton Abbey residential area fell within the grounds of

. The priory was founded by Gilbert Norman, the

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

in 1114 and was built on the southern edge of the

Roman Road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

known as

Stane Street Stane Street is the modern name of the Roman road in southern England that linked ''Londinium'' (London) to ''Noviomagus Reginorum'' (Chichester). The exact date of construction is uncertain; however, on the basis of archaeological artefacts ...

. Merton Priory remained an important centre of learning in the area until it was sacked by

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...

in 1538. Surviving sections of the old priory wall can still be found in many of the area's gardens, especially near Liberty Avenue. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the ruins of the sacked priory were gradually replaced by mills as heavy industry developed along the

. The south of the neighbourhood consisted mainly of lavender fields. In the 18th century, the river itself was diverted from its original course and many waterways were created to drive the multitude of silk mills and bleaching works that had sprung up along this portion of the Wandle Valley. To assist the local industries, the world's first railway line, the

Surrey Iron Railway The Surrey Iron Railway (SIR) was a horse-drawn narrow-gauge plateway that linked Wandsworth and Croydon via Mitcham, all then in Surrey but now suburbs of south London, in England. It was established by Act of Parliament in 1801, and opened p ...

opened in 1803 and ran up what is now Christchurch Road. The line closed in 1838. Merton Abbey, as a residential suburb, was developed in the 1930s, sitting to the south of the Liberty Print Works and Merton Board Mills. The neighbourhood was extended to the south with the addition of Brangwyn Crescent and neighbouring cul-de-sacs in the 1980s. This period also witnessed the demolition of Merton Board Mills, which was replaced by the Sainsbury's Savacentre. Merton Abbey station and railway line were also removed at this time (1989) and the line was replaced by the Merton relief road, Merantun Way. Liberty Print Works were eventually refurbished and converted into the Merton Abbey Mills craft village. In recent years, the remainder of the

brownfield site Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...

to the east of Merton Abbey Mills has been developed into a residential complex which includes luxury apartments, a hotel, a gymnasium and several restaurants.

Transport

The area sits equidistantly between

and South Wimbledon stations on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...

. Frequent buses connect the neighbourhood to Wimbledon town centre, as well as

Morden 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, London, Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton, Londo ...

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The name is of Anglo-Saxon ori ...

and

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

Wimbledon station Wimbledon is an interchange station in the centre of Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon for London Underground, Tramlink, London Trams and National Rail services, and is the only station in London that provides an interchange between the London Underg ...

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road tube station (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines), Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One br ...

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

and

Tramlink Tramlink, previously Croydon Tramlink and currently branded as London Trams, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It is the first operational tram system serving the London region since 195 ...

services are located a mile and a half to the northwest. Until it was closed in March 1929, the area was served by

Merton Abbey railway station Merton Abbey was a railway station in Merton on the Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway. It was opened in 1868 and closed on 1 January 1917. It was reopened by the Southern Railway (SR) on 27 August 1923. When the City & South London Railwa ...

on the now defunct 'Merton Branch Line' between Merton Park railway station and Tooting Junction.

Neighbouring areas

* South Wimbledon *

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

Trivia

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

police drama

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

's "Sunhill Police Station" is located in Merton Industrial Park just across the River Wandle in neighbouring South Wimbledon. *The section of the River Wandle through Merton Abbey is a man-made diversion, constructed in the 18th century. The original river still flows beneath Liberty Avenue (once a river path) and turns north before Christchurch Road, resurfacing at Runnymede where it is now known as the Pickle Ditch before rejoining the modern river at the northeast corner of Sainsbury's. *Merton Abbey's original telephone exchange code in the London director area was "542" (now "(020) 8542"). Before the advent of

subscriber trunk dialling Subscriber trunk dialling (STD), also known as subscriber toll dialing, is a telephone numbering plan feature and telecommunications technology in the United Kingdom and various Commonwealth countries for the dialling of trunk calls by telephon ...

, the area's alpha-numeric code was "LIB", named after the local mill and written as, for example, "LIBerty 1234". On the old

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

telephone dials, the letters "LIB" corresponded to the numbers "542", hence the modern exchange code.

References

{{London Districts Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Merton