Mitcham

For other places with the same name, see Mitcham (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 51°24′03″N 0°09′06″W / 51.4009°N 0.1517°W / 51.4009; -0.1517

Mitcham
Mitcham  Mitcham shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ285685
London borough	Merton
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MITCHAM
Postcode district	CR4
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	SW17
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Mitcham and Morden
London Assembly	Merton and Wandsworth
List of places: UK • England • London

Mitcham is a district in the south west area of London, in the London Borough of Merton. A suburban area, Mitcham is located on the border of Inner London and Outer London. It is both residentially and financially developed, well served by Transport for London, and home to Mitcham Town Centre, Mitcham Library, and Mitcham Cricket Green. Nearby districts include Streatham, Tooting, Morden, Sutton, and Croydon.

Location

Mitcham is on the east side of the London Borough of Merton and is bounded by the London Borough of Wandsworth, the London Borough of Croydon, the London Borough of Lambeth and the London Borough of Sutton. Mitcham is close to Wimbledon, Croydon, Streatham and Tooting. 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 had never been well served by railway, due to its being equidistant between the historic lines of Waterloo to Southampton and London Bridge to Brighton. A recent addition of Mitcham Eastfields railway station in June 2008, nearer to the centre of the town than Mitcham Junction, on the same line, has improved transport links. It is the first suburban station to be built in 50 years in the area. The station serves routes to London Victoria, Blackfriars and London Bridge, and by changing at Streatham 5 minutes away, makes St Albans and Bedford and Luton airport within reach by direct trains. An 18th century milestone on Figges Marsh indicates Mitcham to be 8.5 miles from Whitehall.

History

The toponym "Mitcham" is Old English in origin and believed^{[by whom?]} to mean big settlement. Before the Romans and Saxons were present, there was a Celtic settlement in the area, with evidence of a hill fort 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 Church of England parish church of St Peter and St Paul dates from the Saxon era. Although it was mostly rebuilt in 1819–21, the current building retains the original Saxon tower. The Domesday Book of 1086 lists Mitcham 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.

The Domesday Book records Mitcham 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 (23 ha) of meadow. It rendered £4 5s 4d.^[1]

Potter & Moore aftershave, made with Mitcham lavender

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. The 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.

There were many lavender fields in Mitcham, and peppermint and lavender oils were also distilled there. In 1749 two local physic gardeners, John Potter and William Moore, founded a company to make and market toiletries made from locally-grown herbs and flowers.^[2] Lavender features on Merton Council's coat of arms and the badge of the local football team, Tooting & Mitcham United F.C., as well as in the name of a local council ward, Lavender Field.

Mitcham was industrialised 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. Asprey, suppliers of luxury goods made from various materials, was founded in Mitcham as a silk-printing business in 1781. William Morris opened a factory on the River Wandle at Merton Abbey. Merton Abbey Mills were the Liberty silk-printing works. It is now a craft village and its waterwheel has been preserved.

The activity along the Wandle led to the building of the Surrey Iron Railway, the World's first public railway, in 1803. The decline and failure 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.

Mitcham became a borough on 19 September 1934 with the charter of incorporation being presented to the 84-year old mayor, Mr. R.M. Chart, by the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, Lord Ashcombe.^[3]

Mitcham's population

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
no census was held due to war census data no longer relates to parish boundaries
source: UK census

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 cheaper more affordable housing. The largest council housing project in Mitcham is Phipps Bridge Estate. 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.

Demographics

Population - 47,500

Ethnicities

White - 47.5%

White: British 35

White: Irish 2.8

White: Other White 9.7

Mixed - 3.9%

Mixed: White and Black Caribbean 1.5

Mixed: White and Black African 0.7

Mixed: White and Asian 0.9

Mixed: Other Mixed 0.8

Asian or Asian British - 19.5%

Asian or Asian British: Indian 5.3

Asian or Asian British: Pakistani 4.6

Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi 3.4

Asian or Asian British: Other Asian 6.2

Black or Black British - 23.5%

Black or Black British: Caribbean 10.4

Black or Black British: African 10.8

Black or Black British: Other Black 2.3

Chinese or other ethnic group - 5.6%

Chinese or other ethnic group: Chinese 2.5

Chinese or other ethnic group: Other ethnic group 3.1

Religion: Christian: 57.9%, Hindu: 5.9%, Muslim: 11.5% Other: 24.7%

Gender: Male: 48.6%, Female: 51.4%

Notable buildings

• The Canons, built in 1680.
• 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.
• 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 circa 1865-86 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 on Locks Lane until 1991, when the company moved its operations to Liverpool. The factory was featured in three 1950s British Pathe News shorts. The building has lent its name to the area where it stood, Renshaw Corner.
• Mitcham Greyhound Stadium, which has long^[when?] been demolished.
• Poulters Park, Home to Mitcham Rugby Union Football Club
• Imperial Fields, Tooting & Mitcham United F.C.'s home ground.

Notable residents

• Jo Brand – comedienne: lived in Mitcham
• Steve Brookstein – winner of the first series of TV talent show The X Factor.
• Roy Budd – jazz musician
• Ambrose Crowley – ironmaster
• John Donne – Jacobean poet.
• M.I.A. – singer, songwriter and rapper.
• Master Shortie – MC
• Michael Fielding – The Mighty Boosh comedian – Noel's younger brother
• Noel Fielding – The Mighty Boosh comedian
• Mike Fillery – footballer
• David Gibson – cricketer
• Neil Howlett – opera singer, born in Mitcham
• Maxwell Knight – spymaster
• Chris Powell – manager of League One football club Charlton Athletic and former footballer, grew up in Mitcham.
• Annie Ross – jazz singer
• Slick Rick – rapper: born in Mitcham but moved to the Bronx, New York aged 10.
• Shane Smeltz – New Zealand footballer: lived in Mitcham when he played for AFC Wimbledon
• Alex Stepney – former Manchester United footballer and 1968 European Cup winner
• Herbert Strudwick – cricket wicket-keeper
• John Mosely Turner – supercentenarian
• William Allison White – recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Faryadi Sarwar Zardad – Afghan warlord. Later tried for war crimes, convicted and imprisoned.
• Mud^{[citation needed]} – glam rock group

Transport and locale

Nearest places

• Pollards Hill
• Beddington
• Sutton
• Carshalton
• Morden
• Norbury
• Streatham
• Thornton Heath
• Tooting
• Croydon
• Colliers Wood

Nearest stations

• Mitcham Eastfields station
• Mitcham Junction station
• Mitcham tram station
• Tooting railway station
• Tooting Broadway tube station
• Colliers Wood tube station
• Norbury railway station
• Streatham Common railway station

Recent developments

A new railway station, Mitcham Eastfields railway station in the area of Eastfields, opened on Monday 2 June 2008. This is located at Eastfields Road level crossing, about a mile to the north of Mitcham Junction. The station has filled in a gap in the rail system and serves the centre of Mitcham more directly.

References

1. ^ Surrey Domesday Book
2. ^ "Once upon a time...". Potter & Moore. Potter & Moore. http://www.potterandmoore.com/. Retrieved 26 September 2011. 
3. ^ Daily Mirror page 13, September 19, 1934

• "The Town Of Mitcham". The Wandle Valley Railway - Reflections. http://www3.sympatico.ca/lsw.lbsc/MITCHAM.HTM. Retrieved 2005-05-16. 
• "Merry Making at Mitcham". University of Sheffield National Fairground Archive. Archived from the original on 2004-12-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20041221055635/http://www.shef.ac.uk/nfa/history/worlds_fair/articles/mitcham.php. Retrieved 2005-05-16. 
• "Making Merton". London Borough of Merton - Making Merton. http://www.merton.gov.uk/history/makingmerton.htm. Retrieved 2005-05-16. 
• "A Brief History of Merton by John Precedo: Part 1 - Romans to the Norman Conquest". Tooting Website - History. http://pages.britishlibrary.net/rhavy/heugont.html. Retrieved 2005-05-16. 
• "Mitcham". The Surrey Choicenet Website. http://web.ukonline.co.uk/honor.m/towns/mitcham/mitcham.html. Retrieved 2005-05-16. 
• "The 'Canons' Mitcham". by E.N. Montague. http://shrinkster.com/am9. Retrieved 2006-01-07. 
• "North Mitcham". by E.N. Montague. http://shrinkster.com/ama. Retrieved 2006-01-07. 
• "Historic River Wandle: Phipps Bridge to Morden Hall". by E.N. Montague. http://shrinkster.com/amb. Retrieved 2006-01-07. 

External links

• Mitcham Art - Artists Studios Open to the Puplic
• Gospel Hall Mitcham Junction
• Mitcham Korfball Club
• Mitcham - 1911 Encyclopædia article
• Merton Borough Council
• Mitcham Rugby Union Football Club
• Tooting & Mitcham United Football Club
• A Mitcham Walk
• GENUKI: UK & Ireland Genealogy : Mitcham