Merton Park

Merton Park is a suburb in the London Borough of Merton. It is situated in Wimbledon. Bordering areas are Colliers Wood, Morden, South Wimbledon and Raynes Park. It is 7.25 miles (11.7 km) southwest of Charing Cross.It lies 2.8 miles east of Kingston upon Thames, 3 miles west of Mitcham and 4.5 miles north of Sutton.

Residential Roads in Merton Park include: Dorset Road (B285), Hartfield Road (B285), Mostyn Road (B2850), Kenley Road, Windermere Avenue, Sandbourne Avenue, Gladstone Road, Russell Road, Pelham Road, Merton Road (A219), The Broadway (A219), Poplar Road, Cannon Hill Lane (In SW20), Aylward Road (In SW20). Several of these are named after former Prime Ministers.

History
Until the last quarter of the 19th century, the parish of Merton was mainly rural. The area now known as Merton Park was farm land owned by City merchant John Innes who was the local "lord of the manor". The rapid development of Wimbledon to the north encouraged Innes to develop his land for housing. He took as his model the garden suburbs (particularly Bedford Park in Chiswick) and developed the tree-lined roads of detached and semi-detached houses for which the area is known.

The northern section of Merton Park each side of Kingston Road (A238) and Below Dorset Road to the B286 are now conservation areas.

Government
A notable feature of the Merton Park ward is that it regularly returns Merton Park Ward Independent Residents to Merton London Borough Council. Five MPWRA have also been Deputy Mayor of Merton: Peter Southgate in 2005/06, Krysia Williams in 2008/09, Karin Forbes in 2009/10, John Sargeant in 2013/14 and Edward Foley 2019/20.

The John Innes Society is a charity that promotes good design and area embellishment in Merton Park.

Geography
The approximate boundaries of the Merton Park area can be considered to be The Broadway (A219) to the north, Morden Road (A24) to the east, Martin Way to the south and Cannon Hill Lane to the west. Additionally, the area north of Kingston Road between Merton Hall Road, Avebury Road and Kingswood Road is often included. This definition of the area does not correspond directly with the Local Government ward of the same name which for administrative convenience includes areas as far south as Morden South railway station.

The area contains two state schools: Merton Park Primary and Rutlish School (boys) and is almost entirely residential in character without shops or pubs except a bar at the Old Rutlishians ('Old Ruts') playing field and clubhouse in Poplar Road.

Merton Park is relatively rich in public transport, being served by National Rail, London Underground, and London Trams.

The area is served by Wimbledon Railway Station with access to the District Line, South Western Railway, Thameslink and Southern Services, Wimbledon Chase Railway Station, (located just outside the area), and South Merton Railway Station, both providing a 2 t.p.h. Thameslink service towards Central London or Sutton.

Morden tube station provides access to the Northern Line.

Wimbledon station provides access to London Waterloo and the District line.

The London Trams also serve the area from Merton Park tram stop.

The area is centred on the historic parish church, St Mary's. The church was founded in the 12th century by the Augustinian order of the nearby Merton Priory of which only the Western Gate remains.

Parks in the area include:


 * John Innes Park & Recreation Ground
 * Mostyn Gardens
 * Kendor Gardens
 * Church Lane Playing Fields
 * St Mary's Glebe

Notable people

 * John Dimmer, recipient of the Victoria Cross in 1914, lived here.
 * Folk singer Sandy Denny was born in the Nelson Hospital.
 * Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones lived on Mostyn Road after they moved back to the UK from America in 1986. They left the area in 1991.