Merton | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Coat of arms  Council logo | |
| Motto(s): Stand Fast in Honour and Strength | |
 Merton shown withinGreater London | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | London |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Created | 1 April 1965 |
| Admin HQ | Civic Centre Morden |
| Government | |
| • Type | London borough council |
| • Body | Merton London Borough Council |
| • London Assembly | Leonie Cooper (Lab) AM forMerton and Wandsworth |
| • MPs | Paul Kohler (Lib Dem) Siobhain McDonagh (Labour) |
| Area | |
• Total | 14.52 sq mi (37.61 km2) |
| • Rank | 266th(of 296) |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 214,709 |
| • Rank | 90th(of 296) |
| • Density | 15,000/sq mi (5,700/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| Postcodes | |
| Area code | 020 |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-MRT |
| ONS code | 00BA |
| GSS code | E09000024 |
| Police | Metropolitan Police |
| Website | http://www.merton.gov.uk |
TheLondon Borough of Merton (/ˈmɜːrtən/ ⓘ) is aLondon borough inLondon,England. The borough was formed under theLondon Government Act 1963 in 1965 by the merger of theMunicipal Borough of Mitcham, theMunicipal Borough of Wimbledon and theMerton and Morden Urban District, all formerly withinSurrey.
The main commercial centres in Merton areMitcham,Morden andWimbledon, of which Wimbledon is the largest. Other smaller centres includeRaynes Park,Colliers Wood,South Wimbledon andWimbledon Park. The borough is the host of theWimbledon tournament, one oftennis'sGrand Slam competitions.
The borough derives its name from the historic parish ofMerton which was centred on the area now known asSouth Wimbledon. The local authority isMerton London Borough Council, which is based inMorden.
The area of the modern borough broadly corresponds to the fourancient parishes ofMerton,Mitcham,Morden, andWimbledon, all of which were historically in the county ofSurrey.
The parish of Wimbledon was made alocal government district in 1866. Such districts were converted intourban districts under theLocal Government Act 1894. The Wimbledon Urban District was subsequently incorporated to become themunicipal borough ofWimbledon in 1905.[1][2]
Merton was made an urban district in 1907, which was enlarged in 1913 to take in neighbouring Morden, becoming theMerton and Morden Urban District.[3] Mitcham was made an urban district in 1915, which was incorporated to become the municipal borough ofMitcham in 1934.[4]
The modern borough was created in 1965 under theLondon Government Act 1963, covering the combined area of the former boroughs of Mitcham and Wimbledon and the Merton and Morden Urban District. The area was transferred from Surrey to Greater London to become one of the 32 London Boroughs.[5]
The name Merton for the borough was chosen as a compromise, following a dispute between Wimbledon and Mitcham over the new borough's name.
Areas in the borough include:
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The local authority is Merton Council, based atMerton Civic Centre in Morden.
Since 2000, for elections to theLondon Assembly, the borough forms part of theMerton and Wandsworth constituency.
Merton Park Studios, opened in 1929, was a British film production studio located at Long Lodge, 269, Kingston Road in Merton Park, South London. In the 1940s, it was owned by Piprodia Entertainment, Nikhanj Films and Film Producers Guild.
Many second-feature films were produced at Merton Park, and for a time it was the base of Radio Luxembourg. Unlike many other studios, it remained open during World War II, producing films for the Ministry of Information. In the late 1940s, the studios produced several children's films.
In 1950, Anglo-Amalgamated began making films at Merton Park. From 1957 to 1959, they produced an average of one second-feature a month there. They produced the crime series Scotland Yard (1953 to 1961, 39 half-hour features), The Edgar Wallace Mysteries (1960 to 1965, 47 hour-long features) and The Scales of Justice (1962 to 1967, 13 half-hour features) at Merton Park. The first film in the Carry On series, Carry On Sergeant (1958), was shot there. The last film made at Merton Park, in March 1967, was from The Scales of Justice series, called Payment in Kind. Outside filming often took place locally. The straight part of the Merton Spur dual carriageway at Wimbledon Chase, was often used for police chases!
Merton Park Studios apart, a lot of filming for formerITV police dramaThe Bill took place in Merton, particularly in the districts ofMitcham andColliers Wood. The set ofSun Hill police station was also located in the Borough. Ray Austin, born at 9, Abbey Road, Merton, on the 5 December 1932, is an English television and film director, television writer, novelist and former stunt performer and actor who worked in both the United Kingdom and the United States. He filmed episodes ofThe Avengers andThe Saint in and around Merton. He served as director on episodes of some 150 programs between 1968 and 2010.
The main local newspaper in Merton is theWimbledon Times (recently changed name from Wimbledon Guardian). This newspaper was founded in 1977 by a former Conservative councillor on Merton Council, but since then the paper has been sold on and it is now widely published in different editions across South London. The newspaper is available free, though there is a charge if bought from a newsagent. It is published each Friday. There was an earlier local newspaper known as the Wimbledon Borough News.
Notable businesses with their headquarters in Merton including:
London's Poverty Profile (a 2017 report byTrust for London and theNew Policy Institute) found that 40% of Merton's 19-year-olds lack level 3 qualifications. This is the 5th worst figure out of 32 London boroughs.[7]
Merton is served by a wide range of National Rail stations across the borough, as well as the southern tip ofLondon Underground'sNorthern line and theDistrict line on the Wimbledon branch. The borough is also served by severalTramlink stops from Wimbledon, that goes toCroydon,New Addington,Elmers End andBeckenham. It is the only London Borough which has tube, rail and tram services.
London Underground stations
Tramlink stops
National Rail stations
In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: driving a car or van, 19.2% of all residents aged 16–74; underground, metro, light rail, tram, 13.0%; train, 13.0%; bus, minibus or coach, 7.5%; on foot, 5.0%; work mainly at or from home, 3.4%; bicycle, 2.4%.[8]
In 2001, thecensus recorded that 25% of the population of the borough was from anethnic minority. The highest ethnic populations were recorded in wards in the east of the borough inMitcham,Eastfields andPollards Hill. The percentage of population from ethnic minorities is predicted to rise across the borough within the next decade.
A report byTrust for London and theNew Policy Institute found that Merton had a poverty rate of 14% in 2020, the 2nd lowest rate in London. It also found that the 2023 level of pay inequality in Merton is lower than in any other borough, except Kingston.[9][10]
According to the council's comparative assessment of wards made in 2004, the most deprived wards within the borough were in the south and east where unemployment rates, educational attainment and the quality of health were worst. The most affluent wards were in the north and west of the borough.
Comparative crime rates appear to be unrelated to the deprivation ranking of wards. The wards containingMitcham town centre and theSt Helier Estate are ranked highest for crime within Merton with the wards containing the commercial shopping centres ofColliers Wood andWimbledon also featuring high in the ranking.
The constituency area ofWimbledon is an affluent area ofLondon with a high proportion of city workers, whileMitcham and Morden is relatively deprived by comparison, which explains the geographical split of political representation of the borough at both national and local elections.
Merton currently operates a Police Cadet scheme under the Metropolitan Police Service.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1801 | 4,831 | — |
| 1811 | 5,656 | +17.1% |
| 1821 | 6,433 | +13.7% |
| 1831 | 6,652 | +3.4% |
| 1841 | 7,364 | +10.7% |
| 1851 | 7,334 | −0.4% |
| 1861 | 14,118 | +92.5% |
| 1871 | 20,901 | +48.0% |
| 1881 | 27,684 | +32.5% |
| 1891 | 41,318 | +49.2% |
| 1901 | 63,273 | +53.1% |
| 1911 | 96,895 | +53.1% |
| 1921 | 122,245 | +26.2% |
| 1931 | 154,267 | +26.2% |
| 1941 | 174,151 | +12.9% |
| 1951 | 196,599 | +12.9% |
| 1961 | 187,074 | −4.8% |
| 1971 | 178,023 | −4.8% |
| 1981 | 165,098 | −7.3% |
| 1991 | 171,808 | +4.1% |
| 2001 | 187,908 | +9.4% |
| 2011 | 199,693 | +6.3% |
| Note:[11] | ||
| Ethnic Group | Year | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 estimations[12] | 1981 estimations[13] | 1991 census[14] | 2001 census[15] | 2011 census[16] | 2021 census[17] | |||||||
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| White: Total | – | 94.4% | 146,376 | 89.3% | 141,093 | 83.7% | 140,883 | 74.97% | 129,606 | 64.8% | 129,617 | 60.2% |
| White:British | – | – | – | – | – | – | 120,378 | 64.1% | 96,658 | 48.4% | 88,673 | 41.2% |
| White:Irish | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5,464 | 2.9% | 4,417 | 2.2% | 4,337 | 2.0% |
| White:Gypsy or Irish Traveller | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 216 | 0.1% | 194 | 0.1% |
| White: Roma | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 813 | 0.4% |
| White:Other | – | – | – | – | – | – | 15,041 | 8.0% | 28,315 | 14.1% | 35,600 | 16.5% |
| Asian or Asian British: Total | – | – | – | – | 14,688 | 8.7% | 23,292 | 12.4% | 36,143 | 17.9% | 40,019 | 18.6% |
| Asian or Asian British:Indian | – | – | – | – | 5751 | 8,043 | % | 8,106 | 4.0% | 9,607 | 4.5% | |
| Asian or Asian British:Pakistani | – | – | – | – | 2241 | 4,504 | % | 7,337 | 3.6% | 9,667 | 4.5% | |
| Asian or Asian British:Bangladeshi | – | – | – | – | 882 | 1,702 | % | 2,216 | 1.1% | 2,470 | 1.1% | |
| Asian or Asian British:Chinese | – | – | – | – | 1216 | 2,485 | % | 2,618 | 1.3% | 3,615 | 1.7% | |
| Asian or Asian British: Other Asian | – | – | – | – | 4598 | 6,558 | % | 15,866 | 7.9% | 14,660 | 6.8% | |
| Black or Black British: Total | – | – | – | – | 9,657 | 5.7% | 14,626 | 7.7% | 20,811 | 10.6% | 22,887 | 10.6% |
| Black or Black British:African | – | – | – | – | 3314 | 6,976 | % | 10,442 | 5.2% | 12,218 | 5.7% | |
| Black or Black British:Caribbean | – | – | – | – | 4899 | 6,438 | % | 8,126 | 4.0% | 7,632 | 3.5% | |
| Black or Black British:Other Black | – | – | – | – | 1444 | 1,212 | % | 2,243 | 1.1% | 3,037 | 1.4% | |
| Mixed or British Mixed: Total | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5,869 | 3.1% | 9,334 | 4.5% | 12,765 | 5.9% |
| Mixed: White and Black Caribbean | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,630 | % | 2,579 | 1.2% | 3,009 | 1.4% |
| Mixed: White and Black African | – | – | – | – | – | – | 734 | % | 1,279 | 0.6% | 1,722 | 0.8% |
| Mixed: White and Asian | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,918 | % | 2,829 | 1.4% | 3,756 | 1.7% |
| Mixed: Other Mixed | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,587 | % | 2,647 | 1.3% | 4,278 | 2.0% |
| Other: Total | – | – | – | – | 3032 | 1.8% | 3,238 | % | 3,799 | 1.8% | 9,899 | 4.6% |
| Other: Arab | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,413 | 0.7% | 1,923 | 0.9% |
| Other: Any other ethnic group | – | – | – | – | 3032 | 3,238 | % | 2,386 | 1.1% | 7,976 | 3.7% | |
| Ethnic minority: Total | – | 5.6% | 17,472 | 10.7% | 27,377 | 16.2% | 47,025 | 25.0% | 70,033 | 35.2% | 85,570 | 39.8% |
| Total | – | 100% | 163,848 | 100% | 168,470 | 100% | 187,908 | 100.00% | 199,693 | 100.00% | 215,187 | 100% |
Each yearThe Championships, Wimbledon, better known as simply Wimbledon, one of the four tennisGrand Slam tournaments (along with theUS,French andAustralian Opens) is held at theAll England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Church RoadWimbledon. The event takes place over a fortnight at the end of June and beginning of July and is the largest annual sporting event to take place in theUnited Kingdom with over 200,000 visitors during the Wimbledon fortnight.
The borough gained a football team in 1889 whenWimbledon Old Centrals were founded, and were soon a member of the local football leagues.[18] The club later adopted the titleWimbledon FC and moved into a new stadium atPlough Lane in 1912, where it would spend the next 79 years. As the 20th century wore on, the club enjoyed considerable success in non-league football.[19] The club was elected to theFootball League in 1977[20] and enjoyed a great run of success when began in 1983 with theFourth Division title, and saw them reach theFirst Division in 1986 – a mere nine years after joining the Football League. They quickly established themselves in the highest division of English football, and as clear underdogs, pulled off a shock win in the1988 FA Cup Final againstLiverpool,England's most successful and dominant club side in Europe during that era.[21] They were founder members of theFA Premier League in 1992[22] and survived at that level until 2000, before relocating toMilton Keynes, some 70 miles away inBuckinghamshire, in a controversial move in 2003, being rebranded asMilton Keynes Dons in 2004. The club had left its Plough Lane stadium in 1991 to ground-share withCrystal Palace atSelhurst Park, with numerous plans to build a new stadium in a number of different locations (including back in London and even inDublin orCardiff) being considered over the following decade before the club's owners chose Milton Keynes as their destination.
However, a new Wimbledon club –AFC Wimbledon – was formed to represent the local area in 2002 by fans of the original club after the move to Milton Keynes was given the go-ahead. The new Wimbledon club's progress was rapid, and after just nine years in existence they won promotion to the Football League in 2011.[23] The club gained permission in 2016 it to build anew stadium back on Plough Lane, using the former Greyhound Stadium around a hundred yards from its old stadium site and still within the London Borough of Merton. In 2018 the final agreements were signed off and demolition work started on the site (for both stadium and 600 flats) in April 2018. Building was completed for the 2020–21 season.[24][25][26] The first competitive game in front of fans was played on 14 August 2021, a 3–3 draw againstBolton Wanderers.
The borough also has fivenon-League football clubs:Colliers Wood United F.C. who play at Wibbandune Sports Ground;Raynes Park Vale F.C. who play at Prince George's Fields;Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. who play at Imperial Fields, Morden; and Merton Forest F.C. who also play at Prince George's Fields and a Celebrity Fundraising Football team –Celeb FC who play all over the UK without charge for small UK charities.
TheTalkback Thames television studio on Deer Park Road was used as Sun Hill Police Station in theITV police dramaThe Bill from its inception in 1984 until it was axed in 2010.[citation needed]
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The following people and military units have received theFreedom of the Borough of Merton.
51°23′N0°10′W / 51.383°N 0.167°W /51.383; -0.167
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