| St Helier | |
|---|---|
 Shops at Green Lane, St Helier | |
  St Helier Location withinGreater London | |
| Population | 11,949 (2011 Census Sutton Ward)[1] 10,414 (2011 Census. Merton Ward)[2] |
| OS grid reference | TQ265664 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MORDEN |
| Postcode district | SM4 |
| Post town | CARSHALTON |
| Postcode district | SM5 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
| 51°22′57″N0°11′01″W / 51.38256°N 0.18361°W /51.38256; -0.18361 | |
St Helier (/ˈhɛliər/)[3] is a residential housing estate in theLondon boroughs ofMerton andSutton. The portion of the estate north of Green Lane and Bishopsford Road is in Merton, the remainder is in Sutton.
The site of the St Helier estate has been connected to long-term charity since the early 17th century. Henry Smith (d. 1627) was a wealthy citizen and salter of London who gave much money to parishes in London and Surrey during his lifetime and in his will. He is buried inWandsworth parish church and is supposed to have been born in Wandsworth. In 1617 he gave £500 towards the purchase of land inCarshalton, the rent of which was to support the poor of Wandsworth. Another £100 bequest came from Mrs. Elizabeth Blackwell. In 1814 the lands were described as being just over 116 acres and having a building, barn and outhouses. The Wandsworth Poor Lands lay on either side of Wrythe Lane at the southernmost part of the St. Helier estate footprint. Another local benefactor was Christopher Muschamp, who died in 1660 and is buried at All Saints, Carshalton. He bequeathed £200 to buy land, the yearly rental of which was to purchase apprenticeships for two poor children who had been born in the parish. Pasture land was bought from Henry Byne in Cannon Sheephouse Lane, which is now known as Green Wrythe Lane.[4] Like the adjoiningSutton Common, most of the area remained semi-rural until the early 20th century.
Though it remained part of Surrey until 1965, the estate was built between 1928 and 1936 by theLondon County Council as anoverspill estate for the re-housing of people from decaying inner London areas.[5] It was designed as agarden city, with landscaping by thelandscape architectEdward Prentice Mawson.
Development was spurred by the opening ofMorden Underground station in 1926, and theWimbledon to Sutton railway line in 1930, with a station atSt Helier. These services provided rapid links into central London for the residents.
The estate was named in honour ofLady St Helier, who was an LCCAlderman from 1910 to 1927. It was the second largest (after theBecontree-Dagenham estate) of a series of'out-county' cottage estates and was based on theGarden City ideas ofEbenezer Howard. The area had previously consisted largely oflavender fields, the last remnants of the famousMitcham lavender industry.
In remembrance of the area's historic ownership byWestminster Abbey, the roads are named in alphabetical order afterMonasteries andAbbeys starting in the north-west with Aberconway Road and ending with Woburn Road in the south-east.
The imposingSt Helier Hospital was opened in 1938.John Major, UKPrime Minister from 1990 to 1997, was born there in 1943.[6]
The estate's Bishop Andrewes Church, in Wigmore Road, was designed by the architectGeddes Hyslop in 1933.[7]
Today ownership of housing on the estate is split between private and local authority, with many people taking advantage of theright to buy scheme since the 1970s. The hospital still exerts an imposing presence on the estate, both economically and physically. Most of the buildings are original and many are still being used for their original purposes. There has some infilling around the outskirts, and the estate now merges into the suburbs of Sutton,Carshalton andMorden.
The area is served by London Bus routes 80, 151, 154, 157, 164, 280, 470, N44, S1, S2 andSt Helier railway station.
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