Merton Park
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Merton Park is a quiet, leafy suburb of London halfway between Wimbledon and Morden town centres.
Within Merton Park there are no shops or pubs and community life is centred on the historic St.Mary's Church. The church was founded in the 12th century by the Augustine order - of the nearby Merton Priory - of which only the Western Gate remains.
By the 19th Century the priory had become a private home and was owned by Sir William Hamilton, whose wife, Emma became the mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson. They scandalously set up home together there, at the now-named Merton Place. Nelson and Emma's pew still remains in the church.
With the arrival of the railways in the mid 19th century Merton Park began to develop as an affluent suburb under the direction of the local 'lord of the manor' John Innes. John Innes, who had made his money in the City of London, established a horticultural research centre in Merton Park (now located in Norwich). He had seen the development of other garden suburbs (particularly Bedford Park in Chiswick) and wished to reproduce the same. Over the turn of the 20th century Innes's principal architect Henry Quartermain designed and built a large number of elegant 'Tudor revival' family homes and cottages.
Between World Wars I and II Merton Park quadrupled in size with the building of rows of terraced and semi-detached mock-tudor houses.
The area contains two state schools - Merton Park Primary and Rutlish School (boys).
The former Merton Park railway station is now a Tramlink stop on the line between West Croydon and Wimbledon.