An old name for Arthur’s Pond, that’s at the corner of Commonside East and Watney’s Road on Mitcham Common, was The Oako.

1953 OS map reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland, reuse CC-BY (NLS)

Other nearby residents have referred to the Pond as Watney’s Pond.

It is possible that Eric Montague started using the name Arthur’s Pond when he researched the history of James Arthur’s New Barns Farm.

In her article ‘A Thirties Childhood in Mitcham’, Irene Bain said:

Summer was a time for picking buttercups, which grew in profusion on the edge of the Common.

“Let’s see if you like butter”, we would say to each other, holding a buttercup beneath chins, where the golden glow always assured an answer of, “Yes!”

We made daisy chains. We climbed trees and played around the Old Oako pond, which was on the opposite side of Watneys Road, the name handed down from generation to generation by children.

It has been suggested by Richard B., another nearby resident, that Old Oako referred to the oak tree, and the pond was just called the Oako.

Her article can be downloaded for free from Merton Historical Society Local History Notes 19.