Author Archives: Wade

Gorringe Park House

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Clip from Merton Memories photo, reference Mit_​Churches_​3-1, copyright London Borough of Merton

This photo shows the conservatory to the left, and the part of the curved drive leading to the entrance. Both of these features can be seen on this 1911 OS map:

1911 OS map

According to Eric Montague in his Mitcham Histories : 2 North Mitcham, page 91:

Built on the site of Biggin Farm, Gorringe Park House, was a substantial three-storied three-bay brick and slate roofed mansion in the modified version of the Italianate style which had become popular in the 1850s. The farmyard, complete with its piggeries, rickyard and barns, was retained, but the meadows and orchards in the immediate vicinity of the house were transformed to form gardens and parkland.

William John Harris, for whom the new house seems to have been built … in the 1871 census his occupation was listed as ‘Landed Proprietor’ and in the 1881 census stated his ‘Income From Land House Property’ … was related to the Moore family.

Maps are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.

1960 : Glad Farewell to Nissen Huts

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From the Mitcham News & Mercury, 29th April 1960

Home … but not for much longer for the occupiers of this Nissen hut at Wide Way. Until recently there were many homes like this on the site.

The last families on Mitcham’s largest Nissen hut colony on Wide Way will soon be saying a glad farewell to the dwellings they call home.
They are the last of 60 families who have lived in the galvanised huts on a muddy site littered with bricks, glass and old car parts for as long as eight years.

But nearly all have tried to make a home of the huts until better places are found for them.

One mother of six boys between the ages of 15 months and 11 years said she found it almost impossible to bring up a family in such conditions. But she had tried, and gay curtains decorated the small windows of the hut.

BROKEN WINDOWS

Another woman with four young children is looking forward to moving to a house with a small garden.

“As long as I have somewhere where they can play without wandering away or getting lost, I won’t mind,” she said stop

“The garages in nearby houses are in better condition and more habitable than these huts,” said another woman. But I’m one of the lucky ones – I am moving this week.”

At present there are fewer than a dozen families living on the site. The empty huts have become a playground for children who have added to the chaos by breaking windows and defacing the walls.