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Merton Park
Merton Park is an area in London Borough of Merton. Bordering areas are Colliers Wood, Morden, South Wimbledon and Raynes Park. It is 7.25 miles (11.67 km) southwest of Charing Cross. It lies 2.8 miles (4.5 km) east of Kingston upon Thames, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Mitcham and 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north of Sutton.
Farmland in the area was bought by John Innes in 1864 and developed in the following decades. Innes provided in his will for his home, the Manor House, to become what is now the John Innes Centre which remains a leading centre for plant genetics albeit now in Norwich. While in Merton it created new plant varieties such as the ‘Merton Thornless’ blackberry and the Malling-Merton (MM) series of apple rootstocks, as well as John Innes composts.
Until the last quarter of the 19th century, the parish of Merton was mainly rural. The area now known as Merton Park was farmland bought by City wine merchant John Innes in 1864 following the rapid development of Wimbledon to the north. He took as his model the garden suburbs (particularly Bedford Park in Chiswick) and between 1870 and 1904 developed the tree-lined roads of detached and semi-detached houses for which the area is known.
Innes bought Manor Farm for his own home, and in the 1890s had it rebuilt as the Manor House by architect Henry Goodall Quartermain. Around 1872, Innes became Lord of the manor of Merton. After his death in 1904 he left most of the grounds of the Manor House to be converted into a public park, with the rest becoming the John Innes Horticultural Institution . The first director was William Bateson, who had coined the word "genetics" and would found The Genetics Society in 1919. The geneticist J. B. S. Haldane worked part-time at the Institution from 1927 to 1937. When Sir Alfred Daniel Hall became director after Bateson's death in 1926, one of his earliest tasks was to appoint as assistant director "a man of high quality in the study of genetics" as Hall lacked a background in genetics. Upon the recommendation of Julian Huxley, the council appointed Haldane in March 1927, with the terms: "Mr. Haldane to visit the Institution fortnightly for a day and a night during the Cambridge terms, to put in two months also at Easter and long vacations in two continuous blocks and to be free in the Christmas vacation." He was officer in charge of Genetical Investigations. Haldane was credited with helping the John Innes become "the liveliest place for research in genetics in Britain".
The genetics research of Dorothea De Winton and Haldane required the reliable cultivation of large numbers of primulas; after large losses in the 1933-34 season William Lawrence and John Newell formulated composts that would give consistently good and reliable results. In 1938 they published their recipes for what became known as John Innes composts. New fruit varieties released by the Institution included the blackberries ‘Merton Early’ (1936) and ‘Merton Thornless’ (1941), and the Malling-Merton (MM) series of apple rootstocks. The Institution moved to Bayfordbury, Hertfordshire, in 1950 and subsequently to Norwich, where it is now known as the John Innes Centre.
A notable feature of the Merton Park ward is that it regularly returns Merton Park Ward Independent Residents to Merton London Borough Council. Five MPWRA have also been Deputy Mayor of Merton: Peter Southgate in 2005/06, Krysia Williams in 2008/09, Karin Forbes in 2009/10, John Sargeant in 2013/14 and Edward Foley 2019/20.
The John Innes Society is a charity that promotes good design and area embellishment in Merton Park.
The approximate boundaries of the Merton Park area can be considered to be The Broadway (A219) to the north, Morden Road (A24) to the east, Martin Way to the south and Cannon Hill Lane to the west. Additionally, the area north of Kingston Road between Merton Hall Road, Avebury Road and Kingswood Road is often included. This definition of the area does not correspond directly with the Local Government ward of the same name which for administrative convenience includes areas as far south as Morden South railway station.
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Merton Park
Merton Park is an area in London Borough of Merton. Bordering areas are Colliers Wood, Morden, South Wimbledon and Raynes Park. It is 7.25 miles (11.67 km) southwest of Charing Cross. It lies 2.8 miles (4.5 km) east of Kingston upon Thames, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Mitcham and 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north of Sutton.
Farmland in the area was bought by John Innes in 1864 and developed in the following decades. Innes provided in his will for his home, the Manor House, to become what is now the John Innes Centre which remains a leading centre for plant genetics albeit now in Norwich. While in Merton it created new plant varieties such as the ‘Merton Thornless’ blackberry and the Malling-Merton (MM) series of apple rootstocks, as well as John Innes composts.
Until the last quarter of the 19th century, the parish of Merton was mainly rural. The area now known as Merton Park was farmland bought by City wine merchant John Innes in 1864 following the rapid development of Wimbledon to the north. He took as his model the garden suburbs (particularly Bedford Park in Chiswick) and between 1870 and 1904 developed the tree-lined roads of detached and semi-detached houses for which the area is known.
Innes bought Manor Farm for his own home, and in the 1890s had it rebuilt as the Manor House by architect Henry Goodall Quartermain. Around 1872, Innes became Lord of the manor of Merton. After his death in 1904 he left most of the grounds of the Manor House to be converted into a public park, with the rest becoming the John Innes Horticultural Institution . The first director was William Bateson, who had coined the word "genetics" and would found The Genetics Society in 1919. The geneticist J. B. S. Haldane worked part-time at the Institution from 1927 to 1937. When Sir Alfred Daniel Hall became director after Bateson's death in 1926, one of his earliest tasks was to appoint as assistant director "a man of high quality in the study of genetics" as Hall lacked a background in genetics. Upon the recommendation of Julian Huxley, the council appointed Haldane in March 1927, with the terms: "Mr. Haldane to visit the Institution fortnightly for a day and a night during the Cambridge terms, to put in two months also at Easter and long vacations in two continuous blocks and to be free in the Christmas vacation." He was officer in charge of Genetical Investigations. Haldane was credited with helping the John Innes become "the liveliest place for research in genetics in Britain".
The genetics research of Dorothea De Winton and Haldane required the reliable cultivation of large numbers of primulas; after large losses in the 1933-34 season William Lawrence and John Newell formulated composts that would give consistently good and reliable results. In 1938 they published their recipes for what became known as John Innes composts. New fruit varieties released by the Institution included the blackberries ‘Merton Early’ (1936) and ‘Merton Thornless’ (1941), and the Malling-Merton (MM) series of apple rootstocks. The Institution moved to Bayfordbury, Hertfordshire, in 1950 and subsequently to Norwich, where it is now known as the John Innes Centre.
A notable feature of the Merton Park ward is that it regularly returns Merton Park Ward Independent Residents to Merton London Borough Council. Five MPWRA have also been Deputy Mayor of Merton: Peter Southgate in 2005/06, Krysia Williams in 2008/09, Karin Forbes in 2009/10, John Sargeant in 2013/14 and Edward Foley 2019/20.
The John Innes Society is a charity that promotes good design and area embellishment in Merton Park.
The approximate boundaries of the Merton Park area can be considered to be The Broadway (A219) to the north, Morden Road (A24) to the east, Martin Way to the south and Cannon Hill Lane to the west. Additionally, the area north of Kingston Road between Merton Hall Road, Avebury Road and Kingswood Road is often included. This definition of the area does not correspond directly with the Local Government ward of the same name which for administrative convenience includes areas as far south as Morden South railway station.
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