Description
Ravensbury Park is on the site of Ravensbury Manor dating back to the C13th. In the early C18th calico printworks were established here and a house called Ravensbury Manor House was built, with pleasure grounds. The house and printworks were leased to John Arbuthnott in 1755 who laid out the gardens and walks. The house was later demolished and in c.1910 a new house was built, itself now gone. When the estate was broken up for housing development in the 1930s, the Councils of Mitcham, Merton and Morden purchased the remaining grounds to safeguard it for public recreation, and it opened as Ravensbury Park in 1930. It is managed as a nature reserve and has a riverside walk along the Wandle.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Ravensbury Manor; Ravensbury Park Estate |
|---|---|
| Site location | Ravensbury Lane, off Morden Road, Mitcham |
| Postcode | CR4 4DH |
| What3Words | ///slams.silks.swift |
| Type of Site | Public Park |
| Borough | Merton |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 8am - dusk (weekdays); 9am - dusk (weekends, bank holidays) |
| Facilities | Play area, car park, toilets |
| Public Transport | Tube: Morden (Northern) then bus. Tramlink: Mitcham. Bus: 118, 280. |
| Research Updated | 25 September 2025 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The park is on the site of the old Ravensbury Manor, which dates back to the C13th. The area had important industrial use associated with the Wandle River in the C17th and C18th. Ravensbury Mill was established on the river banks at the western end of the current park, and in the early C18th calico printworks were set up by a Huguenot, Peter Mauvillian, employing 280 people here and at Wandsworth. The factory was to the north of the public park, the river diverted in the C19th to supply the factory. On the north bank of the river was Ravensbury Manor House, an C18th mansion with 'pleasure grounds and plantations . . of great extent', one of a number of houses with that name associated with the Manor. Some remnants of this house remain in the park. In 1755 the print works and Ravensbury Manor House were leased by John Arbuthnott who laid out gardens and created riverside walks. During his occupancy he also diverted the old road to Morden so that it went around his estate to the west; until then it had passed in front of the manor house, crossing the river by a small bridge.
Ravensbury Manor House became derelict, and was later demolished after George Parker Bidder, a civil engineer and friend of George Stevenson, bought the estate in 1855. The Bidders were the last private owners of the Ravensbury Park Estate. George Parker Bidder's grandson built a new manor house, Ravensbury Park House, on the south of the river near Wandle Road in 1910/12 that existed until the 1930s when the Estate was finally broken up and developed for interwar housing. In 1929 the Councils of Mitcham, Merton and Morden purchased the remains of the grounds in order to safeguard it for public recreation and the new park opened on 10 May 1930, called Ravensbury Park. The OS Map 25 ins Surrey XIII.4, surveyed 1932/33 shows Sports Ground and Tennis Courts marked in the east part of the park, with 'Manor House (Remains of)' marked north of the Wandle River, and the later house, Ravensbury Manor, also shown south of the Wandle. The later OS 1:1250 surveyed 1952 (TQ2668SE) marks lavatories and a drinking fountain, and by the early 1970s the OS 1:1250 (TQ2668SE - C) shows a playground and paddling pool laid out in an area previously shown as allotments, adjacent to where the Medical Centre is located.
The Wandle River continues to run through the park and in the north of the park is the late C19th Ravensbury Snuff Mill. Although much of the south-east part of the original estate has been lost to housing development, there are the remains of an C18th sham ruin, a large single block of stone all that remains of the tower. The lake in the eastern part was added in the 1970s when Watermeads (q.v.) was built and the riverside walk was extended to Bishopsford Road. Photographs in Merton Memories Photographic Archive show the park since the 1930s, for example showing the Wandle, with children in boats on the water, ornamental bedding displays in the park. Around Ravensbury Mill a new weir and by-pass channel to the Mill were also created. There are numerous fine trees within the park, some dating back 200 years, as well as exotic trees planted by previous owners that include ginkgo and swamp cypress. The park suffered badly in the storms of October 1987, when a number of very large plane trees were lost. A new play area was opened in 2008. Part of the park is now a nature reserve that supports a good range of wetland bird species including kingfishers and grey wagtails and provides a good mix of wildlife habitats.
Ravensbury Manor House became derelict, and was later demolished after George Parker Bidder, a civil engineer and friend of George Stevenson, bought the estate in 1855. The Bidders were the last private owners of the Ravensbury Park Estate. George Parker Bidder's grandson built a new manor house, Ravensbury Park House, on the south of the river near Wandle Road in 1910/12 that existed until the 1930s when the Estate was finally broken up and developed for interwar housing. In 1929 the Councils of Mitcham, Merton and Morden purchased the remains of the grounds in order to safeguard it for public recreation and the new park opened on 10 May 1930, called Ravensbury Park. The OS Map 25 ins Surrey XIII.4, surveyed 1932/33 shows Sports Ground and Tennis Courts marked in the east part of the park, with 'Manor House (Remains of)' marked north of the Wandle River, and the later house, Ravensbury Manor, also shown south of the Wandle. The later OS 1:1250 surveyed 1952 (TQ2668SE) marks lavatories and a drinking fountain, and by the early 1970s the OS 1:1250 (TQ2668SE - C) shows a playground and paddling pool laid out in an area previously shown as allotments, adjacent to where the Medical Centre is located.
The Wandle River continues to run through the park and in the north of the park is the late C19th Ravensbury Snuff Mill. Although much of the south-east part of the original estate has been lost to housing development, there are the remains of an C18th sham ruin, a large single block of stone all that remains of the tower. The lake in the eastern part was added in the 1970s when Watermeads (q.v.) was built and the riverside walk was extended to Bishopsford Road. Photographs in Merton Memories Photographic Archive show the park since the 1930s, for example showing the Wandle, with children in boats on the water, ornamental bedding displays in the park. Around Ravensbury Mill a new weir and by-pass channel to the Mill were also created. There are numerous fine trees within the park, some dating back 200 years, as well as exotic trees planted by previous owners that include ginkgo and swamp cypress. The park suffered badly in the storms of October 1987, when a number of very large plane trees were lost. A new play area was opened in 2008. Part of the park is now a nature reserve that supports a good range of wetland bird species including kingfishers and grey wagtails and provides a good mix of wildlife habitats.
The Friends of Ravensbury Park was set up in 2004 to safeguard and preserve the park, working closely with Merton Council and the Environment Agency, which has responsibility for the River Wandle and the waterways around the park. The Friends have successfully raised grants to improve the park and its facilities, including the playground, planting, trees and bridges. The Friends tend the park on the first Sunday each month. In 2010 an art installation led by Jenny Rolfe-Herbert was created in the park where the old public toilets, due for demolition, were re-imagined with group input creating temporary and semi-permanent art installations.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ267680 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 6.68 |
| Site Ownership | LB Merton |
| Site Management | Leisure and Culture Services |
| Dates | C13th onwards; 1930s |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Merton |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Wandle Valley |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | Yes - Metropolitan Importance (Upper River Wandle) |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | Yes |
| Special Policy Area | Yes - Archaeological Priority Zone |
| Other LA Designation | Public Open Space. Green Corridor. Local Nature Reserve |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
Watermeads Housing Estate was built in 1974-7 by Merton Borough Architects Department, one of a series of low-rise housing schemes that incorporated landscaping. It is on part of the former site of Mitcham Grove, a substantial house and estate that had existed here since medieval times, with eminent owners from Elizabethan times. After the death of the last resident, banker Henry Hoare, the house was demolished in 1846. A fine cedar tree remains from the former grounds. In the C20th the site housed film studios, then Hovis & Co. who had sports facilities here, before motor vehicle manufacturers Locomotors Ltd acquired the land, remaining here until 1973.
Watermeads is a remnant of the historic watermeadows alongside the west bank of the River Wandle, which for centuries had industrial usage with numerous watermills along its banks as well as watercress beds and trout fishing. The site includes an old fish pond and Paper Mill Cut, one of the Wandle's many channels and branches dug for milling. The land was in private hands until it was purchased in 1913 following an active campaign led by Octavia Hill, one of the founders of the National Trust, Watermeads becoming one of the first sites acquired by the Trust. From the interwar years until shortly after the end of World War II, a major planting initiative was undertaken by the River Wandle Open Spaces Committee and the National Trust with local schoolboys encouraged to participate in planting new trees. Since then Watermeads was developed as a nature reserve, and at one time was only open to keyholders. The wetland habitat became clogged and overgrown but since 2015 the Trust has undertaken significant improvement and rehabilitation works and following a period of closure Watermeads Nature Reserve has now reopened with improved public access.
There has been a church here since at least the C13th, and Church Road Cemetery opened in 1559. The current church of St Peter and St Paul, to the south-west of Mitcham village centre, was built in 1819-21 by George Smith. It was repainted in the 1990s as part of a Challenge Anneke television programme. The churchyard is on the site of an old Saxon burial ground; it was expanded in 1855 and 1880 to the north, and again in 1909 when it took over the former 'Vicar's Field'.