Facts about Mitcham
Mitcham History
The toponym “Mitcham” is Old English in origin and means big settlement. Before the Romans and Saxons were present, stood a Celtic settlement, with evidence of a hill fort in the Pollards Hill area. The discovery of Roman-era graves and a well on the site of the Mitcham gas plant evince Roman settlement. The Anglo-Saxon graveyard on the north bank of the Wandle is the largest discovered to date, and many of the finds therein are on display in the British Museum.
What became the parish lands could have hosted the Battle of Merton, 871, in which King Ethelred of Wessex was either mortally wounded or killed outright. The Church of England parish church of St Peter and St Paul dates from the early Kingdom of England. Mostly rebuilt in 1819–1821, the current building retains the original Saxon tower. The Domesday Book of 1086 lists Mitcham as a small farming community. An implied estimate of 250 people, living in two hamlets: Mitcham, the area today being Upper Mitcham; and Whitford.
General Info
Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred 7.2 miles southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb. Localities within Mitcham include Mitcham Town Centre and Mitcham Common.
Amenities include Mitcham Library and Mitcham Cricket Green. Nearby major districts are Wimbledon, Streatham, Croydon, Merton, Merton Park, Tooting, Morden and Sutton. Mitcham, most broadly defined, had a population of 63,393 in 2011, formed from six wards including Pollards Hill.
