River Wandle

The River Wandle is a river in south west London. Drawing on rainfall from the North Downs, it rises in Croydon and Carshalton and flows approximately 10 miles before joining the River Thames at Wandsworth.

It has historically been a significant waterway. In the neolithic age, settlements sprang up in what is now Mitcham Common. In Saxon times, it formed part of the border between the kingdoms of Kent and Wessex. At the start of the twentieth century, a significant Saxon burial ground was excavated on the borders of Mitcham and Morden; some of the treasure, known as the Mitcham hoard can be seen at the Museum of London.

In the middle ages, Augustinian monks established Merton Priory, one of the most important church communities outside of Canterbury. The Magna Carta was drafted in the scriptorium there.

In the late sixteen century, Sir Walter Raleigh saw great potential in the river and set up a series of snuff mills along its length to grind his tobacco imports. In the nineteenth century, it was described as the "hardest working river in Britain", with more watermills per mile than any other waterway. By the end of that century, William Morris had set up one of his Liberty printworks close to the site of Merton Priory. Liberty continued to produce fabrics there and downriver at Southfields until the 1990s.

It fell into decline early in the twentieth century and, by the 1980s, was in a fairly unhealthy condition. Since then, however, the length of the Wandle has been shaped into the Wandle Trail, a mainly off road walking route that is incorporated into the Avenue Vert. There are several parks and nature reserves. Among the bird species that can be seen are peregrine falcons (nesting at the top of the Merton Civic Centre and largely hunting around the Morden Hall Wetlands), kingfishers, herons, cormorants, tawny owls (around Ravensbury Park, which also supports a large bat colony), egyptian geese and the ubiquitous green parakeet. The Environment Agency's annual fish survey has found catfish, eels, trout, dace, chubb and carp. The latter can grow to around three feet, making the Wandle a popular destination for south London's anglers, who are casting their lines where Lord Horatio Nelson and Izaak Walton did centuries earlier.

The Wandle Industrial Museum, near Mitcham Green, contains many artefacts and photos showing how the Wandle has developed over the centuries, with particular emphasis on the work of William Morris.