The bridge over the Wandle at this place was erected at the expense of Queen Elizabeth in 1602. It was widened, and in a great measure rebuilt in 1757. On the hills on each side of Wandsworth, distinguished by the appellations of East and West Hill, are several good houses, which command fine views over the River Thames, the metropolis, and great part of Middlesex. At West Hill, near Lord Spencer's park, is the handsome villa built by Mr. Gibson of Hackney, for the late John Anthony Rucker, Esq. and now the property of his nephew, which, from its elevated situation, is a conspicuous object in the neighbourhood, and enjoys a delightful prospect. The hamlet of Garrett, situated between Wandsworth and Tooting, is in the former parish, and is noted for having been the scene of a mock election which took place there many years upon the meeting of every new parliament, when several wellknown characters in low life appeared as candidates for the borough of Garrett, as it was called; being furnished with fine clothes and gay equipages for the occasion by the neighboring publicans, whose interest it was to encourage the frolic. This piece of burlesque, which furnished Foote with the subject of lis comedy intituled the Mayor of Garrett, was performed for the last time after the general election in 1796. In all the ancient records WIMBLEDON is described as a grange or farm within the manor of Mortlake, which, from the time of the Conquest, belonged to the see of Canterbury, till Archbishop Cranmer exchanged it for other lands with King Henry VIII. By that monarch it was soon afterwards granted to Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex; and on his attainder it was settled upon Queen Catherine Parr for her life. Cardinal Pole obtained a grant of it from Queen Mary, whose successor first gave it to Sir Christopher Hatton; and again in her thirty-second year to Sir Thomas Cecil, afterwards Earl of Exeter, in exchange for an estate in Lincolnshire. The Earl left this estate to his third son, Sir Edward, who was created Viscount Wimbledon and Baron of Putney. dle, and, in its ancient state, occupied no less than sixty acres of ground. How far the zeal of the Commissioners was exercised in its demolition at the time of its surrender, or what waste may have been committed by its successive proprietors, cannot be determined. It was probably reduced to its present state, in which, however, considerable remains of the outer walls are standing, by the caution of Parliament in the civil wars under Charles I. when it was judged of importance enough to be referred to a Committee in 1648, with directions for putting it into such a condition that no use might be made of it to the endangering of the peace of the kingdom.* In 1680 Merton priory was advertised to be lett,† and was described as containing several large rooms, and a very fine chapel. Vertue, who visited this place about 1730, mentions this chapel as being then entire, and says, that it resembled the Saxon buildings. At present no other vestige of the edifice is left than the east window of the chapel of crumbling stone, which seems, from the style of its architecture, to have been built in the fifteenth century.§ The site of this religious establishment is now a scene of active industry, being occupied by three manufactories for printing calicoes, and a copper-mill, which afford employment to a great number of hands. The parochial church, dedicated to St. Mary, has the appearance of great antiquity. From a manuscript in the Herald's College, it appears to have been built by Gilbert Norman, who, after the grant of the manor by King Henry I. for the purpose, erected a church here, and is said to have adorned it with pictures and images. Lysons observes, that from the style of the architecture of the present church, there is little doubt of its being the original structure, and having undergone little alteration. Journals of the House of Commons, V. 623. + Domestic Intelligencer, March 5, 1680. In Vertue's MSS. in the collection of the Earl of Orford at Strawberry-hill. An engraving of it is given in Malcolm's Views for illustrating Lysons' Environs, In de wmiw of the chancel are some remains of pointed gasa; and against the north wall of the church hangs a large picture of Christ bearing his cross. Though now much damaged, it appears to have been a good painting, and either the work of Lora Jordaan, or a copy from that master. Merton Place, a modern mansion in this parish, was the favorite residence of the late Lord Nelson, who left it, with seventy acres of the grounds, to Lady Hamilton. It is now by purchase the property of Asher Goldsmid, Esq. WALTER DE MERTON was a native of this parish, and educated in the convent here: he was appointed Keeper of the Great Seal in 1258; and 1261 Lord Chancellor of England, which office he held above three years. From a regard to the place in which he had received his birth, and the house where he had imbibed the first rudiments of instruction, he conceived a design of endowing it with considerable revenues for the perpetual support of scholastic divines. With this view he obtained of the Earl of Gloucester, as lord of the fee, his licence, dated 7th of May, 1262, to give and assign the neighboring manor of Maldon to the priory of Merton, or any other religious establishment for that purpose. Upon farther consideration, however, he founded, in 1261, a separate college at Maldon, intended as a seminary for the larger institution at Oxford, which is still known by his name. But, in 1270, both these societies were united by him into that at Oxford, which he completed in 1274. In the same year also having executed the office of chancellor a third time, he was consecrated Bishop of Rochester. He died 27th October, 1277, and was buried in his own cathedral, under a marble tomb, which was taken down in 1598 by Sir Henry Savile, Warden, and the Fellows of Merton College, who erected an elegant monument in its stead.* At MORDON is Mordon Park, the property and residence of George Ridge, Esq. The house, a handsome quadrangular building, on a rising ground near the church, was originally *See Beauties, VII. 649. erected erected by John Ewart, Esq. The extensive pleasure-grounds are agreeably diversified, and embellished with two fine sheets of water. In this parish is also Mordon Hall, the mansion of Sir Robert Burnett, and the elegant seat and gardens of the late Abraham Goldsmid, Esq. who here terminated his life in September 1810. MORTLAKE is the burial-place of several persons of considerable celebrity. In the church are interred Dr. John Dee, a man distinguished for his pretensions to magic and astrology, as well as by the personal friendship of Queen Elizabeth, who died at his house here in 1608, aged eighty-one; Sir John Barnard, whose zeal to promote the interests of his fellow-citizens will be remem. bered as long as his statue shall adorn the Royal Exchange, (ob. 1764); and Sir Brook Watson, who was created a baronet in 1803, and died in 1807. In the church-yard is the tomb of John Partridge, the well known astrologer and publisher of an almanack, who was bred a shoe-maker, and became sworn physician to Charles II. He was a native of East Sheen, and died in 1715. Here is likewise the monument of John Barber, alderman of London, who died in 1741, aged sixty-five. He was the son of a barber in the metropolis, and bred a printer, by which profession, and by the South Sea scheme, he acquired an ample fortune. In 1733 he served the office of lord mayor. The monument to Butler in Westminster Abbey was erected by Mr. Barber, on which occasion Pope is said to have written these severe lines, which he proposed should be inscribed on the vacant scroll under Shakspeare's bust Thus Britain lov'd me and preserv'd my fame. During Cromwell's protectorate some of his city friends, as Lord Pack, Lord Tichbourn, and Sir John Ireton, had houses at Mortlake, calls it much the finest place about London.* It was taken down by the Duchess of Marlborough, who erected a new edifice upon or near the site, after a design by the Earl of Pembroke. This house was accidentally burnt down in 1785. Some of the offices only being preserved from the flames, were fitted up and used for several years as an occasional residence by the noble proprietor. A new mansion has since been erected a little to the north-west of the former building, from the designs of the late Mr. Holland. The situation of this structure, which was completed in 1801, is particularly advantageous, having towards the north a beautiful home prospect of the park, and an extensive view over the county of Surrey to the south. The park, which contains 1200 acres, exhibits a pleasing variety of surface, and was planted and laid out with great taste by Brown. To the north of the house it is adorned with a sheet of water that covers fifty acres. In the church is interred Sir Richard Wynne, Bart. who died in 1649, at the manor-house here, which he held as trustee for Queen Henrietta Maria. He was gentleman of the privy-chamber to Charles I. whom le attended in his romantic journey into Spain, to visit his intended consort. Sir Richard drew up an account of his travels, which was printed, among other scarce tracts, by Hearne, On the south side of the chancel is a small chapel or aisle, erected as a burial-place for the family of Lord Wimbledon. In the centre is the monument of that nobleman, an altar-tomb of black marble, over which a viscount's coronet is suspended by a chain from the cieling. A long inscription occupies the four sides of the tomb and the ledge which surrounds the upper stone. Lord' Wimbledon followed the profession of arms, and is characterized by • A very accurate and minute survey of this house and premises was taken by order of Parliament in 1649, the original of which is deposited in the Augmentation Office. It is printed in the Archælogia, Vol. X. There are two rare prints of Wimbledon House by Winstanley, one of which, dated 1678, and exhibiting a view of the principal front with the five ascents, has been copied for Ly sons' Environs, Vol. I. |