OLD MALDEN

'Old Malden' is a ward of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames situated ten miles (16 km) south west of Charing Cross. Its population in 2001 was 9,012, out of a total of 147,273 for the whole Royal Borough. ^[1]

Contents

Orientation

History

Conservation Area

Notable residents

Education

Nearby places

Notable open spaces close by

References

External links

Orientation

At the heart of Old Malden is Plough Green, a traditional village green, surrounded by:

★ ''The Plough'', a 15th century public house, containing a Harvester restaurant ^[2]

★ Plough Bakery

★ a small parade of shops

★ two Indian restaurants, the ''Rupali'' and the ''Shalimar''

★ an Italian restaurant, the ''A Roma''

★ a pond, home to a colony of coots
To the west of Plough Green is Old Malden Library. ^[3]

Old Malden is served by Malden Manor station to the north and Worcester Park station to the south, both 25 minutes from Waterloo. Malden Road, joining the green and Worcester Park station is flanked by two rows of over forty mature poplar trees.
A minor tributary of the River Thames, the Hogsmill, flows through the west of Old Malden.

History

The area is informally referred to as Worcester Park, after the post town, although it has a long history as 'Malden' derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'mael duna', meaning 'the cross on the hill'.
Malden appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Meldone''. It was held partly by William de Wateville and partly by Robert de Wateville. Its domesday assets were: 4 hides and 3 virgates; 1 chapel, 1 mill worth 12s, 6½ ploughs, 5 acres of meadow, woodland worth 1 hog out of 7 hogs. It rendered £7 12s 0d.^[4]
St John the Baptist Church, close to the Hogsmill, dates back to Saxon times. In 1611 the chancel's old flint walls were repaired and the nave and the tower rebuilt in brick. In 1875 a new nave and chancel were added, and in 2004 a two storey extension completed. ^[5]
The Grade II listed ''Manor House'', next to St John's, is also mentioned in the Domesday Book; in 1264 Walter de Merton, Bishop of Rochester, founded a college here that was later moved to Oxford as Merton College. The house was later used as a court in the reign of Henry VIII, and in the mid 18th century the house was the home of Captain Cook. In 1852 the Hogsmill river was the setting for the background of Ophelia painted by John Everett Millais.
The development of New Malden, two miles (3 km) to the north, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries necessitated the addition of the "Old" prefix.

Conservation Area

Old Malden Conservation Area was created in March 1971, designating the area as being “of special architectural or historic interest the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance”. (Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, Section 69). It contains two distinct parts, St Johns’ and Plough Green, whose special character is summarised in the designation as:
St Johns’: A medieval village centre above the Hogsmill River, containing the Saxon Church of St. John the Baptist, the site of its vicarage, the 18th century Manor House and ancient fields.
Plough Green: A village green with a pond, a 15th century public house, and a picturesque group of mainly 19th century cottages.

Notable residents

Daley Thompson, British double-Olympic champion decathlete, lived near ''The Plough''.
Ian Hutchinson, Former Chelsea FC player, lived in 'The Glebe' during the 1970's.
Jim Huckle of DHL lived next door but one to the Plough Pub during the 1970's.

Education

:''For education in see the main Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames article.''

Nearby places

★ To the west: Ewell, Tolworth

★ To the south: Worcester Park

★ To the east: Raynes Park, Sutton

★ To the north: New Malden, Motspur Park

Notable open spaces close by

★ Wimbledon Common

★ Richmond Park

★ Bushy Park

★ Nonsuch Park

References

1. http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=5941935&c=KT4+7RH&d=14&e=13&g=340254&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1
2. http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/44/4461/Plough_Harvester_/Worcester_Park
3. http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/leisure/libraries/branches/old_malden_library.htm
4. Surrey Domesday Book
5. http://www.southwark.anglican.org/parishes/163j_a.htm

External links

★ The Pond in 1955

★ Statistics from 2001 Census

★ Map of area today

★ St John the Baptist Parish Church of Old Malden

★ Maldens and Coombe neighbourhood

★ Profile of the parish

★ Photographs of the Conservation Area

★ Map of the village in 1871 at oldmaps.co.uk. Accessed March 2007