Charlotte Birrell
Cottage at Watery Lane. Merton Park, London.
Charlotte Birrell HTS1 Term 2 with Aikaterini Zacharopoulou 1
Cottage at Watery Lane
Charlotte Birrell
Abstract Once a small village with a farm, in the late 19th century, Merton Park, London, was developed by property magnate John Innes into the beautiful garden suburb that still remains surprisingly unchanged to this day. When embarking on this assignment, I intended to research the development of Merton Park, using the history of my home, a small terraced cottage on Watery Lane, as a vehicle to tell the story of the area, and the movement of the middle classes away from urbanisation and towards the bourgeois utopias of the newly founded London suburbs. However, in attempting to go back and uncover this history, I revealed something more sinister, which led me to believe that the cottage is older than I originally thought. I found myself questioning the idyllic return to nature and the domestic bliss promised to the families who moved out to suburbs such as the one at Merton Park.
Contents On a Lane in Spring by John Clare.....................................................................................................4 An idyllic vision of the English countryside A Trip Down Watery Lane..................................................................................................................6 A walk through the streets of Merton Park, and the cottage on Watery Lane Curiosity..............................................................................................................................................10 The beginnings of an investigation into the origins of the cottage ‘God send I may hear of her corpse!’.................................................................................................12 Summary of the trial proceedings of a murder, evidence of poverty in rural Merton Salvation.............................................................................................................................................14 The rise of Merton Park, the refurbishment of the cottages at Watery Lane Findings..............................................................................................................................................16 A final critique of suburbia Bibliography........................................................................................................................................18 Above: Terraced street in Merton Park (Merton Memories Photographic Archive. London: Merton Council, date unknown) Image on the cover: A view of the terraces from a nearby park (Photograph by the author, 2021)
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Cottage at Watery Lane
Charlotte Birrell
On a Lane in Spring1 A little lane - the brook runs close beside, And spangles in the sunshine, while the fish glide swiftly by; And hedges leafing with the green springtide; From out their greenery the old birds fly, And chirp and whistle in the morning sun; The pilewort glitters ‘neath the pale blue sky, The little robin has its nest begun The grass-green linnets round the bushes fly. How mild the spring comes in! the daisy buds Lift up their golden blossoms to the sky. How lovely are the pingles in the woods! Here a beetle runs - and there a fly Rests on the arum leaf in bottle-green, And all the spring in this sweet lane is seen. JOHN CLARE, 1860
A postcard from 1906 (Merton Memories Photographic Archive. London: Merton Council, 1906)
1 “John Clare.” St. James’s Magazine, vol. X (Spring 1864): 446. 4
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Cottage at Watery Lane
Charlotte Birrell
A Trip Down Watery Lane Merton Park is a small garden suburb on the South-Western outskirts of Greater London. The locals here say that the majority of the houses populating the area were comissioned by the suburb’s founder John Innes and built by his architect Henry Quartermain in the 1890s. The streets are lined with handsome rows of red brick terraces sitting behind imposing holy hedges. The neighbourhood also has some larger detached properties, with generous private gardens scattered throughout. The style of these houses is very eclectic, some are mock-Tudor, while others appear to be traditional country cottages. Walking around the treelined streets, you can hear leaves rustling, birds singing. It doesn’t feel like you’re in London at all, but in a scene described by John Clare in his poems on the English countryside. You arrive at the local parish, the church of St Mary’s, which backs onto a well-manicured park. Following the path into the park from here, the plants and trees become gradually wilder and more unkempt, left for the benefit of local wildlife. You eventually come to a large and elaborately decorated house with leaded glass. This building was once a farmhouse, then a private villa for John Innes. It now serves as a school for boys. Walking out of the garden, and onto the street, a row of terraces is suddenly broken. The street is now lined not by a series of front doors, but by gates, garages and hedges. This is where my house lies, unlike the others it is landscaped out of view.
Moving into the living room you notice that the house is slightly narrower than the average terrace house. The warm Southern light entering through the windows flickers as it filters through the leaves of windswept trees. As you move, wide pine floorboards creek under cheap, dirty carpet. The space is dominated by a central chimney breast. Regrettably, it is now fitted with an unattractive modern gas fireplace. Yet it still evokes past times where families relied on that fireplace for essential heat, cooking, and for their survival. Beyond the fireplace is a second room, a dining room with barely enough room for table and chairs. This connects to a 1980s flat roof extension, containing the kitchen and bathroom towards the back. Looking to your right, there is a tiny staircase leading to the upper bedrooms. Trying not to trip while you walk up, you notice there is another small window. Above the window there is a bulkhead crafted out of 1970s orange pine panelling. It now holds a redundant cold-water tank. You can imagine how tall the ceiling was in that narrow passage, and how the small window would have flooded it with light. Entering into one of the bedrooms, there isn’t much space. The pitched roof dips towards the head of the bed, creating a cosy, snug space. Peering out the window, you can’t make out any other buildings, only flowers and trees. It feels like you’re in your own secluded paradise.
You walk onto the driveway and open the front gate. When you step into the garden you notice something. This row of houses is more compact than the others, rather unadorned, a conservative smattering of plain white sash windows. When you open the front door you are greeted by a small porch. Made of glass, it doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the house, and the threshold into the living room seems to indicate the presence of a heavier and taller front door in the past.
The churchyard at St Mary’s (Merton Memories Photographic Archive. London: Merton Council, 1990)
Watery Lane on a snowy day (Merton Memories Photographic Archive. London: Merton Council, 1983)
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Cottage at Watery Lane (Photography by the author, 2021)
Light hitting the living room wall (Photography by the author, 2021)
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Looking into the front garden from the main bedroom window (Photography by the author, 2021)
Cottage at Watery Lane
Charlotte Birrell
Watery Lane Cottage Ground Floor Plan, 1:50 Drawn by the author, 2021
Bathroom, build date unknown
Paved Area (outdoor)
Bathroom
Extension built in 1986
Kitchen
Original structure, build date unknown (at least pre-1836), refurbished by architect Henry Quartermain in 1872
Dining Room
Ordinance map of Merton Park, showing the location of Watery Lane, Manor Farm and St/ Mary’s Church, 1888-1913 (Map from ARCHI UK, 2020)
Living Room
Addition from 1872 refurbishment Garden
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Porch
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Cottage at Watery Lane
My boyfriend, who lives with me at the cottage (Photograph by the author, 2020)
Charlotte Birrell
The architect Quartermain and his wife at their house on Watery Lane (Merton Memories Photographic Archive. London: Merton Council, 1897)
Curiosity From the moment I came to this place, I was intrigued by the row of cottages on Watery Lane. They seemed different from the others in the neighbourhood, cosier, humbler, not trying to be anything else other than what they are. My research on the cottage at Watery Lane started before I moved here. I asked the owner of the house when it was built, out of curiosity. He said that he wasn’t sure, but he thinks it was built in the late 19th century, and it was probably designed by Henry Quartermain, the same architect that John Innes hired to build Merton Park into a suburb. When he bought it in 1986, the bathroom was already there, and shortly thereafter a glass roof extension was added to the side of the kitchen, though there are no legal papers for this work. After we moved in, I became increasingly more curious, I started to peel back bits of carpet and wallpaper. Much to my disappointment, most of the original features had been ripped out. At least the sash windows were saved, though they’re now broken and painted shut. I wanted to see what was underneath the layers and layers of refurbishment that had crept over and covered the house like vines. 10
In order to verify that the house was built in the 1890s, I began to look through old census records. Searching online, I was able to find one record from the 1964 census and another for 1911 but nothing further back than that. Occupants of Watery Lane Cottage in 1911: house painter and his wife, 3 children.2 The neighbours confirmed what the owner had told me earlier, but they suggested that I spoke to the local historical association to see if I could find out more. After getting into contact with them, they sent me some research material. I came across something that caught my attention. “Quartermain refurbishes the cottages at Watery lane in 1872”3. That’s strange, I thought, it doesn’t fit in with what the neighbours told me. I continued reading.
2 Census of England and Wales, 1911. 3 Judy Goodman. John Innes and the Birth of Merton Park, 1865-1904, (London: John Innes Society), 8. 11
Cottage at Watery Lane
Charlotte Birrell
‘God send I may hear of her corpse!’ The following is a summary of a proceedings from the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, on the 9th of May 18364. Prisoner: David Haggerstone of Mud Cottage, Merton Park Crime: Murder Victim: The prisoner’s wife, Harriet Haggerstone Upon recalling the events of the day of Harriet Haggerstone’s death, William Hedges, who rented Harriet and her husband David a room at Mud Cottage, mentioned seeing the victim earlier that morning. William had given Harriet some bread, as she needed it to feed her four children. Later that night, both Mr. and Mrs. Hedges, Harriet, and another local man named Claridge, had gone to the local pub for a drink. Mr. Hedges was drunk and falling down, so they all decided to leave. According to Claridge, the party of four left together to go and pick up some more beer from a local shop. Harriet and Claridge waited outside the shop while the Hedges when inside to purchase the alcohol. It was at this time that David Haggerstone saw his wife alone with Claridge and lost his temper at her. “Damn you, madam, if you don’t go your ways home I will murder you,” said David, he then took up his fist and punched Harriet in the cheek. Claridge then recalls Harriet leaving with her husband, walking off together into the night, continuing to argue. This was not an unfamiliar scene, for David had been known to insult his wife, and had been witnessed by his neighbours to beat her. “I will make you come under the table like a little dog, I shall be hanged for you” he often cursed, “You damned little bitch...” That would be the last time Claridge ever saw her again. Mrs. Hedges upon returning home from the shop with her husband found David lying on his bed, but Harriet was nowhere to be seen. She asked him where his wife was, he replied that he didn’t know. Mrs. Hedges became worried. “Davy, my lad, do get up, it is a very dark night, I would get up and go across the fields and look for her.” He replied, “(I’ll) see her damned first,” and then accused Harriet of being ‘at some of her whore tricks.’ Nothing could convince him to go and search for his wife, “No, I won’t,” he exclaimed, “and God send I may hear of her corpse before long.” Later that night, according to the testimony of the residents at the cottages on Payne’s-lane (now known as Watery Lane), they awoke to the sound of a women screaming. It sounded close. As they slept on the ground, the husband went out to check what the commotion was. Shortly thereafter, the corpse of Harriet Haggerstone was found beaten, and at the bottom of the well, the indentation of knuckles on her swollen face.
A Victorian working class women and her children (Merton Memories Photographic Archive. London: Merton Council, date unknown)
David Haggerstone was found not guilty for the murder of his wife, and no further investigation was conducted. The types of questions asked, and comments made throughout the proceedings also makes it clear that it was not seen as out of place for men to denigrate the women in their lives, or to beat them, even in front of neighbours or children. Whether or not David was guilty this case gives us a tiny glimpse of the squalid living conditions, the drunkenness, and the violence that often plagued the British countryside in the 19th century.
4 David Haggerstone. Killing: murder. (Old Bailey, May 9, 1836): 224-235. 12
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Cottage at Watery Lane
Charlotte Birrell
Salvation John Innes was no stranger to property development, him and his family having made their fortune on rising London City property values at the tail end of the Industrial Revolution5. However, moving into the 1850s he recognised that it was increasingly common for the ‘City men that were no longer living “over the shop” to choose to settle in new villas in London’s countryside.’6 When the opportunity came to purchase land in the agreeably rural area of Merton in 1865, he jumped at the chance7. He, like many property developers at the time, offered a calm, peaceful enivonrment for families, away from the immorality and temptation of the city. In this perfect rural setting, it was widely believed that one could lead people away from the path of eternal damnation. Families could find salvation and freedom from sin at Merton Park, but at the same time remain close enough to the to city to be able to reap the benefits of engaging in business.8 In 1872, Innes finally settled into an existing house in Merton Park, on Watery Lane known as Manor Farm. Development of the area was slower than anticipated, as most of the buyers at the time found the low-lying land of Merton not as attractive as the surrounding hillier suburbs such as Wimbledon, which had better views and drainage.9 Mmoreover in the undeveloped outskirts of London, one could see that poverty was not restricted to the inner city. The Industrial Revolution had caused agricultural unemployment10, and support for the poor previously provided by the parish had been relinquished due to the introduction of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 183411. Many poor farmers and their workers were forced to leave villages like Merton, and those remaining moved into either the rundown cottages left behind, or illegally constructed makeshift wooden shacks12. John Innes probably did not like what he saw. He had a mission to transform it into the idyllic countryside he dreamed about. He made changes to his once humble Manor Farm, refurbishing it as a fashionable country villa13. He added a large conservatory as well as several out-buildings, he hired staff to landscape the environment into exceptionally manicured gardens.14 The crumbling cottages across the road from Manor House at Watery Lane were deemed an eyesore by Innes15, and so he appointed his architect, Henry Quartermain, to renovate them.16 In his design, Quartermain was very careful to make sure that the rustic beauty was brought to the surface, with the use of natural materials and careful craftsmanship. He repaired the structure using bricks made from local Merton clay, placed wide pine floorboards over the cold flagstone floors, and added a porch made of simple but well-proportionated wooden framed glass panels. The gardens were kept at the front of the cottages, and planted with ivy, holy hedges and cedar trees. The humble cottages were no longer an eyesore, and they were finally ready to be housed by the workers Innes required to maintain this delightful scene.
A family spends a day out near the pond at John Innes Recreation Ground (Merton Memories Photographic Archive. London: Merton Council, 1900)
5 Goodman, John Innes and the Birth of Merton Park, 1865-1904, 9. 6 Neal Priestland. John Innes: His Life and Legacy. (London: John Innes Society, 2004), 18. 7 Goodman, John Innes and the Birth of Merton Park, 1865-1904, 17. 8 Robert Fishman. Bourgeois Utopias: the Rise and Fall of Suburbia. (New York: Basic Books, 1987), 38 9 Goodman, John Innes and the Birth of Merton Park, 1865-1904, 18. 10 David Englander, Poverty and Poor Law Reform in Nineteenth-Century Britain, 1834-1914 From Chadwick to Booth. (London: Routledge, 2013), 3. 11 Englander, Poverty and Poor Law Reform in Nineteenth-Century Britain, 1834-1914 From Chadwick to Booth, 21. 12 Goodman, John Innes and the Birth of Merton Park, 1865-1904, 8. 13 Goodman, John Innes and the Birth of Merton Park, 1865-1904, 8. 14 Goodman, John Innes and the Birth of Merton Park, 1865-1904, 8. 15 Goodman, John Innes and the Birth of Merton Park, 1865-1904, 8. 16 Priestland, John Innes: His Life and Legacy. (London: John Innes Society, 2004), 76. 14
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Cottage at Watery Lane
Charlotte Birrell
Findings The Merton Park envisioned by Innes and Quartermain was an idyllic one, inspired by romantic scenes of the countryside, and the strong belief that one could find salvation away from the temptations of the inner city of London. However, the cottages at Watery Lane, whose built origins are still unknown, stand as evidence to a far different narrative. That they once bore witness to the gruesome murder of Harriet Haggerstone in 1836, gives us a sense of the poverty, alcoholism and violence that was present throughout many parts of rural England in the 19th century. The once rotting cottages, refurbished and landscaped to perfection by Quartermain in 1872, are proof of the conflict in the foundational belief system on which suburbia is based. Merton Park may look like paradise, but is it really the type of place where you can be saved?
Postcard of Watery Lane, 1906
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Cottage at Watery Lane
Charlotte Birrell
Bibliography Braid, Douglas, and Geoffrey Wilson. Merton Park: The Quiet Suburb 1904-1914. London: John Innes Society, 1984. Census of England and Wales, 1911. Accessed February 20 2021, https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2352&h=42053727&tid=&pid=&queryId=acc52b86d805f38f8ae99fff5e727c39&usePUB=true&_ phsrc=qnI7&_phstart=successSource David Haggerstone. Killing: murder. (Old Bailey, May 9, 1836). Englander, David. Poverty and Poor Law Reform in Nineteenth-Century Britain, 1834-1914 From Chadwick to Booth. London: Routledge, 2013. Fishman, Robert. Bourgeois Utopias: the Rise and Fall of Suburbia. New York: Basic Books, 1987. Goodman, Judy. John Innes and the Birth of Merton Park 1865-1904. London: John Innes Society, 1998. “God Send I May See Her a Corpse,” Merton Historical Society Newsletter, 12-13. June 1998. “John Clare.” St. James’s Magazine, vol. X (Spring 1864): 438–47. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_St_ James_s_Magazine/UIk3AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&kptab=overview. Lysons, Daniel, and Andrew Strahan. Essay. In The Environs of London: Being an Historical Account of the Towns, Villages, and Hamlets, within Twelve Miles of That Capital; Interspersed with Biographical Anecdotes., 338–49. London: printed by A. Strahan, for T. Cadell, Jun. and W. Davies, in the Strand, 1795. “Parishes: Merton.” British History Online. Institute of Historical Research. Accessed January 19, 2021. https://www. british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol4/pp64-68. Priestland, Neal. John Innes: His Life and Legacy. London: John Innes Society, 2004. Wilson, Geoffrey, and Judy Goodman. Merton Park: The Expanding Suburb 1914-31. London: John Innes Society, 1986.
Images Birrell, Charlotte. Contemporary Images of the Cottage at Watery Lane. February 14, 2021. Photographs. “Old Map of Merton, London.” ARCHI UK. Accessed March 24, 2021. https://www.archiuk.com//cgi-bin/build_nls_ historic_map.pl?search_location=,%20Merton,%20London&latitude=50.888474&longitude=-4.105540&password=freesearch@freesearch.com&widgets=1 “Watery Lane, Merton Park.” Watery Lane, Merton Park - Merton Memories Photographic Archive. Accessed January 22, 2021. https://photoarchive.merton.gov.uk/collections/streets/streets-w
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