This rather modest memorial to Merton’s most famous resident, Admiral Horatio Nelson, stands on the site of his former properties at Merton Place, south London.
Nelson purchased Merton Place in 1802, and gradually expanded the estate until his Merton property covered most of the area west of the Wandle and north of Morden Hall Park, and also included the whole of the area between Merton Road, South Park Road and Haydons Road.
Inbetween haunts off to the sea, Nelson lived at Merton Place with his mistress Emma Hamilton (and, curiously, her husband Sir William Hamilton, until he died at his London house in 1803).
Nelson wasn’t to enjoy Merton life for too long, as he was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805.
After Nelson’s death, Emma Hamilton got into debt and Merton Place was demolished in 1821 and the estate lands were sold off in small chunks over the following years.
The memorial features two cannons and a large stone and stands in a small park adjacent to The Parish Church of Saint John the Divine Merton, about three minutes from South Wimbledon tube.
Read more:
Park location [Google Maps]
Nelson at Merton [PDF]
Horatio Nelson [wkipedia]
Nelson Trail -Merton Council]
Related posts:
Remembering 7/7: the Hyde Park memorial to the fallen
A walk around the lovely Morden Hall Park, south London
Remembering Joe Strummer, 10th Anniversary Memorial at the 100 Club, London
Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle and Gay Pride, Trafalgar Square
Spring is definitely on its way in Ruskin Park, south London
First picnic of the year: Brockwell Park, south London
The Heygate Estate and the Hotel Elephant arts gallery and project space, south London
A walk around the snowy streets of Brixton, south London, Feb 2012
After just finishing a fascinating book about the life and loves of Nelson, I was sad to learn that his ‘Paradise Merton’ was demolished. It would have been wonderful to visit.