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William Morris

Merton Abbey Mills

Surrey Iron Railway

Brewing

The Calico People

Snuff

Lavender and Mint

Dyes

Mills

Merton Priory

De Morgan

Wandle Portrayed

Research

The Wandle Portrayed

"The Wandle Portrayed" is a selection of artistic and literary works depicting the river and what it has meant to those who enjoyed it or worked by it, over the years.

Contributions are from both local people and some well-known names. Some poetic works possibly challenge the definition of "literature" but are still in their way a very personal reflection.

John Ruskin, Alexander Pope, and Sir John Betjeman are a few well-known names who have (briefly) made reference to the river, while local contributions include an extensive and illustrated poem by William Wood Fenning on Ravensbury, and a more modern contribution from Valerie Coleman.

Some items reflect the river in tranquil settings, others see it as an industrial thoroughfare. We have some vibrant paintings by Paul Moore, a recent acquisition by Edward George Handel Lucas, sketches in very differing styles by Peter Harris and John Wallace, and many other paintings distributed around the museum.

Over a period of five years from 1960 to 1965 Victor Hine known simply as Vic paintedc and drew a number of images of the Wandle Valley. These he placed in a book which was kindly donated by his family to the museum. The origianl cpopy can be viewed at the museum. To see an online version of the book click here

Wandle Inspired Music

At the 2023 Wandle Arts Festival we had the pleasure of listening to two pieces of music inspired by the river Wandle. Phil Durrant produced this piece Wandling.

The duo Cinnabar preformed the Wandle Song written by Joe Walinets. Listen to it here.