The Canons House & Grounds in Mitcham has been awarded £4.4 million raised by National Lottery players and awarded through the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Big Lottery Fund.
The house, grounds, dovecote, pond and recreation ground are owned by Merton Council, who will be undertaking the project.
About the project
This National Lottery funded Parks for People project will run over four years and include both a major capital works project and a series of events and activities focused on community engagement.
The capital project includes:
- Restoration of facade of the house and some of the interior rooms
- Conversion of the majority of the interior to office space for local businesses
- The creation of a new community heritage interpretation centre in the basement of the house with a permanent exhibition as well as changing exhibitions of local organisations
- A new café located adjacent to Madeira Hall, made possible by the demolition of the old toilet block and changing rooms
- A comprehensive landscaping plan including dredging the pond and clearing out unwanted growth, a historic planting scheme for the walled garden and the uncovering of the historic track located near Park Place
- Design and build of a new playground space, with different elements targeted to the diverse range of playground users.
Through these capital works there will be a range of fun and informative opportunities for local people to get involved in the project as volunteers and participants. Examples of some of the great projects and events include:
- Our annual summer garden party
- A community archaeological dig
- Children's photography workshops
- Historical and environmental themed walks
- Community gardening opportunities
- Audio-visual history projects.
Get involved
The project is always looking for great ideas for engaging the local community, so please get in touch with us if you'd like to be involved. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram or sign up to our newsletter.
- Facebook - The Canons, Mitcham
- Instagram - The Canons, Mitcham
- Sign up to the newsletter (operated by the Friends of The Canons)
The Wilson Hospital
Exciting plans lie ahead for the redevelopment of the Wilson Hospital site in Mitcham to be a new health and well being campus. It is a major partnership between the NHS Merton Clinical Commissioning Group, Merton Council, Merton Voluntary Services Council, NHS Property Services and Community Health Partnerships, South London Health Partnership and East Merton residents.
The business voice is represented by Merton Chamber of Commerce and our Chief Executive attends working groups and meetings, particularly looking at the non-clinical well being services and opportunities for our members.