Residents now have access to thousands of historic images showing the borough’s past and present, following the launch of the Merton Memories website.

Heritage and Local Studies manager Sarah Gould shows the Mayor of Merton Cllr Krystal Miller through the new website

Launched by the Mayor of Merton at a heritage discovery day in Morden Library on Saturday, the website was set live, giving the public the opportunity to view 15,000 images covering over a century of local history.

At the discovery day to mark the website’s launch, local heritage representatives answered local history enquiries, identified photographs for the public, helped people to improve their photography skills as well as giving demonstrations on how to preserve old photos. A second discovery day with more events will be taking place at Morden Library on 26 April.

Head of Libraries and Heritage Services Anthony Hopkins, Mayor of Merton Cllr Krystal Miller, cabinet member for community and culture Cllr Nick Draper and Heritage and Local Studies manager Sarah Gould

Led by Merton Council’s Heritage and Local Studies team and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Merton Memories project has seen twenty six volunteers aged from 15 to 70 spend a year helping to scan and catalogue 15,000 photographs belonging to Merton Library and Heritage Service. Heritage groups including Merton Historical Society, the Museum of Wimbledon, Wandle Industrial Museum, Mitcham Cricket Green Community and Heritage and Mitcham Camera Club also supported the project.

Mayor of Merton, Councillor Krystal Miller, said: “It was a great pleasure to try out this fantastic digital archive and I hope lots of residents will join me in discovering our borough’s history through the Merton Memories website. Thank you to everyone who played a part in bringing this wonderful resource together.”

Cabinet member for community and culture, Councillor Nick Draper, said: “I am very excited about the Merton Memories website and having access to thousands of photos from the borough’s past. It is incredibly interesting to look through some of the photos at see how Merton has changed over the years. This project is ongoing and we will continue to add photos for our future generations to look back on. I would encourage everyone to attend the next discovery day and find out about your local heritage and how you can use this new website to find out about your area’s past.”
To view the Merton Memories website, visit www.merton.gov.uk/memories.