200 years ago there were nearly 100 watermills on the River Wandle. Only four still survive, Grove Mill Carshalton, The Snuff Mill and Ravensbury Mill at Morden, and the great wheel here at Merton Abbey Mills, which is the only one in fully restored working order. The Wheel is of the undershot type, with the current flowing beneath, and dates from 1885, though there were previous mills on the same site for hundreds of years before then.

The wheel turns every weekend during the market. Liberty’s used it for rinsing the gum off the printed silk, and inside you can still see the spools it powered. Nowadays the Wheelhouse is a pottery, and the wheel is used to turn the potter’s wheel, the only one in the country directly driven by water power. It also generates electricity and powers other machinery including a lathe and its own self-lubricating device.

The Wheelhouse is maintained by the volunteers of Wandle Heritage Ltd, a charitable company supported by The London Borough of Merton.

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