View source for Colliers Wood

{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{infobox UK place
| country = England
| map_type = Greater London
| static_image_name = River Wandle and Merton High Street.jpg
| static_image_caption = The River Wandle at Merton High Street, with Colliers Wood Tower behind
| coordinates = {{coord|51.4191|-0.1677|display=inline,title}}
| region = London
| population = 
| official_name = Colliers Wood
| london_borough = Merton
| constituency_westminster = [[Mitcham and Morden (UK Parliament constituency)|Mitcham and Morden]]
| post_town = London
| postcode_district = SW19
| postcode_area = SW
| dial_code = 020
| os_grid_reference = TQ275705
}}
'''Colliers Wood''' is an area in south west [[London]], England, in the [[London Borough of Merton]]. It is a mostly residential area, but has a busy high street around [[Colliers Wood tube station]] on [[London Underground]]'s [[Northern line]].  The high street is part of the [[A24 road (England)|A24]], a major road route roughly following the Northern Line, running from London through [[Tooting]] and other areas. The Colliers Wood ward had a population of 10,712 in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://data.london.gov.uk/2011-census-ward-pop |title=2011 Census Ward Population Estimates &#124; London DataStore |accessdate=2014-06-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222202755/http://data.london.gov.uk/2011-census-ward-pop |archive-date=22 February 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Colliers Wood shares its postcode district of [[SW postcode area|SW19]] with [[Wimbledon, London|Wimbledon]]. It merges into [[Merton Abbey, London|Merton Abbey]].  Colliers Wood has three parks: a recreation ground, the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]]-owned [[Wandle Park, Merton|Wandle Park]], which covers an area of approximately {{convert|11|acre|m2}}, and the more informal Wandle Meadow Nature Park.  [[Colliers Wood United F.C.]] is a semi-professional football club founded in Colliers Wood but now based in nearby [[New Malden]].

==History==
{{See also|Merton, London (parish)}}
[[File:The Feeny Monument, Colliers Wood - geograph.org.uk - 1280722.jpg|thumb|left|The Feeny Monument:{{clarify|date=February 2022}} memorial fountain inside Wandle Park]]
Colliers Wood takes its name from a wood that stood to the east of Colliers Wood High Street, approximately where Warren, Marlborough and Birdhurst Roads are now. Contemporary [[Ordnance Survey]] maps show that this wood remained at least until the 1870s but had been cleared for development by the mid-1890s.

The twelfth-century ruins of [[Merton Priory]] were considered by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport as a possible British candidate for [[World Heritage]] status. [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] was crowned king of England at [[Westminster Abbey]] in 1429, and king of France at [[Notre-Dame de Paris]] in 1431. He was reported to have been "crowned" at Merton Priory in 1437, but this was more of a 'crown-wearing' ceremony than a coronation. Similarly Queen Elizabeth II wears the [[Imperial State Crown]] at the [[State Opening of Parliament]] every year.

Among those educated at Merton Priory were [[Thomas Becket]] and [[Pope Adrian IV|Nicholas Breakspear]],{{dubious|date=November 2011}} who was the only English Pope.

Close to Merton Priory is the market and heritage centre at [[Merton Abbey Mills]], the former Liberty & Co. dyeworks on the bank of the [[River Wandle]]. The Wandle was reputed to have more mills per mile than any other river in the world, having 90 mills along its 11&nbsp;mi length. [[William Morris]], at the forefront of the [[Arts and Crafts Movement]], located the [[Morris & Co.]] factory at the Merton Abbey Works after determining that the water of the Wandle was suitable for dyeing. The complex, on {{convert|7|acre|m2}}, included several buildings and a dyeworks, and the various buildings were soon adapted for stained-glass production, textile printing, and fabric- and carpet-weaving.<ref>Parry, ''William Morris'', p. 57</ref> The works closed in Autumn 1940. The site is now operated by Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd. The site features a shared [[Sainsbury's]] & [[Marks & Spencer|M&S]] complex (originally a [[SavaCentre]] opened on 28 February 1989 with {{convert|107430|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} of sales area, making it the largest hypermarket in the UK at the time of its opening).

The world's first public railway, the [[Surrey Iron Railway]], which was initially horse-drawn, passed through Colliers Wood on its route from [[Croydon]] to [[Wandsworth]], between 1803 and 1846.  Before the merger with Merton, it was in the [[Municipal Borough of Mitcham]].

In July 2010, the first of London's [[Cycle Superhighway]]s opened, with a continuous bicycle lane known as CS7 originating in [[Southwark Bridge]], in the centre of London, and terminating in Colliers Wood. The route was originally intended to continue to South Wimbledon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/roadusers/Cycling/cycling-revolution-london.pdf |title=Cycling Revolution London |accessdate=2 December 2011}}</ref>

==Demography==
White British is the largest ethnic group as of the 2011 census at 38.5%. This is followed by [[Other White]] (19.2%), Other Asian (8.7%), [[Indian people|Indians]] (5.5%), [[Pakistanis]] (5.2%) and [[Black Africans]] (4.3%).<ref>{{cite web|author=Good Stuff IT Services |url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/colliers-wood-e05000457 |title=Colliers Wood - UK Census Data 2011 |publisher=Ukcensusdata.com |accessdate=2019-12-10}}</ref>

50.2% of people living in Colliers Wood were born in England. The other most common countries of birth were [[Sri Lanka]] (4%), [[South Africa]] (3.8%), [[India]] (3%) and [[Pakistan]] (2.9%).

The largest religions in Colliers Wood are Christianity (49.9%), those of no religion (22.2%), [[Muslims]] (11.2%) and [[Hindus]] (7.3%).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://colliers-wood.localstats.co.uk/census-demographics/england/london/merton/colliers-wood |title=Colliers Wood Demographics (Merton, England) |publisher=Colliers-wood.localstats.co.uk |accessdate=2019-12-10}}</ref>

==Colliers Wood Tower==
Colliers Wood is visually dominated by the ''"Colliers Wood Tower"'', built in 1966. Originally named the ''"Lyon Tower"'',<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&targetRule=10&xml=/news/2004/12/07/db0702.xml ''The Daily Telegraph'' (London) - Obituary of Ronald Lyon]{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> it was originally occupied as the headquarters of property company Ronald Lyon Holdings but has also been known as ''"The Vortex"'' and ''"Brown & Root House"''. The architects for the building were Bader and Miller.<ref name="Geograph">Geograph. TQ2670 : Lyon Tower, High Street Colliers Wood. Available online at [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2224641]. Accessed 25 September 2020.</ref> When being built, the tower reached the third storey before an error in construction was discovered and it was demolished to begin again.

It was voted the ugliest building in London in a 2006 [[BBC]] poll<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2006/05/25/most_hated_building_feature.shtml |title=BBC Poll - Most Hated Building |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |accessdate=2 December 2011}}</ref> and one of the 12 ugliest in the UK in an early 2005 [[Channel 4]] poll for its programme ''[[Demolition (TV series)|Demolition]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/D/demolition/worst2.html |title=Demolition |publisher=Channel4.com |accessdate=2 December 2011}}</ref> The same BBC poll quoted an architect working for Golfrate Property Management, the current owners, as saying the building was due a make-over and new lease of life.

By 2009, the ground and first floor windows and doors had been boarded up, and green netting attached across each end to prevent falling debris causing injury to passers-by.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/wimbledonnews/4330472._Will_we_ever_be_rid_of_the_Colliers_Wood_tower__/ |title=Colliers Wood tower to stay despite falling masonry, drugs and porn movie |work=Yourlocalguardian.co.uk |date=30 April 2009 |accessdate=2 December 2011}}</ref> Demolition of the adjacent spiral car park began in April 2010,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/8137764.Bulldozers_move_on_to_site_of__ugly__Colliers_Wood_tower/ |title=Bulldozers move on to site of "ugly" Colliers Wood tower |work=Thisislocallondon.co.uk |date=6 May 2010 |accessdate=2 December 2011}}</ref> but due to complications with an [[electrical substation]] was halted soon after, with half the car park still standing. But by June 2011 the car park had been demolished entirely.

A major renovation of the Tower began in 2014, to create a glass clad block of 150 rentable apartments, with commercial units to the ground floor. The renovation was finished by October 2017, with the building called Britannia Point.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

In 2021 Criterion Capital submitted a planning application for two new towers on the south side of the existing tower. A petition against the towers has gathered over 500 signatures.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

In 2022, The London Borough of Merton started emergency inspection of the building after footage revealed a glass panel had fallen from a residents window.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 June 2022 |title=Dramatic video captures glass panel fall 12 storeys from high-rise apartment in South London |url=https://www.itv.com/news/london/2022-06-30/glass-falls-12-storeys-from-high-rise-window-in-colliers-wood |work=[[ITV News]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=mertonzb |date=2022-06-28 |title=Colliers Wood Tower updates |url=https://news.merton.gov.uk/2022/06/28/statement-on-colliers-wood-tower/ |access-date=2022-12-21 |website=Merton Council Newsroom |language=en-US}}</ref> 
<gallery>
File:Brown and Root Tower.jpg|The Colliers Wood Tower
File:Brown and Root Tower - January 2009.jpg|The Colliers Wood Tower - unoccupied
File:Colliers Wood Tower August 2016.jpg|New cladding Summer 2016
</gallery>

==Culture==
In 2006, local resident and ex-resident of [[Slough]] Keith Spears,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/wimbledonnews/9018064.Volunteers_reveal_surprising_inspirations_at_awards_night/ |title=Outstanding volunteers reveal surprising inspirations at Merton Council Civic Awards night |work=Yourlocalguardian.co.uk |date=10 May 2011 |accessdate=2 December 2011}}</ref> having seen the [[BBC]] TV series ''Making Slough Happy'',<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4436482.stm |title=Making Slough Happy |work=BBC News |date=15 November 2005 |accessdate=2 December 2011}}</ref> started the "Making Colliers Wood Happy!"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://makingcollierswoodhappy.org.uk/ |title=Making Colliers Wood Happy! |work=makingcollierswoodhappy.org.uk |accessdate=2 December 2011}}</ref> initiative as a way of building community spirit to counteract the decline in neighbourliness in suburban areas. This has resulted in a lively programme of social activities for local residents, including a choir,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://collierswoodchorus.org.uk/ |title=Colliers Wood Chorus |publisher=Colliers Wood Chorus |accessdate=2 December 2011}}</ref> a ukulele orchestra<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.collywoodukes.com/ |title=Colliers Wood International Ukulele Orchestra |publisher=Collywoodukes.com |accessdate=2 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301224804/http://www.collywoodukes.com/ |archive-date=1 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and an annual open gardens event. 

Colliers Wood is represented in football by [[Colliers Wood United F.C.|Colliers Wood United]] who play in the 10th tier of [[English football league system|English football]] in the [[Combined Counties League Division One]]. The team however is based outside the area at Wibbandune Sports Ground in the [[Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames|Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames]].{{cn|date=May 2025}}

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[https://www.cwra.org.uk Colliers Wood Residents Association] - Local Residents Association for Colliers Wood, with updates on local news, activities and community groups.
*[https://www.cwra.org.uk/the-colliers-wood-community-centre/ Colliers Wood Community Centre] - See details of all the activities that take place at the Colliers Wood Community Centre.
*{{commons category-inline}}

{{LB Merton}}
{{London Districts}}

[[Category:Areas of London]]
[[Category:Districts of the London Borough of Merton]]