The Wandle Industrial Museum in Mitcham is a riverside museum reflecting the rich heritage of of the Wandle Valley. The museum displays evidence which establishes that the River Wandle was, in its day, the most industrialised river in Europe.
In 1983 the Wandle Industrial Museum was established to help preserve the story of the river and the industries it helped to support. The museum is entirely run by volunteers.
Exhibitions concentrate on two of the Wandle’s better known industries, namely the snuff & tobacco and textile industries. The ‘Lost Mills of the Wandle’ exhibition tells the story of mills founded at Croydon, Carshalton, Mitcham, Merton, Wimbledon and Wandsworth. The museum also highlights Merton Priory, and has a display on the Surrey Iron Railway, a horse-drawn toll railway, which opened in 1802.
