Place Name
Not in fact the Archbishop Thomas Crammer, rather Robert Cranmer, a merchant trader with the East India Company who bought the land here in 1656. And while Cranmer did in fact claim descent from the archbishop, the claim proved to be a fabrication. The Cranmers and their descendants, the Simpsons, held the lordship of the manor of Mitcham Canons and were major landowners in the parish for some 250 years. While the exact extent of their estate isn’t known, the land opposite the pond, where the Wilson Hospital is now was the location of the family home, the Cranmer. Robert’s son, John built Canons House just north of the green. The family farmed locally and may have used the land which since 1967 has been known as Cranmer Green to graze cattle. They may also have created the pond, which appears on maps from the 18thCentury, for the watering of livestock. The street itself appears to be one of the earlier routes in the parish, appearing on the 1897 Ordnance Survey Map. Today this is part of the A239 which continues via Cricket Green to Mitcham.
