Merton Abbey Mills Reviews Summary

Historical Significance & Atmosphere

Pros:

• "Nice markets and beautiful place not where you would expect - heaped in history - go far enough back and it was the site of coronations and key meetings took place - worth looking up."
• "Cool historical building complex in SW London."
• "Heritage buildings in a pedestrian area. Piazza with a bandstand alongside the river wandle with lots of outside seating."
• "This is one of the oldest working water mills in the world."
• "This lovely market area has been developed to maintain the historic Arts & Crafts buildings where the famous William Morris made his luxury design products for Liberty's of London."
• "A gem hidden in South Wimbledon, with lots of independents on the Wandle river front with a huge outdoor seating area."
• "Great historical place to visit and support, working water wheel on the river Wandle, with little shops around and good bars and restaurants."

Cons:

• "Sadly there’s a lot of empty shops and the place is like a ghost town."
• "Rumours of a street food market (as suggested by their website) are greatly exaggerated."
• "Despite numerous attempts to revive the market, it has been going downhill for the last 4-5 years."
• "The market is more like a rubbish car boot sale (lots of old toys etc)."
• "One time buzzing heart of the local community never recovered from having 90% of its carpark, and therefore it's business, being turned into luxury flats."
• "The big eyesores that are Pizza Hut and KFC are bad enough on approach to what should be a preserved historical place of interest."
• "Shadow of its former self. Pub and a couple of restaurants serving the local residents. But the best days are behind it."

Food & Drink

Pros:

• "The best bit is a little deli that serves meat and cheese boards with artisan G&Ts while sitting outside."
• "There's a nice little row of food places to visit and eat outdoors here. I had home made savoury crepes and my husband had jerk fish from the next door cafe."
• "Lovely place, great food, been there on many occasions, they always have activities for the family, live music, lots of food to choose from."
• "Bustling area of artisanal/craft shops, restaurants & pub located within very scenic surroundings near River Wandle."
• "A lovely place for some food or drink."
• "Enjoyed a lovely roast dinner. Roast beef was amazing as was the whole dinner."
• "Really enjoyed a nice Thai meal food was great and reasonably priced with acceptable portion sizes."

Cons:

• "The rest is somewhat sad and upsetting. The stalls are drab (and scarce), the food outlets, yawn."
• "Drinks are a bit pricey, but no more than other places."
• "Too many food outlets today for my liking."
• "What a shame that this area has been ruined in the name of profit. It used to be full of craft stalls, but is now about 90% food oriented and has lost much of its charm as a result."
• "Ate at the Italian one night and our calzone was burnt...but otherwise quite good and reasonably priced."
• "Tried to find some real fresh cask ale to drink. Sadly not to be."
• "The so called market consists of 5 stalls. It's just a real shame."

Community & Family-Friendly Environment

Pros:

• "Love this place so glad to see stalls and music back used to go and sit on steps listening to music then it went dead."
• "Lovely area. Facilitates children and pets in almost all of the venues offered."
• "Wonderful Weekend Vibes this weekend. Always a pleasure to stroll to and eat and drink while knowing you're helping the community and small business survive."
• "People in Merton are lovely people, social, family oriented and definitely an area to raise a family."
• "Lovely atmosphere with river running through with large trees, many restaurants of your choice of food and beverages and I found it a nice place to relax with your family or friends."
• "Always something going on, live music, stalls, friendly and laid back environment."
• "A great atmosphere with various food and drink outlets and if you are lucky live music."

Cons:

• "Merton Abbey Mills used to be so buzzy, not sure if the place is so sad now due to Covid or has it been in decline for longer."
• "The rest is somewhat sad and upsetting. The stalls are drab (and scarce), the food outlets, yawn."
• "Despite numerous attempts to revive the market, it has been going downhill for the last 4-5 years."
• "It was so sad during the whole covid lockdown, to walk past this area, desolate with no people or atmosphere whatsoever."
• "It's not fair to rate this place during covid as tiny shops unable to open or independent owners sadly not survived economically."
• "Times are changing, I guess. I used to love spending time here but now it somehow doesn't feel the same anymore."
• "Shadow of its former self. Pub and a couple of restaurants serving the local residents. But the best days are behind it."

Accessibility & Convenience

Pros:

• "Parking available on request. Good to support small businesses."
• "Provision for locking up your bicycles is there."
• "Free parking for 2 hours at the adjacent 'KFC' car park."
• "Parking nearby. The atmosphere is always very nice, will recommend to visit."
• "Great place for food and drink when the weather is good."
• "The Mills are a hidden gem of sw19, with a lovely selection of pubs restaurants and assorted local businesses."
• "Well worth a visit if you're nearby or passing. Plenty of independent shops and businesses."

Cons:

• "Very pot holed pathways making it difficult for people with mobility issues."
• "They got rid of most of the parking."
• "Unfortunately who ever owns the place is leaving it to rot."
• "Most of the shops were closed when I went on a Tuesday but I was visiting to see if they had a good place for coffee."
• "An amazing space with so much potential, but lacking investment and attention from the council."
• "No more indoor market full of interesting items, no more outdoor stalls selling all sorts of things."
• "The place itself is dead."