Origins of Morden Hall
Originally owned by the Abbey of Westminster, the estate of Morden Hall Park was purchased by Messrs Ducket and Whitchurch in 1553. The following year, it was bought by Richard Garth, a clerk of the Petty Bay at Chancery and son of a successful lawyer. At this time, records show a ‘newly built mansion house’ known as Growtes which stood to the south of the present Hall. The estate remained within the Garth family until the 19th Century and, between 1759 and 1765, the fifth Richard Garth is thought to have built Morden Hall. Over the next century, a number of tenants occupied the Hall and at one point it was used as a school for young gentlemen.