Merton was owned by King Harold before the Norman conquest, and then by William the Conqueror. The first English statute, called the Statute of Merton, was made here in 1236. Thomas a Becket was educated in Merton. Merton College Oxford takes its name from Walter Merton, its founder, who was a chief justice and presumably took his own name from his birth place. Merton Place, built just south of Merton High Street in 1700 was Admiral Nelson’s home in England. He lived there in a ménage a trois with Lady Hamilton and her husband between 1801 and 1805. It was demolished after his death. A farm further west was bought by a city businessman called John Innis who constructed an estate of houses there between 1871 and 1904 which is called Merton Park, and is regarded as the first garden suburb. The estate was extended in 1927 towards the new underground station constructed at that time.

Merton Park Estate was one of the first of the garden suburbs to be built in the 19th century. This one was built by John Innes. The first houses built in the 1870s were in Dorset Road, Mostyn Road and Kingswood Road. Houses in the Arts and Crafts style were built later in other streets. There is a mixture of house types from mansions down to cottages. Melrose Road and Watery Lane were developed in Edwardian times. Houses in Wilton Crescent and some surrounding streets were constructed by Henry Quartermain and are apparently particularly sought-after. Development continued piecemeal throughout the 20th century.