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7
REPORT
STATISTICS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF THE
AREA
Area (in acres) 2,916 acres
Population, Census 1921 35,119
1981 56,856
Registrar-General's estimate of population midyear,
1951 67,010
Number of inhabited houses, 1921 7,150
1931 13,187
1951 18,945
Rateable Value, 1951 £552,743
Sum represented by a Id. rate £2,256
The Borough of Mitcham received its present status in 1934,
having previously been an Urban District from 1915, when the
Croydon Rural District, of which it formed part, was split up
into separate areas.
Mitcham is an irregular oval in shape, situated in North-East
Surrey and is adjacent to the south-west border of the London
metropolitan area. It is a fairly flat and low lying area, about
1/6th of it consisting of common land. Parts of Mitcham Common,
which are inclined to be marshy, have been raised and
levelled by the controlled tipping of refuse. Some nuisance of
smell was present for a time in the summer months of 1951, but
energetic measures were taken to abate it.
There is one river in Mitcham, the Wandle, which forms the
south-west and western boundary, separating Mitcham from
Beddington & Wallington in the south and Carshalton in the
west, as it runs a northwards course towards the Thames.
The soil of Mitcham consists of up to 4 feet of top-soil, with
about 10 ft. of gravel sub-soil, except for one or two parts where
London clay comes to the surface. Below the gravel, London
clay extends downwards for 200 to 300 ft,