Morden South, Merton

A Thameslink station with a monumental mosque close by

Baitul Futuh mosque

The railway line from Wimbledon to Sutton opened in 1930. Like other stations on this line, Morden South is little more than a halt, with no booking hall or retail amenities. Unlike almost every other station in Greater London, its name is rarely applied to the surrounding locality.

The Northern line’s prede­cessors built a depot behind Morden South station and it might have been possible to create a tube/​rail inter­change here but the two companies were antag­onistic rather than co-​​operative. The mainline station was the loser in this standoff: traffic on the line never justified the expense of its construction, while the nearby tube station became one of the busiest resid­ential destin­ations on the network.

Express Dairies operated a bottling plant on a former field between the two sets of rails, with their own siding and locomotive. After the dairy closed London’s Ahmadiyya Muslim community purchased the 5-​​acre site for the construction of one of the largest mosques in Europe. Inaug­urated in 2003, the imposing Baitul Futuh mosque cost £5.5 million, contributed by the community’s members, and can accom­modate up to 10,000 worshippers. Ancillary parts of the mosque are built around the fabric of the dairy and the old chimney was cleverly converted into a minaret, allowing a taller structure than would otherwise have been permitted. The Baitul Futuh mosque is faced in a specially formulated recon­stituted marble, designed to withstand the British weather.

Postcode area: Morden, SM4
Station: First Capital Connect (Thameslink) (Zone 4)
Website: Baitul Futuh mosque