Located within the London Borough of Sutton, this one-hectare site is a vital green lung in the urban landscape. It was officially designated a statutory Local Nature Reserve in 1992, recognising its significant ecological value. For those with mobility needs, most of the reserve is wheelchair accessible via a boardwalk, which was replaced by a contractor almost a decade ago - building on the initial efforts of dedicated volunteers. 

The wetlands boast a diverse range of habitats, including reed swamp with mixed wetland vegetation, wet willow woodland (carr), sedge-beds, and ponds. This mosaic supports a wealth of wildlife, from insects like twin-spotted wainscot and crescent moths to birds such as the grey heron, reed warbler, and kingfisher. 

The history of Spencer Road Wetlands is deeply intertwined with the River Wandle. Before watercress, this area was known for its industrial heritage, particularly the calico bleaching industry around Hackbridge, where vast fields were used to whiten fabrics, relying primarily on sunlight and the abundant water from the River Wandle itself. As one writer of the time, Edwards, noted, the land was "almost covered with linen, which to a stranger is sometimes mistaken for snow." This traditional method became obsolete around the 1880s with the advent of chlorine, which made the bleaching process much faster and cheaper, leading to many former industrial lands, including parts of this site, being sold off.

From at least 1895 to 1959, this land was commercially utilized for watercress production, a significant agricultural crop for this part of London, with controlled flooding creating ideal conditions. In 1937, there was an outbreak of typhoid in Croydon and the watercress beds were blamed. In fact, a polluted well in Addington was the cause, but by then the damage had been done and the industry went into a slow decline. Notably, this site stands as the last remaining watercress bed in the area that has not been built upon.

After watercress farming ceased, the site was left unmanaged, allowing swamp plants and willow woodland to naturally colonise the area. However, its conservation journey began in 1988 when Sutton Conservation Volunteers started working to regenerate its wetland habitats. The site is owned by the London Borough of Sutton Council, and it has been managed by the London Wildlife Trust since 1991. Importantly, its ongoing success and management are largely driven by the tireless efforts of volunteers, who continue to nurture its unique ecosystem. 

Look out across Kingfisher Pond and try to imagine how it looked when it was a commercial watercress bed, long before nature took over. Below is a photo of the site taken from roughly where you are standing but in around 1900, which will give you some idea of what it was like. Now, what you are seeing is a mosaic of wetland habitats, once commonplace on the River Wandle before industrialisation and urbanisation. 

The pond directly in front of you was created in 1990 to provide some deep water and encourage more variety of wildlife. To the rear of the pond is a type of wet woodland called Carr, mainly comprising of goat willow trees. To your right is reed swamp vegetation and to the left is mature wet woodland, consisting of crack willow trees. The tall green grass growing amongst the trees is sedge, a shade tolerant wetland plant.

To your left you can hopefully see a sandy-coloured mound adjacent to the pond, which is our artificial kingfisher nesting bank, built by volunteers in 1996. The nesting bank has been very successful with kingfishers nesting every year.

This ditch, often referred to as a canal in old documents, was built before 1840 and provided water from the river to maintain a large mill pond at the northeast corner of the site. 

Behind you, along the line of the decking, they used to grow mustard and cress, sprouted seeds used as a salad crop, all year round in the 1940s and 50s. Two low parallel walls, about 1.5 metres apart, stretched almost the whole length of the site. They were used to support sheets of glass to create a sort of mini greenhouse called a cloche. The cloche was heated by a boiler that provided steam to cast-iron piping which ran the length of the cloche keeping it warm all year round. Ideal conditions for sprouting the mustard and cress seeds. 

On the aerial photo below, taken in 1947, you can hopefully make out the long cloche running from the top to the bottom of the image.

Most of the rail network was destroyed by the Council in the 1960s, to prevent children playing on it. The volunteers have excavated this remaining section of the old track and maintain it for visitors. 

Now turn about to face the number 3. Looking slightly to the left on the other side of the ditch, you will see the inlet pipe from the river that feeds the ditch and then the rest of the reserve, including the mill pond. This inlet pipe is the one originally used for the watercress bed, it was rediscovered by the volunteers in the 1990s and reinstated. It has recently been lined with plastic drainage pipe to reduce the risk of the feed being blocked as a result of the original pipe failing due to old age.

The Wandle is a chalk stream, a rare type of river habitat renowned for its rich biodiversity when well-maintained. If you watch carefully, you may be lucky enough to see a kingfisher darting down the river or some large fish amongst the river plants. 

Surprisingly the Wandle is fairly unpolluted apart from during storms when the river channels the runoff from surrounding roads and buildings. To the right, this section of the river has been recently re-engineered to make it more naturalised. The hope is that this type of improvement will eventually encourage a greater range of biodiversity, including spawning fish, such as brown trout. 

The canal ditch to the left once turned sharp right here towards the mill pond. In the 50s and 60s this was the site of an illegally dumped rubbish tip made up of rubber off-cuts and discarded rubber soles from a nearby factory. Eventually the ditch was filled in with these waste products, blocking it completely. If you look carefully at the ground and you may still see odd pieces of rubber, including some complete shoe soles.

More recently, part of the original mill pond has been restored, prompting the excavation of this ditch to provide the mill pond with new supply of fresh water. 

This was a significant task and required the removal of 4 skip-loads of material from the ditch, mostly consisting of the rubber waste. 

Once the River Wandle had more water mills per mile than any other river in the country. The mills have long gone, and the old buildings formed the basis of a long-standing industrial estate; this land has since been repurposed as a housing estate. Black poplar is a wetland tree that is very rare in Britain, and the ones left are typically all males. Female trees are becoming more available nowadays, so the plan is to purchase one in the near future to complement our existing tree. 

The mill pond was restored by the residential property developer who built the housing estate.

We don't know what the mill pond was originally constructed for but in the early 20th century it was apparently used to produce electricity for the adjacent lavender factory.

The mill pond doesn’t appear very healthy at the moment, although a moorhen bred successfully on it this year. We are hopeful that with the new freshwater feed, and the addition of some aquatic plants, the biodiversity of the mill pond will start to improve. 

Although arguably not the most notable habitat on the reserve by biodiversity standards, it is the most impressive when viewed up close.

By far the most dominant plant species is the common reed, being the tallest native non-woody plant in Britain, reaching 3 metres in height. This reed was traditionally used for thatching roofs, and although most material is imported from Europe now, some reed is still harvested in Norfolk. 

The other swamp plants include yellow flag iris, reed sweet-grass, and reedmace (often known as bullrush). 

Maintenance of the swamp mainly involves a constant battle with surrounding trees to stop them encroaching on the bed, as they would easily out-compete the swamp vegetation over time, turning it to woodland, a process called natural succession. 

If you look carefully, you will see stems of the common reed have died part way down and then re-sprouted just before the dead section. This is the work of the brown-veined wainscot moth caterpillar, which eats the pith inside the stem of the plant. 

The reeds also support some birds that specialise in this type of habitat, namely reed warbler and reed bunting. We have not had reed bunting for some time, but reed warblers are heard singing every year and are thought to have bred successfully.