Merton Park Studios - History
1895 - Frederic Shields (pre-Raphaelite artist) lived and worked at Long Lodge until his death in 1911. Long Lodge (267a/269 Kingston Road, Wimbledon) dates mainly from the 18th Century
1912 - 1930s - Long Lodge is the home and offices of architect J.S.Brocklesby, who designed many 'arts and crafts' houses in the local area and further afield.
1930 - Merton Park Studios officially opens
1931 - Sound Services converts former industrial premises at Kingston Road, Merton in south London into a film studio. [ref]
1934 - Part of Long Lodge is leased to Publicity Films with the rest of the property used by the Brocklesby family.
1937 - Merton Park Studios is formed to own the Sound Services studio (see 1931). [ref]
1939 - The Brocklesby family moved out and the whole of Long Lodge is taken over by the newly formed Merton Park Studios and it's associated companies.
1958-1960 - Second sound stage built in a mood of optimism.
August 1960 - The start of a 25 month period when 25 'Edgar Wallace' feature films were produced at Merton Park Studios by Anglo Amalgamated - one per month! [ref]
Anglo-Amalgamated Productions was a British film production company run by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy that operated from the 1940s to the 1970s. Much of the output was low budget and often second features, many produced at Merton Park Studios. It is best known for the first twelve Carry on films and many B-movie series such as The Scales of Justice and Edgar Wallace Mysteries.
1967 - Last feature produced (Payment in Kind, starring John Thaw)
March 1967 - The studio closed and the "Merton Park Studios" production company operation de-camped to Bushey, Hertfordshire.
1976 - Long Lodge sold and the grounds developed for housing. The lodge becomes a set of offices, currently the home of Bedford Insurance.
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