Archivi tag: mitcham peppermint

English aromatic landscapes, In English, Materia Viva in English

The Wandle river – Materia Viva n.9

Each issue of Materia Viva begins with an aromatic material and follows it as one might follow a trail: not only its scent, but the landscape, history, gestures, images and words that the material carries with it.

river wandle mitcham UK

This time, the thread leads to a river: the Wandle, nine miles of water flowing from the hills south of London to the Thames. It rises from chalk, and that explains much of what follows: rain filters for months through the porous rock before re-emerging as spring water, cold and clear in every season.

An entire district of trades grew up around that water. The damp meadows along the river supported mint and chamomile, while lavender grew further away where the soil became more gravelly, and the same stills were used to distil them. Further downstream, mills ground tobacco for snuff. At Merton Abbey, William Morris moved his entire production in 1881, after having the river water analysed to make sure it was suitable for printing with vegetable dyes.

It is a story of water and hands. Of a single current that, over nine miles, allowed very different trades to exist — growers, distillers, dyers — all sustained by the same natural resource: crystal-clear water.

A recent special edition of the e-zine was also devoted to Mitcham peppermint, tracing the history of this aromatic plant through the landscape, people and industrial heritage of south London.

You can receive a free PDF copy, and for further details about the project and how to support it, contact us via the WhatsApp button on the website or by email at professionefelice@gmail.com. You may also discover the next issue of the ezine, about the Ramy, a resin from Madagascar.

English aromatic landscapes, In English, Materia Viva in English

Materia Viva n.7 — Black Mitcham Peppermint

Each issue of Materia Viva begins with an aromatic material and follows it the way one follows a trail: not only the scent, but the landscape, the history, the gestures, the images and the words that material carries with it.

Mitcham Peppermint South London UK
Original artwork by Elena Cobez

This time the thread leads to Black Mitcham peppermint (Mentha × piperita), the variety born in the fields of Mitcham, south of London, where for two centuries mint growing shaped the landscape, the work and even the street names. A plant with a singular fate: being a sterile hybrid, it sets no fertile seed and propagates only by cutting. Every Black Mitcham plant is, quite literally, the living continuation of one and the same individual — an unbroken green thread running through centuries and through wars.

In the summer of 2026 this issue was accessioned as an archival source by the Wandle Industrial Museum, as documentation of the historic mint cultivation of the Mitcham area.

The issue moves through the Mitcham fields and their memory, the English distilleries, and the rescue of the variety during the First World War — a history, and a plant, with a good many surprises in store.

A PDF copy is available on request. For that, and for anything about the project or how to support it, write to professionefelice@gmail.com — or use the WhatsApp button on the site.

[Questo articolo è disponibile in italiano qui]