The Morden Estate was originally owned by Westminster Abbey and has survived four centuries of change, reflected in the history of its buildings.

Family home and snuff mill
Morden Hall, built in 1770, has seen a variety of uses from a family home to a boarding school for young gentlemen and even a military hospital during the First World War. Many of the other estate buildings, including two 18th-century cottages, are gathered around the two water mills, which until 1922 were used for grinding snuff. Visitors can still see the original waterwheel that once turned the massive millstones to crush tobacco into a fine powder. Before the tobacco was ground it was dried in kilns - these are visible from the bridge. Today one of the mills houses the Snuff Mill, now used as an Environmental Centre, is a study centre for children from the local area.

Gilliat Hatfeild and National Trust ownership
Morden Cottage was home to Gilliat Hatfeild, who considered the cottage better suited to a bachelor than the Hall. He was a keen huntsman and fisherman, attracted to the idea of being a country gentleman. Many of the buildings on the estate reflect his interests, including gatehouses, lodges and a stable block built for his hunting horses, which has a weather vane in the shape of a trout. Even the former Dairy was converted for trout breeding. The formal garden of the cottage is surrounded by an unusual collection of ornamental trees, including one of the oldest yews in England. Morden Cottage is currently empty but the premises will shortly be refurbished. In 1941 Gilliat Hatfeild left the core of the estate (125 acres) to the National Trust.