TREASURE DESCRIPTION: A song, or ‘Street Cry’, sung by Lavender sellers on the streets of London. It derives from a common melody last documented to be sung in 1958.
The Mitcham Lavender sellers ‘Cry’ represents the relationship and link between industry and social memory. Lavender was sold primarily by Romany travellers living on Mitcham Common due to the proximity of the Lavender production. The ‘Cry’ has been preserved in the form of written sheet music, audio files and Youtube videos. A project by Sing London in 2009 entitled ‘Singing Histories’ captures this song as part of a collection of traditional ditties and melodies of London. This collection is currently being used as education material for future generations to learn from.
These treasures were made as part of The Building Exploratory, Wandle Treasures project. This project was part of the wider Living Wandle Landscape Partnership Scheme, funded by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund.
