It seems hard to believe but less than a century ago much of this area was still farmland.

Now is your chance to discover a little about this lost world on which your house may be built.

St Mary's Church, Cuddington, at the top of The Avenue in Worcester Park, is staging an exhibition of photographs and recollections of farms in Worcester Park, Cuddington, Nonsuch, Stoneleigh and Old Malden.

The Friends of Shadbolt Park will be displaying albums showing their restoration of the day-lily garden beside Shadbolt Park House, and there will be another chance to see the '400 years of Worcester Park' exhibition.

Local historian David Rymill, whose family has organised the event says: "Today thousands of people live in the communities of Worcester Park, Cuddington and Stoneleigh, but until the 1930s most of this area was farmland.

"It was mainly used for dairy herds, cereal crops and hay production, although some farms had other specialisations, ranging from pig keeping to fruit growing.

"We have produced a display showing the boundaries of the farms in the area as they were in the mid-19th Century, so visitors will be able to see which farm used to cover the area where they now live.

"The display also includes photographs of many of the farmhouses that used to exist in the district - and of a few of the farmers as well, together with some information about how the crops or livestock that could be found on many of the farms over the years, and recollections of people who remember working on the farms, or seeing farming activities, over the course of the 20th Century.

"We have been particularly pleased to have the chance to include in the display copies of Dr Robin Mattocks’s atmospheric photographs of farming in Nonsuch Park in the 1940s, and of a collection of photographs dairy farming at Tolworth Court Farm, the last working farm in the district, in the late 20th century - which many people probably drove past on the A240 without being aware of it."

The church itself, with its Victorian architecture, and its range of stained glass dating from the 1890s to the 2000s, is well worth a visit.

There will also be a  display, featuring hymn-books and prayer books used at St Mary's over the decades, plus hymns and anthems written by the church's organists.

Mr Rymill says: "This is also a chance to see inside the church and enjoy the beauty of its stained glass windows - including the latest window installed in 2005."

Mr Rymill's, two books on the history of Worcester Park which will be on sale at the event.  They are Worcester Park, Old Malden and North Cheam: History at Our Feet and Worcester Park and Cuddington: A Walk Through the Centuries.

Tea, coffee and cake will be available at the event, and most of the church complex and toilets are accessible to wheelchair users.

There will be parking in the church car park.

A walk along Royal Avenue and the field path to Church Road would enable people to also visit St John's Church, Old Malden, which will be open on all four days of the Heritage Open Days weekend: Thursday 11 and Friday 12 September, 11am to 4pm; Saturday 13, 10am to 5pm and Sunday 14, 2pm to 5pm.

Local History Open Day; St Mary’s Church, Cuddington, The Avenue, Worcester Park; Saturday September 13, 11am to 5pm; free.