It lies approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) north of the Greater London border with Surrey.

Cannon Hill Common covers 21 hectares of open space, and is a site of borough importance – Grade 1 for Nature Conservation.

It takes its name from Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham who lived in Wimbledon until his death in 1851.

The name Raynes Park was originally used in the 1870s and only applied to the area south of the railway line where the local landowner, Richard Garth, Lord of the Manor of the adjacent parish of Morden, planned to develop a new garden suburb[4] similar to that being developed by John Innes at Merton Park to the east.

The name refers to the Rayne family,[4] the previous landowners of the farmland on which Garth intended to build.

A number of detached houses were constructed, but Garth's absence as Chief Justice of Bengal slowed the development and much of the rest of the area became a golf course and cricket grounds.

A distinctive local landmark is the station footbridge which spans all four main running lines at an angle of about 45 degrees.

In recent years, Raynes Park has benefitted from increased investments; this includes a large Waitrose.

Wimbledon United CC have fielded a number of Sunday cricket teams with great success at their home ground at Cottenham Park for the past 90 years.

Since 2010 the MyRaynesPark Festival has taken place annually for a week during the summer, providing arts and cultural events for the local community, with previous guest speakers including Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Tim Vine.