A MUSKET salute and toast with mulled ale last Saturday celebrated the 400th birthday of a Merton hero who oversaw the restoration of King Charles II in 1659.

General George Monck was born at Great Potheridge near Merton on December 6 1608 and residents in the village are beginning a year of celebrations to commemorate his birth.

The toast was proposed on behalf of the village by the Rev Martin Warren, rector of All Saints in Merton, to which Lord Clinton responded.

This was followed by a Morris dance, the Monck's March, a musical fire show featuring young people from the area and a community circle dance, all of which took place in the village square.

George Monck served as a soldier for the king from an early age, and spent two years imprisoned in the Tower of London following the Battle of Nantwich in 1644.

Following his release, he swore allegiance to parliament, becoming one of Oliver Cromwell's most foremost generals.

After the death of Cromwell in 1659, when the threat of more civil war loomed, Monck led his regiment, now known as the Coldstream Guards, south from Scotland to oversee the restoration of Charles II.

He was subsequently much honoured and much of London's re-birth following the Great Fire in 1666 was credited to him.

He died in 1670 and was given a full state funeral. He is buried in Westminster Abbey with his wife Nan, who outlived him by less than a month.