ASHTEAD

'Ashtead' is a large village situated within the Green Belt of Surrey, England, and is part of the suburbia of London. It is separated from Leatherhead by the M25, and from Epsom by Ashtead Common.

Contents

History

The village area

Business

Schools

Transport

Rail

Road

Emergency services

Famous People

Current Affairs

External links

References

History

There has been settlement in Ashtead since at least Roman times, with a Roman villa excavated in what is now Ashtead common. Ashtead lay within the Copthorne hundred, an administrative division devised by the Saxons.
Ashtead appears in Domesday Book as ''Stede''. It was held by the Canons of Bayeux from the Bishop of Bayeux. Its Domesday Assets were: 3 hides and 1 virgate; 16 ploughs, 4 acres of meadow, woodland worth 7 hogs. It rendered (in total): £12.^[1] Its main source of water at the time seems to have been the Rye.
St Giles Church in Ashtead Park dates from the 12th Century, and Ashtead is mentioned twice in Samuel Pepys' diaries. Part of his entry for 25 July 1663 reads:

Towards the evening we bade them adieu and took horse, being resolved that, instead of the race which fails us, we would go to Epsom When we come there we could hear of no lodging, the town so full, but which was better, I went towards Ashsted, and there we got a lodging in a little hole we could not stand upright in While supper was getting I walked up and down behind my cosen Pepys's house that was, which I find comes little short of what I took it to be when I was a little boy.

Ashtead is frequently misspelt, examples being "Ashsted" and "Ashstead". Until 1967, Ashtead Railway Station had both "Ashtead" and "Ashstead" displayed on station name plates hanging on opposite platforms.
''The Ashtead Psalms'' were commissioned by Ashtead Choral Society to mark their fiftieth anniversary in the year 2000 from composer Robert Steadman.

The village area

Locals commonly refer to three areas of Ashtead: 'The Village' (The Village Centre, around The Street), 'Lower Ashtead' and 'The Common'. There is also 'Ashtead Park', 'Ashtead Heath' and 'Ashtead Downs'.
The Village is the oldest part of Ashtead and has the main shopping and social area of the village, with two pubs and the 'Ashtead Village Club', a C&IU affiliate.
The area north of the railway line is Ashtead Common, managed by the Corporation of London and subject to a long standing preservation order, although there are some houses on the Common. Lower Ashtead is a flat area leading to Ashtead Common, where there is a park, a Youth Club, a pub and large housing estates, all built near the railway station.
Despite its size, and the fact that it is bisected by the A24 and is near the M25, some residents feel it retains a village atmosphere.

Business

Ashtead Pottery was produced in the village from 1923 until the company ceased trading in 1935.

Schools

Ashtead has several schools, including:

★ Barnett Wood Infant School

★ City of London Freemen's School - private school associated with Corporation of London

★ St. Giles' (Church of England) Infant School

★ The Greville Primary School

★ West Ashtead Primary School

Transport

Rail

Ashtead has a small modern railway station on the London to Horsham, Dorking and Guildford lines.

Road

The London to Worthing road, the A24, runs through the village.

Emergency services

Ashtead is served by these emergency services:

★ Surrey Police

★ South East Coast Ambulance Service

★ Surrey Fire & Rescue Service

★ Ashtead Hospital, a small private hospital with no A&E department. The nearest general hospital with an A&E department is in Epsom.

Famous People

★ Alec Stewart (wicketkeeper/batsman), ex captain of England Test cricket team. Played cricket for his country and Surrey county.

★ Samuel Pepys visited Ashtead in the 17th century and spent some time living there as a boy.^[2]

Current Affairs

A number of Ashtead residents opposed a recent "change of use application" that has seen a private residence converted into a family support centre.^[3] The intended purpose of the family centre was to offer the relatives of injured service personnel at Headley Court some short term accommodation.^[4] Members of the The Army Rumour Service website started a coordinated campaign against the local residents objections^[5] and a Downing St petition was initiated.^[6] The application was unanimously approved by Mole Valley District Council Development Control Committee on 1 August 2007.^[7]

External links

★ Ashtead Parish Church and Village

★ Ashtead Residents Association

★ Ashtead Hospital

References

1. Surrey Doomsday Book
2. The Six Visits of Mr. Pepys
3. Daily Mail Article on Ashtead Residents objection to family support centre
4. Fury over home for soldiers' relatives
5. ARRSE Campaign
6. No 10 Downing Street Petition
7. BBC News - Service families' home approved