COULSDON

'Coulsdon' is a place in the London Borough of Croydon on the Brighton Road (A23). The received pronunciation is "Cools-don" (IPA ).
Part of Coulsdon is the estate marked on maps as but always referred to locally as ''The Mount'' after its central road. Administratively The Mount is part of the London Borough of Sutton but to reach the rest of Sutton from The Mount by road one must leave the borough.
The village lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Wallington hundred.
Couldson appears in Domesday Book as ''Colesdone''. It was held by Chertsey Abbey. Its domesday assets were: 3½ hides; 1 church, 7 ploughs, woodland worth 3 hogs. It rendered £7.^[1]
Unlike Purley, Coulsdon has managed to retain a good mix of traditional high street shops. It also has a large number of restaurants for its size.
Since 2005 there has been a large empty space in the middle of Coulsdon following the demolition of the Red Lion public house. The town centre now has no pub. Current (Oct 2006) plans for the site are for an Aldi supermarket. There is also a scheme to replace the Pinewood garage site near Smitham station with a branch of Sainsbury's. Controversy surrounds both projects, mainly because of the large - six storey - scale of these developments and doubts about the need for yet more supermarkets in the area. (There is a Waitrose across the way from the planned site for the Sainsbury's. Recently the Coulsdon branch of Co-op shut down, due presumably to lack of business. One of the largest Tescos in the country is at Purley Cross, a mere mile or so away from the centre of Coulsdon.)
A relief road called Farthing Way, (as part of The Coulsdon Town Centre Improvement Scheme) opened in late 2006 and has rid the town centre of the large volume of through traffic. The redevelopment of the Red Lion site and the completion of the road are likely to transform the centre of Coulsdon.
Prominent in the middle of Coulsdon is the head office of the world-famous Jane's Information Group. Places of worship in Coulsdon include a Coptic Orthodox Church, an Anglican Parish Church and a Messianic Synagogue.
Around Coulsdon are attractive and important open spaces, largely chalk downland - the beginning of the North Downs. Farthing Downs and Happy Valley are managed by the Corporation of London and are popular with walkers. The London LOOP footpath around London passes through on the route between Hamsey Green and Banstead. The Coulsdon section was the first of the 24 to be opened.

Contents

Schools

Nearest places

Nearby stations

References

External links

Schools

★ Chipstead Valley Primary School

★ Smitham Primary School

★ St. Aidan's Primary School

★ Woodcote Junior School

★ Woodcote Infant and Nursery School

Nearest places

★ Old Coulsdon

★ Purley

★ Kenley

★ Banstead

★ Caterham

Nearby stations

The railway stations in the Coulsdon area are:

★ Coulsdon South

★ Smitham

★ Woodmansterne
There was previously a station at Coulsdon North, adjacent to Smitham station.

References

1. Surrey Domesday Book

External links

★ Coulsdon relief road scheme.

★ The village of Old Coulsdon - well illustrated site.

★ Decisions by the London Borough of Croydon's Planning Committee for development of the Red Lion site:

★
★ 10 June 2005 - planning permission refused on several grounds (page 9 of this PDF)

★
★ 19 July 2005 - appeal has been lodged - public inquiry to be held (page 3 of this PDF)

★ Caterham Sea Cadets on Coulsdon Road beside the Common

★ Jane's Information Group

★ Beit Hallel Messianic Synagogue

★ St. Mary and St. Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church - see also St. Shenouda

★ St. Andrews Church - the local Anglican Parish Church