FETCHAM

'Fetcham' is a residential area in Surrey, England. It is west of Leatherhead, on the other side of the River Mole and Mill Pond springs and the associated nature reserve.
The Mill Pond springs are a large number of chalk springs, which provide much of the water supply for the surrounding area. These springs even continued to supply water during the droughts of 1976 and 2006.
Although some would call it a suburb of Leatherhead, Fetcham is actually a busy village with good local shops, and has easy access to London, Guildford, Cobham, Epsom and, of course, Leatherhead.

Contents

History

Village

Education

Social Life

Transport

Road

Rail

Emergency Services

External links

History

The name Fetcham is derived from the Anglo-Saxon “Fecca’s ham” - Fecca's settlement. Fetcham lay within the Copthorne hundred, an administrative division devised by the Saxons.
Indeed, there is evidence that there were even earlier settlements, with the discovery of Stone and Bronze Age tools and Roman artefacts, as well as three ancient burial grounds.
Fetcham appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Feceham''. It was held partly by William the Conqueror; party by Richard from the Bishop of Bayeux partly by Oswald the thegn. Its domesday assets were: 7 hides; 5½ mills worth 17s, 10½ ploughs and 2 oxen, 30 acres of meadow, woodland, herbage and pannage worth 23 hogs. It rendered £10 10s 0d.^[1] Fetcham, therefore, was referenced in the Domesday survey as three manors; one known as King's Manor was probably Fetcham Park; another was given to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux after the Norman conquest. The third was an Augustinian foundation from Merton Priory, at Cannon Court, which Henry VIII dissolved in 1538.
Its small manorial farming community was numbered 176 in the survey, but with the Black Death in 1349, tragically it was reduced by half.
The Fetcham Conservation Area includes the impressive 18th century mansion of Fetcham Park House. The Well House, The Dower House and Ballands Hall are three of a cluster of old buildings in the area.
St. Mary's Church has been a place of Christian worship for over 1000 years. Built during Anglo-Saxon and early Norman periods, it is probably on the site of an even earlier timber church. There are many hints of its past in its structure. These include the south-west quoin of the nave, and a single splay window high on the south wall with traces of Roman brick as well as arches which are presumed to pre-date 1066.

Village

The village of Fetcham is quite large; extending from the River Mole at the village's east side, it is bounded by the neighbouring villages of Great Bookham and Little Bookham on its west.
To non-residents, Fetcham is regarded as part of Leatherhead. In its postal address, Royal Mail prefer you to use the format of "Fetcham, Leatherhead".
The centre of the village has a number of shops, various in nature, and has free car parking to complement these. These are sufficient for the day to day demands of the local population. Food and drink is catered for by restaurants and food outlets supplying Indian, Chinese, and Italian cuisine, as well as a friendly Fish and Chips shop and a pleasant Bakery coffee shop.
There are four Christian congregations in the village:

★ Cannon Court Evangelical Church, in Cannonside

★ Church of the Holy Spirit (RC), in Bell Lane

★ Community Church, which meets in Fetcham Infants School

★ St Mary's Church, off The Ridgeway
To its south are the Fetcham and Leatherhead Downs, which are a part of the North Downs.

Education

There are two popular village schools:

★ Fetcham Infants School for ages 4-7 with an attached pre-school for ages 2-4

★ Oakfield Junior School for ages 7-11

Social Life

Fetcham has just one pub, called The Bell. It had a major refit in late 2004 by its new owner the Youngs brewery chain.
There is a large and well used Village Hall in The Street, and a small reading room, in Cobham Road.
There was a Social Club, called the Fetcham Sports and Social Club, but this closed in 2001 after the membership dwindled. The building is now used as offices.

Transport

Road

The main village thoroughfare is the Cobham Road.

Rail

There is no British Rail link to Fetcham. The nearest stations are Leatherhead and Bookham.

Emergency Services

Fetcham is served by the following emergency services:

★ Surrey Police. Though Leatherhead Police Station is only used for minor issues now, everything else is handled from Dorking Police Station.

★ South East Coast Ambulance Service as of 1 July 2006. The Surrey, Sussex, and Kent Ambulance services have all merged, and have now ceased to exist separately.

★ Surrey Fire & Rescue Service, the local branch of which is actually located in Fetcham, but called Leatherhead Fire Station.

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★ Fetcham (Leatherhead) fire station has 28 personnel and one fire engine (water tender ladder). It also has special vehicles, one that is capable of transporting a large quantity of water or foam to an incident (water carrier), and a fire victim support vehicle crewed by the Red Cross.

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★ Appliances:

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★ 1 x Water Tender Ladder

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★ 1 x Water Carrier

External links

★ Brief description

★ Fetcham Community Information