Merstham

Merstham
St Katharine's Church
Merstham  Merstham shown within Surrey
Area	9.38 km2 (3.62 sq mi)
Population	8,123 (2011 census)[1]
– density	866/km2 (2,240/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ295535
Civil parish	n/a
District	Reigate and Banstead
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Redhill
Postcode district	RH1
Dialling code	01737
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Reigate
List of places UK England Surrey

Coordinates: 51°15′50″N 0°09′11″W / 51.264°N 0.153°W / 51.264; -0.153

Merstham /ˈmɜːrstəm/ is a village in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is north of Redhill and is contiguous with it. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the village. Merstham has community associations, an early medieval church, a football club and an art gallery.

Neighbourhoods

Old Merstham

Old Merstham

Old Merstham forms the north and north-west of modern Merstham and is the original village centre. There is a small day school by the railway station, the Rt Art Gallery, two pubs, a few restaurants and a small number of shops.

The art gallery's collection currently (2014) includes original works by Joan Miro and Henry Moore.^[2]

The Merstham Estate/New Merstham

A larger housing estate, originally entirely public housing, was built to a geometric layout in the eastern fields. This area has its own parade of shops, the Brook recreation ground, three schools, and a youth/community centre along Radstock Way. Oakley, a small country house, is listed and has Victorian gothic architecture features.^[3]

South Merstham

South Merstham is immediately south of both mentioned areas and is made up of mainly Victorian and Edwardian terraces. It provided a workforce for Albury Manor and nearby chalk quarrying and brickworking.^[4] Nutfield Road has a long parade of shops.

South Merstham is home to Connevans Limited, who, in April 2016 became holders of the Royal Warrant, by Appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Supplier and Manufacturer of Audio Equipment.

Watercolour

Watercolour is a development, constructed in 2010–11, in South Merstham, close to Mercers Park. Here there is a Tesco Express and a small number of other shops.

History

A piece of the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway near Quality Street

The area has been settled since pre-Roman times.

The village lay within the Reigate hundred, an Anglo-Saxon administrative division. Its name was recorded in 947 as Mearsætham, which seems to be Anglo-Saxon Mearþ-sǣt-hām = "Homestead near a trap set for martens or weasels".

Merstham appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Merstan. It was held by Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury. Its domesday assets were: 5 hides; 1 church, 1 mill worth 2s 6d, 10 ploughs, 8 acres (3.2 ha) of meadow, woodland and herbage worth 41 hogs. It rendered £12.^[5]

The area has long been known for its quarries, and it was to serve these that the village became the terminus of the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway, an extension of the horse-drawn Surrey Iron Railway of 1803, the world's first public railway,^[6] albeit only for goods. A small section of the railway is on display at the entrance to Quality Street, Old Merstham. Unfortunately, this section has now been taken.

The first mines at Merstham are recorded almost 1000 years ago in the Domesday Book of 1086, and 'Reigate stone' quarried there was used to build parts of Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle and Henry VIII's Nonsuch Palace in Surrey.^[7]

The use of dynamite was first publicly demonstrated by Alfred Nobel in Price's Grey-lime Stone chalk quarry in July 1868.^[8] The site is now partly covered by the route of the M23 motorway just east of where it passes under the Shepherd's Hill bridge.

The original parish church, St Katharine's, dates from around 1220; it replaced an earlier church built c. 1100, although it is believed there has been a church of some form on the site since c. 675 AD.

Merstham's conservation area is centred on its High Street which winds in the village centre to the northwest, forms part of the A23 road and includes many listed buildings; the street with the greatest number, Quality Street, arcs off at a tangent from this curve of the High Street. This was named after J.M. Barrie's play of the same name, in honour of two of the actors in the play, Ellaline Terris and Seymour Hicks, who for a time lived in the 'Old Forge' at the end of the street.^[9] 1 High Street partly dates to the 17th century.^[10]

The earlier of the two Merstham railway tunnels was the scene of a murder on 24 September 1905. The mutilated body of Mary Sophia Money was found in the tunnel and was first thought to be a case of suicide. On inspection, however, a scarf was found in the victim's throat, and marks on the tunnel wall showed that she had been thrown from a moving train. The crime was never solved, but suspicion rested on her brother, Robert Money.

After World War II, the Merstham Estate was gradually built over a period spanning until the early 1970s.

The old village thus became generally known as Old Merstham, and is occasionally known as Top Merstham.

Rockshaw Road, on the hilltop above the conservation area of Old Merstham, was developed at the very end of the 19th century, and between the World Wars was home to many nationally notable people, among them senior Army and Navy figures, financiers and politicians.^[11]

All Saints Church

At the junction of Battlebridge Lane and Nutfield Road is All Saints church, the original building of which was destroyed in World War II. Volunteers from the Canadian regiments worked to build a temporary church for the village, which became known as Canada Hall and is used as a village hall and weekly meeting hall for some Merstham branches of the Girl Guides.

Sport and leisure

Merstham has a non-League football club, Merstham F.C., which plays at the Moatside. It also has a cricket club which plays in Fullers league division two.

Merstham Mines, an abandoned mine, is a popular caving destination.^[12]

Transport

London buses run to Croydon, Coulsdon, Purley and Redhill town centre. Metrobus operates buses to Reigate, Caterham and Woldingham.

The village is served by Merstham railway station on the Brighton Main Line, with services to London Bridge, London Victoria and Gatwick Airport.

Demography and housing

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.

The proportion of households who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).

See also

• List of places of worship in Reigate and Banstead

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Merstham.

• Reigate & Banstead Council

Borough of Reigate and Banstead
Towns, villages, neighbourhoods and hamlets	Banstead Banstead Nork Woodmansterne Coulsdon Chipstead Hooley Netherne-on-the-Hill Epsom Tattenham Corner Horley Horley Redhill Earlswood Meadvale Merstham New Merstham St John's Salfords Redhill Whitebushes Reigate Flanchford Reigate Skimmington Sidlow South Park Woodhatch Tadworth Burgh Heath Kingswood Margery Mogador Mugswell Tadworth Walton-on-the-Hill
Most notable parks	Chipstead Downs Colley Hill Priory or Reigate Park
Places of worship	Church of Jesus Christ and the Wisdom of God, Kingswood St John the Evangelist's Church, Earlswood
Education	Aberdour School The Beacon School Chinthurst School Dunottar School for Girls East Surrey College Oakwood School Priory Preparatory School Reigate College Reigate Grammar School Reigate School The Royal Alexandra and Albert School St. Bede's School The Warwick School
Transport	Railway stations Banstead Chipstead Earlswood Horley Kingswood Merstham Redhill Reigate Salfords Tattenham Corner Woodmansterne Roads M25 M23 A23 A25 A217 A240
Buildings and structures	Archway Theatre East Surrey Hospital Netherne Hospital Redhill Aerodrome Reigate Heath Windmill Royal Earlswood Hospital The Children's Trust, Tadworth
Sport	Banstead Athletic F.C. Chipstead F.C. Horley Town F.C. Merstham F.C. Redhill F.C. Reigate Priory F.C. South Park F.C.
Politics and Administration	Crispin Blunt Reigate Constituency Reigate and Banstead Borough Council
Places listed are articles notable as settlements, arranged by post town The two principal towns are emboldened The M23 motorway follows approximately a boundary and is chiefly included for its regional importance.