Caterham
Caterham is a town in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equal heights to the south. The town lies close to the A22, from Guildford and south of Croydon, in an upper valley cleft into the dip slope of the North Downs. Caterham on the Hill is above the valley to the west.
The town is particularly associated with being the location of the original factory for the Caterham 7 and for being the location of Caterham School, the estate of which lies on the outskirts of Caterham Valley.
History
An encampment on the top of White Hill, in Caterham Valley south of Caterham School, between Bletchingley and the town centre is called The Cardinal's Cap which was excavated and inspected in designating it a Scheduled Ancient Monument. With close ramparts forming two or more lines, archaeologists describe the fort as a "large multivallate hillfort at War Coppice Camp".The town lies within the Anglo-Saxon feudal division of Tandridge hundred.
Toponymy
The origin of the name Caterham is disputed and unknown. One theory is that it derives from the Primitive Welsh word cadeir meaning chair and the Old English hām meaning village. This could be in reference to a chair-shaped hill. Other theories derive it from the Old English cattahām or cattehām meaning 'Catta's settlement' or 'settlement of the cats'.Post Norman Conquest
Caterham's church of St Lawrence is of Norman construction and retains a rector as its incumbent. In the reign of King John, Roger son of Everard de Gaist gave this including its church lands to the monastery of Waltham Holy Cross. Everard's grandfather was Geoffery of Caterham who gave land to his son in the 12th century. This monastery ran the glebe as a manor, receiving a grant of free warren in their demesne lands of Caterham in 1253; holding it until the dissolution of the monasteries.Caterham's original village centre consisted in the nearest part of the ridge of Caterham on the Hill to the railway station in Caterham Valley, including at the street ascending the relatively steep, short hill, Church Hill. Although no conservation area has been designated in either civil parish, four secular buildings, including The King and Queen public house, three churches as well as a vault and tomb in St Lawrence's churchyard are listed; these are along Hill Street/ Church Hill in Caterham on the Hill.
The combined manors of Caterham, Porkele, Upwode, Gatiers and Halyngbury
Porkele had been formerly included in the manor given to Waltham Abbey; together the latter manors comprised. Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham held these manors leaving them in 1458 to his third son John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire when his son died without issue in 1499, under the terms of grant the elder branch, the following Duke of Buckingham inherited. His heirs sold them on the dissolution to Lord Berners who died in debt in 1533 resulting in bona vacantia and seizure by the Crown. In 1570 Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, later Lord High Treasurer, held the 'manor of Caterham and Portele farm,' which he conveyed in that year to Henry Shelley; Sir Thomas's Sondes's widow leased the lands in 1599 to her half-brother, Main Plot seditionist Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham. Then in 1615 her daughter Frances Leveson gave the rest of that lease, due the tenant's attainder to Sir Edward Barrett and Walter Barrett while the reversion was held by Sir Richard Sondes. George Ede purchased this massive estate in 1612 and it passed to Jasper Ockley in 1616. Sir Isaac Shard who was one of two Sheriffs of the City of London in 1730 who conveyed it to Thomas Clark and then passed as with the other manors; in 1911 W. L. Williams its owner lived at Portley in what remained of the estate. De Stafford School in Caterham on the Hill occupies a small part of the estate and is named after the earlier known owner. Adjoining Sunnydown School, state-run, is at what was Portley House and is for secondary education for boys with a Statement of Special Educational Needs.The Manor of Salmons
The only manor did not have as high-profile owners. In 1339 John de Horne released some land in Caterham to Roger Salaman, who at his death in 1343 was "seised of a tenement". A manor of Salmons appears in 1605 by William Jordan, who soon afterwards acquired the second manor of Caterham with which Salmons afterwards descended. It was bought out of Chancery, into which it went on the death of Charles Day, by George Drew, who sold to members of the Horne family, who owned the relatively small estate in 1911.Post Reformation
In 1544, the King granted the main rectorial manor was granted to William Sackville JP In 1553 William Sackville and Eleanor passed the manor to Robert Hartopp, goldsmith of London, dying two years later succeeded by Elias his son, who was left it to his nephew John, whose widow Joan sold the manor in 1609 to George Evelyn who gave it to his son Sir John Evelyn on his marriage to Elizabeth Cocks. Later owners of the manor were Sir John's purchaser James Linch, his issue including Susan Hussey and her son James who sold the manor in 1699 to George Roffey. His nephew inherited it of the same name and in 1770 his sons sold the title alone and perhaps house to Matthew Robinson. Richard Hewetson bought it in 1780 passing it to his nephew Henry Hewetson holding until the Regency period. Henry's nephew William Hewetson ceased to lay claim to any manorial rights however in any event the lands had been separately sold to Henry Rowed, whose son Henry settled the estate on his wife Susan Glover in 1765. Their daughter Katherine Glover inherited these lands.A second manor Manning and Bray report on was the main tenant's under the monastery and was held by for example buyers: William Jordan in 1607; Sir Isaac Shard, who held his first court in 1726; after 1825 Charles Day of the firm of Day & Martin held but leaving no clear heirs this estate ended up in the hands of the chancery. Taxing judge George Henry Drew held the main lands and title followed by W. L. Williams in 1911.
Post Industrial Revolution
Under Rev. James Legrew in the early 19th century the church tithes were commuted for £400, retaining a glebe of.In 1840 Caterham contained a total of 477 residents and in 1848 of its were common land. Similar to today, mostly steeper acres were woodland.
The more modern locality of Caterham Valley in a wide dry valley opening to the north and along its slopes is a product of the Victorian age and the coming of the Caterham railway line in 1856, which is still a terminus.
Victorian expansion of the town required the building of a much larger parish church, leading to the Church of St Mary the Virgin's building in 1866, directly across the road from St Lawrence's. As it also grew Caterham Valley gained its own Anglican church, to St. John the Evangelist, which was consecrated in 1882.
From 1877 Caterham Barracks on the hill was a depot for the Foot Guards regiments. The barracks were closed in 1995 and the site was redeveloped for housing.
Two main streets therefore serve two very close yet substantial and affluent communities, one with the railway station and more modern buildings, one with more historic buildings as soon as the closest hill is climbed from the heart of Caterham Valley. This set-up means that localism is present in that the Godstone Road during the middle of the 20th century bypassed Caterham Valley staying high and using Tillingdown, along the east of Caterham Valley from St John's School to the Croydon Road roundabout, thereby removing A22 traffic, while businesses set up and thrived in the valley itself.
On 6 July 1974 PC John Schofield was shot and killed while on patrol in Caterham.
In 1975 an IRA bomb exploded in the Caterham Arms public house injuring 10 off-duty soldiers and 23 civilians. The pub was popular with the Welsh Guards, who had recently returned to Caterham Barracks after serving in Northern Ireland. The men responsible for the bombing were later jailed for a string of murders and bombings; they were released in April 1999 following the Good Friday Agreement.
Local government
There are three tiers of local government in Caterham, at parish, district, and county level. The town is split between two civil parishes: Caterham on the Hill covering the older hilltop village, and Caterham Valley covering the newer town which grew up around Caterham railway station at the foot of the hill. Both parishes are within Tandridge District, which is based in Oxted, whilst county-level services are provided by Surrey County Council, based in Reigate.Surrey County Council has two councillors from Caterham.
Caterham has ten representatives on Tandridge District Council:
Caterham has two civil parish councils: Caterham on the Hill and Caterham Valley. Caterham Valley parish has two wards, Harestone and Caterham Valley, each electing three elected parish councillors. The parish council clerk is Maureen Gibbins. Caterham on the Hill has three wards, Portley, Queen's Park and Westway, each electing three parish councillors. The parish council clerk is Helen Broughton.
Administrative history
The ancient parish of Caterham was part of the Tandridge Hundred. The parish was included in the Godstone Poor Law Union in 1835. When parish and district councils were established in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894, Caterham was given a parish council, which was subordinate to the Godstone Rural District Council. Less than five years later, the parish of Caterham was removed from Godstone Rural District, becoming its own urban district on 1 April 1899, with the Caterham Parish Council being replaced with Caterham Urban District Council. Caterham Urban District Council held its first meeting on 17 April 1899 at the Masonic Hall, when William Garland Soper was appointed the first chairman of the council, having previously been chairman of the short-lived parish council.In 1911 Caterham Urban District Council built itself a public hall and office building called Soper Hall, at 3 Harestone Valley Road, to serve as its headquarters. The building was named after William Garland Soper, the first chairman of the council, who had died in 1908. Of the building's £4,000 cost, £1,500 was donated by public subscription in memory of Soper. The building was formally opened in January 1912.
In 1929 the Caterham Urban District was enlarged by the addition of the neighbouring parish of Warlingham, and the district's name was changed to Caterham and Warlingham Urban District. In 1933 the parishes of Chaldon and Woldingham were also added to the urban district. Caterham, Chaldon, Warlingham and Woldingham remained separate civil parishes, but as urban parishes they no longer had separate parish councils, with Caterham and Warlingham Urban District Council being the smallest representative body covering the whole urban district. Caterham and Warlingham Urban District Council continued to be based at Soper Hall, and also acquired a large house next door at 1 Harestone Hill to serve as additional office space. In 1951 the parish had a population of 19,844. On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished.
Caterham and Warlingham Urban District was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, with the area merging with neighbouring Godstone Rural District to become Tandridge District on 1 April 1974. For its first few years Tandridge District Council used the offices of both its predecessor districts in Caterham and Oxted, until 1989 when it moved to new offices in Oxted on the site of the old Godstone Rural District Council's buildings. The new building in Oxted was funded by the sale of most of the old Caterham and Warlingham council's properties around 1 Harestone Hill to make way for part of a retail development called Church Walk, with only Soper Hall being retained.
No successor parish was created for the former Caterham and Warlingham Urban District at the time of the 1974 reforms, and the area therefore became an unparished area, directly administered by Tandridge District Council. Civil parishes were re-established for the area in 2000, with the former urban district being split into six parishes: Caterham on the Hill, Caterham Valley, Chaldon, Warlingham, Whyteleafe, and Woldingham.