Sutton, London


Sutton is a town in the London Borough of Sutton in South London, England. It is the administrative headquarters of the Outer London borough. It is south-southwest of Charing Cross, one of the fourteen metropolitan centres in the London Plan.
An ancient parish originally in the county of Surrey, Sutton is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as having two churches and about 30 houses. Its location on the London to Brighton turnpike from 1755 led to the opening of coaching inns, spurring its growth as a village. When it was connected to central London by rail in 1847, it began to grow into a town, and it expanded further in the 20th century. It became a municipal borough with Cheam in 1934, and became part of Greater London in 1965.
Sutton has the largest library in the borough, several works of public art and four conservation areas. It is home to several large international companies and the sixth most important shopping area in London, centred on Sutton High Street. Sutton railway station is the largest station in the borough, offering frequent services by Southern and Govia Thameslink to Central London and other destinations, including Wimbledon and St Albans. It is home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research.
Future plans for Sutton as of 2024 include creating the world's second largest cancer research campus and improving connectivity to central London and the London Underground through the Sutton Link tram project.

Geography

Geology, soil and elevations

Sutton is one of several towns located on a narrow bed of Thanet Sands which extends from Croydon in the east, to Epsom in the west. To the south of this belt is chalk of the North Downs, and to the north is clay. The southern part of the town is on the lower slopes of the North Downs. The belt of Thanet sands allowed wells to provide clean water, and this attracted settlements from a very early date. The Sutton and Cheam Water Company began operations in 1864, and by 1900 had built 142 miles of mains. The company merged with the East Surrey Water Company in 1996 to form Sutton and East Surrey Water.
Elevations in and around the town range from AOD in Belmont to in Sutton Common, at the start of the Pyl Brook stream.

Location

Sutton has formed part of Greater London since 1965. The town is often referred to as "Sutton", "Sutton, London", or "Sutton, Surrey" for mailing addresses. Surrey was the former Postal County and remains the historic or traditional county in which Sutton lies. This is because Greater London was formally created in 1965, and county boundaries were changed in 1974. However, the General Post Office had already established an independent system for defining the UK's Postcode Areas to ensure efficient mail sorting. Royal Mail's Flexible Addressing policy allows for these variations. If Sutton were to join the London postal district, it would fall under the SW postcode area and be one of the following: SW21, SW22, or SW23. There is another, much smaller Sutton in Surrey, near Dorking. Sutton mainline railway station is known as "Sutton " by Southern.
Its location is approximately south-southwest of Charing Cross, London and due southwest of the City of London, placing it within easy reach of Central London. Sutton is also approximately west of Croydon, London, north-east of Epsom, Surrey, and south-east of Kingston upon Thames, London.

Green spaces

In addition to the St Nicholas church grounds, there are two areas of green space within the town centre, Sutton Green and Manor Park.
Sutton Green is at the northern end of Sutton High Street, near All Saints Church. It is bordered by a row of detached Victorian villas to the west, the High Street to the east and Bushey Road to the south. The green dates from 1810, when it was awarded to the residents of Sutton under the Sutton Common Enclosure Award. Victoria Gardens, a smaller area of green space which once included a pond, lies across the road from Sutton Green.
To the north of Sutton Green are Rose Hill Park East and Rose Hill Park West, to the east and west respectively of the main thoroughfare Angel Hill/Rosehill. Rose Hill Park East contains Greenshaw Woods, for which Greenshaw High School is named.
Manor Park lies opposite the police station. It was opened by the chairman of the then Sutton Urban District Council in 1914, and its fountain was added in 1924–1925. A plaque on the pool surround states: "This fountain was presented to the town by Councillor Chas Yates Chairman of Sutton U.D.C.1924–25"
The park is the site of the Sutton War Memorial, which was unveiled in 1921 by Sir Ralph Forster, a resident whose son had died in the war. The memorial, in portland stone, consists of a large ornamental cross on a plinth. 524 men who died in the First World War are commemorated on the memorial. There are four depictions of angels on the plinth overlooking the park.
The current Manor Park Café opened in October 2010. It is eco-friendly and has a range of environmental features, including its straw-bale construction, giving the building a potential lifespan of over 200 years. It was designed by Amazonails Architectura, and constructed by a mixed team of builders. It was London's first energy-efficient building to use this construction method.
In the south of Sutton starts Banstead Downs, which extends for around a mile south towards neighbouring Banstead. Banstead Downs is a large Site of Special Scientific Interest, covering. Banstead Golf Course is on the northern slopes.
Local Nature Reserves
Sutton contains two Local Nature Reserves.

Origin of the name

The placename Sutton is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Sudtone. It is formed from Old English 'sūth' and 'tūn', meaning 'south farm'.

Pre 1700

Archaeological finds in the region date back thousands of years, including the excavation of a Roman villa in Beddington. An implement from the Neolithic age was found in Sutton town centre. The Roman road of Stane Street formed part of the northern boundary of the parish.
Sutton was recorded as Sudtone in a charter of Chertsey Abbey believed to date from the late 7th century, when the Manor was granted to the Abbot of Chertsey by Frithwald, Governor of Surrey. Some sources state the name as Suthtone or Sudtana.
The 1086 Domesday Book records Sutton as spanning about 800 acres, and having about 30 houses and 200 people. It states that the Abbot of Chertsey held the manor. In 1538 it was sold to King Henry VIII and granted to Sir Nicholas Carew of Beddington. When Sir Nicholas was sentenced to death, the King seized the manor. Queen Mary restored it to Francis, son of Sir Nicholas. It later became a Crown possession again until King Charles II granted it to the Duke of Portland, who sold it in 1669. It changed hands regularly thereafter.
From the time of Domesday until the 19th century, Sutton formed a parish in the Wallington hundred of Surrey in the feudal system.
Jose Glover, who was Rector of Sutton from 1628 to 1636, became a pioneer of printing in the English colonies of North America and one of the people instrumental in establishing Harvard College in the 1630s.

1700 to 1900

The road from London to Banstead Downs, through Sutton, was a haven for highwaymen in the 18th century. In 1755, two turnpike roads, which met at Sutton, were built: one from London to Brighton, the other from Carshalton to Ewell. The toll bars for the roads were originally located by the Cock Hotel, a coaching inn at the junction. The inn's sign straddled the Brighton road.
The London to Brighton stagecoach began in 1760, and the Cock Hotel was the 9am stop for coaches leaving the city. Regular contact beyond the town brought expansion and sophistication. Small businesses opened up, at first related to travelers and later to provide goods for neighbouring areas. The toll bars moved away from the junction as Sutton expanded, remaining in use until 1882.
Sutton railway station was opened in 1847. Following the arrival of the new, fast link to central London, Sutton's population more than doubled between 1851 and 1861, and the village became a town. New housing was built in the Lind Road area, and called "New Town". A pub built in 1854 on the corner of Lind Road was named the Jenny Lind, after the famous Swedish opera singer Johanna Maria Lind, who was visiting friends in the area in 1847 and enchanted locals with her singing. It has recently been renamed the Nightingale, also after the singer, who was known as the Swedish Nightingale.
In about 1852 a residential school was built alongside the Sutton to Epsom Downs railway near Brighton Road. The building was designed by Edwin Nash and contained administrative, dining, dormitory and teaching areas. Boys were taught manual skills like shoemaking and metal working. Girls were taught such skills as needle work, laundry work, and ironing with a view to making them good servants, wives and mothers. Up to 1856, when large parts of it were destroyed by fire, the boys' and girls' sections were on the same site but after 1856 the girls' were moved into a new building on the other side of the railway in Banstead Road.
Sutton Water Company was incorporated in 1863, and the provision of water mains allowed houses to be built outside the Thanet Sands area. The Lord of the Manor, Mr Thomas Alcock, sold land for housing, and Sutton's population more than doubled again between 1861 and 1871, spurred by the development of upmarket Benhilton in north Sutton.
The High Street near the top was known as Cock Hill until the 1880s – the shops on the east side were built in 1880, ten years after those on the west side. The grand and decorative London and Provincial Bank building was built overlooking the historic crossroads in 1894. Designed in the French Renaissance architectural style, it is four storeys tall and forms a prominent local landmark. There is a series of arches at ground level, and an ornate entrance where the roads meet.
In 1884 Sutton High School for Girls was founded by the then Girls' Public Day School Trust.
In 1899 Sutton County Grammar School opened.
In 1897 Sutton Masonic Hall was built in Grove Road. Freemasons have met there since its foundation, apart during World War II when the military requisitioned it and it served as a shelter for displaced people.
In 1898 a new, larger Cock Hotel replaced the original one.