Ashtead
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| Ashtead | |
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| Population | 13,494 [1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | Mole Valley |
| Shire county | Surrey |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Ashtead |
| Postcode district | KT21 |
| Dial code | 01372 |
| Police | Surrey |
| Fire | Surrey |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | Epsom and Ewell |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| List of places: UK • England • Surrey | |
Ashtead is a large commuter village in Surrey, England separated from Leatherhead by Green Belt and the M25 and Epsom with Ashtead Common. It is part of the surburbia that surrounds London.
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[edit] History
Ashtead is mentioned in the Domesday Book, where its name is "Stede". Its main source of water at the time seems to have been the Rye.
St Giles Church, in Ashtead Park, dates from the 12th Century.
Ashtead is mentioned twice in Samuel Pepys' diaries; part of his entry for 25 July 1663 reads: "Towards the evening we bade them adieu and took horse, being resolved that, instead of the race which fails us, we would go to Epsom When we come there we could hear of no lodging, the town so full, but which was better, I went towards Ashsted, and there we got a lodging in a little hole we could not stand upright in While supper was getting I walked up and down behind my cosen Pepys's house that was, which I find comes little short of what I took it to be when I was a little boy."
"Ashtead" is frequently misspelt, examples being "Ashsted" and "Ashstead". Until 1967, Ashtead Railway Station had both "Ashtead" and "Ashstead" displayed on station name plates hanging at either end of its platforms.
The Ashtead Psalms were commissioned by Ashtead Choral Society to mark their fiftieth anniversary in the year 2000 from composer Robert Steadman.
Ashtead Pottery was produced in the village from 1923 until the Company ceased trading in 1935.
[edit] The village area
Ashtead is normally referred to in sections, the three main being:
- The Village (The Village Centre, around The Street),
- Lower Ashtead,
- The Common.
There is also:
- Ashtead Park,
- Ashtead Heath,
- Ashtead Downs.
The area around The Street or High Street Ashtead is the oldest part of the village and the main shopping and social area of the village, having two pubs and the Ashtead Village Club (C&IU Affiliate).
The flat area leading to Ashtead Common is Lower Ashtead . Has a park and Youth Club, one pub and large housing estates all built around the area of the villages British Rail Station.
The area north of the railway line is, Ashtead Common and does have housing though its is a large preservation area, run by the Corporation of London. The Law protecting it is hundreds of years old.
Despite its size, and the fact that it is bisected by the A24, it retains a village atmosphere. Ashtead is near the M25.
[edit] Business
Ashtead is the U.K. home of ExxonMobil, whose head office is built on the old Ermyn Way factory site of Goblin Vacuum Cleaners.
[edit] Schools
Ashtead has several schools, including:
- Barnett Wood Infant School
- City of London Freemen's School - private school associated with Corporation of London
- St. Andrew's Catholic School
- St. Giles' (Church of England) Infant School
- The Greville Primary School
- West Ashtead Primary School
[edit] Transport
[edit] Rail
Ashtead has a small modern railway station on the London to Horsham, Dorking and Guildford lines.
[edit] Road
The London to Worthing road the A24, runs through the village.
[edit] Emergency services
Ashtead is served by these emergency sevices.
- Surrey Police
- South East Coast Ambulance Service as of 1 July 2006. The Surrey Ambulance Service, Sussex, and Kent Ambulance services have all merged, and have now ceased to exist.
- Surrey Fire & Rescue Service, In Leatherhead or Epsom.
- Hospital, a small private unit with no A&E department.
