Leatherhead

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Leatherhead
Leatherhead (Surrey)
Leatherhead

Leatherhead shown within Surrey
Population 9,685[1]
OS grid reference TQ1656
District Mole Valley
Shire county Surrey
Region South East
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LEATHERHEAD
Postcode district KT22
Dialling code 01372
Police Surrey
Fire Surrey
Ambulance South East Coast
UK Parliament Mole Valley
European Parliament South East England
List of places: UK • England • Surrey

Coordinates: 51°17′42″N 0°19′44″W / 51.2951, -0.3289

Leatherhead is a small town in the County of Surrey, England, on the River Mole. It is thought to be of Saxon origin.

Located in the centre of the county of Surrey and at a junction of ancient north-south and east-west communications, the town has been a focus for transport throughout its history. Initially there was the construction of the bridge over the River Mole in the early medieval period. Later the Swan Hotel provided 300 years of service to horse driven coaches. More recently the M25 motorway was built nearby.

Contents

To the east of the town is the line of Stane Street, an old Roman Road. Most of it is now built over or is used as rural footpaths. The road leads from London to Chichester, passing through the strategic Mole Gap.

The origins of the town of Leatherhead appear to be Anglo-Saxon. Ashtead lay within the Copthorne hundred, an administrative division devised by the Saxons. The Leatherhead Museum has traced the history of the town from its beginnings in about AD 880 when it was known as Leodridan. Later in the Domesday Book it was called Leddrede which is believed to have meant the place where people can ride across the river. The early town population appears to have grown up on the east side of the River Mole, although Hawk's Hill, on the west side of the river, is said to be the site of an old Saxon burial ground.

The name has also been argued to be of Celtic Origin, with the Modern Welsh equivalents being Llwyd and Rhyd ("The grey ford").[citation needed]

Work on the parish church was started some time in the 1000s. Many parts were added over the years, with a major restoration taking place in the Victorian era.

Leatherhead appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Leret. It was held by Osbern de Ow (Eu). Its domesday assets were: 1 church, belonging to Ewell, with 40 acres. It rendered £1. Pachesham within Leatherhead appears in Domesday Book as Pachesham. It was held by Hugo (Hugh) from the Bishop of Lisieux. Its domesday assets were: 3 virgates. It had part of 2 mills worth 12s, 4 ploughs, 5 acres of meadow, woodland worth 3 hogs. It rendered £3 10s 0d.[1]

A market serving the developing agricultural economy developed at the crossroads and in 1248, Henry III granted to Leatherhead a weekly market and annual fair. The town survived an extensive fire in 1392, after which it was largely rebuilt. In common with many similar medieval towns, Leatherhead had a market house and set of stocks, probably located at the junction of Bridge Street, North Street and High Street.

Portrait of Elizabeth (1588)
Portrait of Elizabeth (1588)

The Running Horse pub dates back to 1403 and is one of the oldest buildings in Leatherhead. It is on the bank of the River Mole, at the southern approach to the town centre. History has it that Elizabeth I spent a night at the inn due to floods making the River Mole impossible to cross.

During the Elizabethan and Stuart periods, the town was associated with several notable people. Edmund Tylney, Master of the Revels, who was in effect the official censor of the time to Queen Elizabeth I, lived in the Mansion House. A Wetherspoons pub in the High Street is now named after him. Another notable local noble was Sir Thomas Bloodworth of nearby Thorncroft Manor, who was Lord Mayor of London during the Great Fire of 1666.

Leatherhead saw much expansion, with two major railways linked to it. (See below)

In the 1870s, a group of clergymen built the private St John's School in the town, and it has produced a number of famous pupils. (See below).

The Letherhead Institute was built. The spelling was said, in Victorian times, to be the correct form of Leatherhead.

Baron Beaverbrook
Baron Beaverbrook

Cherkley Court on the Beaverbrook grounds was home of Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook. During World War II, Winston Churchill, the new British Prime Minister, would appoint him as Minister of Aircraft Production and later Minister of Supply. Under Aitken, fighter and bomber production increased so much so that Churchill declared: "His personal force and genius made this Aitken's finest hour".

Once there were several industries in and around the town, including Ronson's Lighters and Goblin Vacuum Cleaners. Both were used as ammunitions plants in World War II. Most of the plants pulled out of Leatherhead in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Today most employment is in commerce.

In 1940's/50s Leatherhead/Ashtead was made home to a Remploy factory, which are designed to provide work for Disabled people in the local area. On 22nd May 2007, Remploy announced that the Leatherhead factory along with 42 other sites would close.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Mole Valley District Council decided to modernise the town, with a new pedestrianised high street, and large one-way system.

In 1986, the town was joined to the UK motorway system, when the M25 motorway was built to the north. Leatherhead became Junction 9, which has odd non-aligned entry/exit points on the two sides. The town is perhaps most frequently mentioned in the national media as the location of motorway traffic jams and accidents.

Leatherhead was an urban district up to 1974. It is now part of Mole Valley District Council area. Dorking is the administrative centre of Mole Valley District Council.

Arms of Mole Valley District Council
Arms of Mole Valley District Council

On the Mole Valley Coat of Arms, the two cocks are for Dorking and the swan for Leatherhead. On the shield the wavy lines are for the River Mole, the acorns are for the district's three parks, and the points are for the North Downs.

The symbol of Leatherhead is a swan holding a sword in its beak. This can be seen on the old Leatherhead coat of arms, and on the Mole Valley coat of arms. The insignia of Leatherhead football club includes a swan, as do the logos of The Swan Shopping Centre, Therfield school and the Leisure Centre.

The fortunes of the town centre have risen and fallen over recent decades. Up to the 1970s, it was a bustling place with many busy shops. But with risks from increased traffic close to narrow pavements, the whole of the central area was pedestrianised, leading to a disastrous decline in pedestrian throughput and many shop closures. The construction of the Swan Centre, including a large supermarket, brought some reprieve but the years since have seen fluctuating fortunes. Notoriously, in around 2002, the high street was voted one of the worst in the United Kingdom in a BBC poll, although this may be been as a result of a local campaign at the time to lobby for improved facilities.

Local business parks now bring lunchtime business, and a number of popular restaurants on the main street have helped to change the face of the town, bringing a more sociable atmosphere to the small town on warm summer evenings.

Leatherhead's theatre was originally named after Dame Sybil Thorndike, seen here acting the role of St Joan of Arc
Leatherhead's theatre was originally named after Dame Sybil Thorndike, seen here acting the role of St Joan of Arc

There is also a theatre, once named after Dame Sybil Thorndike, which is also used as a cinema and for art exhibitions. It is now owned by a religious group called the Pioneer People and is simply called "The Theatre".

In the late 1990s the town centre's only hotel, the Bull Hotel, closed down and was subsequently demolished. A new Lidl store has now been built on the site and was opened in February 2007. In the early 2000s Travelodge opened a new hotel on the site of the old Swan hotel.

There is a local football team Leatherhead FC ('The Tanners') who play at Fetcham Park Grove. The town is home to a small steam train enthusiast group based next to the Mill Pond, a popular local walking spot and water source near the Leatherhead Leisure Centre. The Leisure Centre was built in the 1960s, and was extended in the 1980s with the Mole Barn. As of 2006 plans had been drawn up by Mole Valley District Council to build a new modern centre on the site, though it now seems the option of refitting and extending the old centre will happen instead.

Bocketts Farm off Young Street has rare breeds and a petting zoo. It is open to the public almost all year round, and many local schools use the farm for teaching and day trips.

Leatherhead's Royal School for the Blind (now SeeAbility) was once the work-place for Paul Heaton, but he left the school. It was said he was dismissed after encouraging residents to try cycling.[citation needed] Most of the school has now been sold off as private flats.

North Leatherhead or Leatherhead Common is the area north of the Kingston Road bridge. It is known for having Therfield Secondary School, and part of The Trinity School, as well as the bulk of the town's Council Housing.

It is home to one local pub, *The Royal Oak, on the Kingston Road, which hosts regular live music sessions on Saturday evenings.

It is bordered to the north by Leatherhead Golf Course, Ashtead Common, and M25 motorway and to the south by the British Rail system.

There is a social club, the North Leatherhead Community Association or NLCA, based in the old All Saints School, next to the Kingston Road Playing Grounds.

There are two large stores in the area, B&Q for hardware and a Tesco's supermarket.

The villages of Fetcham, Ashtead, Headley, and Mickleham are often looked at as part of Leatherhead more so for postal reasons with Royal Mail. The borders with Ashtead, and Fetcham are blended into Leatherhead. Also close by are Headley Heath, Oxshott Woods, Box Hill and Bookham Common.

In the village of Headley, there is an RAF Hospital, RAF Headley Court. There is no airport here but its playing fields can be used for helicopters.

Main article: List of leisure and entertainment in Leatherhead

Leatherhead has a large range of leisure facilities including:

Leatherhead Football Club
Leatherhead Football Club
The Royal Oak, Kingston Road
The Royal Oak, Kingston Road

  • Constitutional Club (Former Conservative Club)
  • Leatherhead and District Social Club, C&IU Affiliate.
  • Leatherhead Royal British Legion Club, C&IU Affiliate.
  • NLCA or North Leatherhead Community Association

Travelodge hotels logo

The entrance to the station
The entrance to the station

Leatherhead is served by Leatherhead railway station. Over the years, however, Leatherhead has had four railway stations, two of which were only temporary and survived for about eight years from the railway's first opening in 1859. The current and only surviving station was designed by C. H. Driver in fine gothic revival style. It opened in 1867 to serve the London Brighton and South Coast Railway line to Dorking. The remains of the second London and South Western Railway Station can still be seen on the Leatherhead one way system. It was built as a separate terminus, but became a through station when the line to Effingham Junction and Guildford was opened in 1885. It was closed in July 1927. The lines were electrified by the Southern Railway in 1925.

Services included trains northwards to London Waterloo, London Victoria, and Wimbledon where it connects with the London Underground and Tramlink, and south to Dorking, Horsham, Guildford, and the south coast.

At one point it was planned to link Leatherhead with Chessington South Railway Station. But this was put on hold due to a protection order on Ashtead Common. In 2005 plans were put in place for a tunnel.

  • The main London to Worthing road, the A24, also runs though the town, and makes up part of its large bypass.
  • The M25 motorway lies to the north of the town, with Leatherhead being accessible and known as Junction 9. 

 A taxi rank is situated at the railway station and is located at the entrance for platform 2.

Leatherhead is situated between London's two major airports, 30-40 minutes' drive from each, via the M25 motorway.

Leatherhead is served by these emergency services:

  • The High Street was once voted amongst the worst in the United Kingdom, on a BBC TV show. [3]
Martian war machines. An illustration by Warwick Goble.
Martian war machines. An illustration by Warwick Goble.
  • Leatherhead is mentioned in the original H. G. Wells book The War of the Worlds. Day Ten (roughly) is when Leatherhead (where the narrator sent his wife for safety) is destroyed by a Martian attack, killing everyone. Fortunately, his wife makes it out before the attack and they are reunited after the Martians' destruction. Chapter 10, "In the Storm", begins with the words "Leatherhead is about twelve miles from Maybury Hill."
  • In the 1974-75 season Leatherhead F.C., or The Tanners, were drawn against Leicester City F.C. at home in the FA Cup Fourth Round Proper, but the game was switched to Filbert Street. The BBC's Match of the Day cameras and over 32,000 people saw a dramatic match, in which the Tanners went two goals up, and then saw a goalbound shot that would have made it 3-0 cleared off the line. Leicester City's fitness and class eventually told as the top-flight team fought back to win 3-2 in the second half. Leicester City went on to play Arsenal F.C. in the next round.
  • In 1980 The Head, a local punk band, released the infamous single "Nothing To Do In A Town Like Leatherhead". This is now highly sought after and is a collectors item. The single is valued at over £60 by 'The Rare Record Price Guide 2008' (Diamond Publishing Group Rev Ed 4 Oct 2006). Band members are Greg Wilson, Kevin Abbott, Terry Bennett and Colin Wales.
  • The film I Want Candy (released 23 March 2007) has the tagline "Two lads from Leatherhead are making a movie...and it's all gone pear-shaped".
  • Leatherhead was the home for the Central Electricity Research Laboratory (CERL), the main research lab for the CEGB; the other principal facilities were at Marchwood and Berkeley.

  1. ^ Surrey Domesday Book

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