Fetcham
Fetcham | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
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 | ||
Fetcham is a suburban village in the
Neighbouring Bookham and Leatherhead have railway stations respectively.
History
The name Fetcham is derived from the Anglo-Saxon "Fecca's ham" – Fecca's settlement. Fetcham lay within the
Indeed, there is evidence that there were even earlier settlements, with the discovery of Stone and Bronze Age tools and Roman artefacts, as well as three ancient burial grounds.
Fetcham appears in
Its small manorial farming community numbered 176 in the survey, but halved as a result of the Black Death in 1349. In the first half of the nineteenth century the population was still only around 370[4] [1][permanent dead link]. In the 1931 census it had reached 1,318 and by 1972 was 7,331.[5]
In 1951 the civil parish had a population of 4178.[6] On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished.[7]
Topography
The village of Fetcham is slightly larger than the English non-city parish average; extending from the
Amenities and landmarks
Although at the eastern extreme, the historic B2122 Guildford Road/Waterlow Road which has mixed use splits north and east with two bridges to Leatherhead, Fetcham is centred on its own road The Street, with wide-ranging convenience shops, some small restaurants/take-aways,
The Fetcham Conservation Area includes the impressive 18th-century mansion of Fetcham Park House. The Salt Box, The Well House, The Dower House and Ballands Hall[8] are four of a cluster of old buildings in that area. Others are sparingly strewn throughout Fetcham including at Grade II*: Le Pelerin[9] and Thorncroft Manor.[10]
The Mill Pond springs are a large number of chalk springs, still used to supply potable tap water . These springs continued to supply water during the droughts of 1976 and 2006.
There are four Christian congregations in the village:
- Cannon Court Evangelical Church, in Cannonside
- Church of the Holy Spirit (RC), in Bell Lane
- Christ Church Fetcham, which meets in Oakfield Junior School
- St Mary's Church Grade II* listed medieval,[11]off The Ridgeway
To its south are the Fetcham and Leatherhead Downs, which are a part of the North Downs.
Education
There are two village schools:
- Fetcham Infants School for ages 4–7 with an attached pre-school for ages 2½–4. The original school, nearby, opened in 1820. On the present site, the distinctive white former main building, now a classroom, was built in 1854 and added to and enlarged in 1874 and 1886. A four-classroom block and staff room was built in 1936, to accommodate children from the significant residential growth in the village. A new hall and servery were added in 1982.[12]
- Oakfield Junior School for 256 pupils ages 7–11. The present school opened (as Fetcham County School) in September 1963.[13][14]
Culture, sport and social life
Fetcham's sole
The large Village Hall in The Street is home to several organisations, including Fetcham Village Women's Institute. It was also the venue for several early performances by the influential band John's Children, which included sometime frontman Marc Bolan.[16]
There is also a small reading room that can be hired for private functions, on Cobham Road just north of the railway.
There was a social club, called the Fetcham Sports and Social Club, but this closed in 2001 after the membership dwindled. The building is now used as offices.
1st Fetcham Scout Group, headquartered in Cock Lane, has three
. Fetcham Explorers share the 1st Fetcham Scout Group hall and facilities.Fetcham FC football club no longer exists, Fetcham Park United formed in 1971 is now an adult amateur Charter Standard football club affiliated with the Surrey FA. Its two teams play in Division 1 and Division 5 of the Leatherhead & District Sunday Football League. The home ground was formerly the Cock Lane Recreation Ground in Fetcham but the teams now play home games at Priest Hill Playing Fields, in Epsom.
Transport
All parts of the large village are within 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of a railway station giving easy access to London. The M25 motorway's nearest access is J9, just after the one-way square in Leatherhead town centre (enclosing public gardens) or from the south of the village via the Leatherhead bypass and A246. Guildford, Cobham, Epsom and Leatherhead can be reached by the A-road network that has a choice of routes through and around the village.
Roads
The main village thoroughfare is the A245 Cobham Road and is partly bounded by and contains partly in the south the east-west, part-dualled A246.
Local bus operator Falcon Buses provides hourly route 479 between Epsom and Guildford through the village.[17]
Rail
The
Emergency services
Fetcham is served by the following emergency services:
- Surrey Police
- South East Coast Ambulance Service as of 1 July 2006. The Surrey, Sussex, and Kent Ambulance services have merged, and no longer exist separately.
- Surrey Fire & Rescue Service, Leatherhead Fire Station is in Fetcham, off Guildford Road, close to the River Mole boundary with Leatherhead.
- Fetcham (Leatherhead) fire station has 28 personnel and one fire engine (water tender ladder). It also has special vehicles, one that is capable of transporting a large quantity of water or foam to an incident (water carrier), and a fire victim support vehicle crewed by the Red Cross.
- Appliances:
- 1 x water tender ladder
- 1 x water carrier
Demography and housing
Ward | Detached | Semi-detached | Terraced | Flats and apartments | Caravans/temporary/mobile homes/houseboats | Shared between households[1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fetcham East | 852 | 440 | 57 | 159 | 0 | 0 |
Fetcham West | 807 | 615 | 120 | 61 | 1 | 0 |
The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.
Ward | Population | Households | % Owned outright | % Owned with a loan | hectares[1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fetcham East | 3,836 | 1508 | 50 | 36 | 429 |
Fetcham West | 4160 | 1604 | 46 | 46 | 543 |
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
Notes and references
- Notes
- ^ Bookham railway station is served by half-hourly Effingham Junction services, part of an original route from London to Portsmouth via Guildford, by which London is less than 1 hour away, Leatherhead's typical scheduled time is c. 40 minutes to Central London.
- References
- ^ United Kingdom Census 2011 Office for National StatisticsRetrieved 20 December 2013
- ^ Surrey Domesday Book Archived 30 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "British History – A History of Parliament Trust/University of Portsmouth project". Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
- ^ "Fetcham - Fincham | British History Online". Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/ENG-SURREY/1999-04/0924853766 [dead link]
- A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
- ^ "Surrey Mid-Eastern Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
- ^ Historic England. "Ballands Hall (1188828)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
- ^ Historic England. "Le Pelerin (1028662)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
- ^ Historic England. "Thorncroft Manor (1389370)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
- ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary (1378187)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
- ^ "Fetcham Infants School - History". Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
- ^ Celebrating 50 years at Oakfield! Archived 26 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Leatherhead Guardian, 17 March 2014
- ^ "Oakfield Junior School". Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ "The Bell, Fetcham". Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
- ^ John's Children official site
- ^ https://www.falconbuses.co.uk/timetables/479/
- ^ Leatherhead & District Local History Society: Potted Histories No 103 - Proposed Fetcham Railway Station