Long Ditton

Long Ditton is a residential suburb in the

Ditton was a

Henry I granted all four chapelries neighbouring Kingston to Merton Priory, therefore it is uncertain whether the manor had a church or chapel at Long Ditton in that period. Until the early 20th century the parish had two non-contiguous parts, Long Ditton proper and an exclave in Tolworth. A strip of Kingston parish, its hamlet of Hook, lay between the two parts. The western portion, Long Ditton proper, had 896 acres (363 ha)^[4] and had near-identical boundaries to today's ecclesiastical parish.

In 1565 the manor was bought by George Evelyn, whose family produced gunpowder here for several generations, with gunpowder mills proliferating across Long Ditton and beyond. The Evelyns bought up much of the country that was heavily involved in the English Civil War, using the profits from gunpowder.^[4] George's grandson John Evelyn, who gained posthumous fame for his Diary, had to flee the country during the Civil War as swathes of family land fell awkwardly between Royalist and Parliamentarian strongholds. It was John who gleaned further prestige for the family name with his assimilation into the Royal Court of Charles II. When St Mary's Church was rebuilt in 1880, and monuments erected to commemorate local dignitaries, there were few other Long Ditton figures to celebrate, and the place became something of an Evelyn shrine.^[4]

St Mary's Church

The original church dated in part from the 12th century, with the earliest recorded

A small part of the electoral ward, Long Ditton, was in the 2000s exchanged^[to and with what?], including adding to Hinchley Wood (south of Hinchley Wood railway station).

The Long Ditton

The place is one of only two small portions of Elmbridge that is part of a post town outside its area, in this case, Surbiton which is in the neighbouring borough of Kingston upon Thames.

Soil and Elevation

Long Ditton's soil is chiefly London clay, but to the north is Thames alluvial topsoil, gravel and sand, and it contains two patches of Bagshot Sand in the southern part.

Economy

Residential estates have been built on Long Ditton's former agricultural land, and it has become a

It can be claimed that Long Ditton has retained its village character: it has a village hall and a cricket club. It is a clustered village, which has now developed its riverside. Modest green spaces are interspersed with housing in the area; they are principally recreation grounds and do not form buffer zones with other settlements, except some commercial plant nurseries and garden centre businesses which separate Long Ditton from Claygate.

Residents' Association

The Long Ditton Residents' Association (LDRA - www.longditton.org) is a non-political body whose aims are to preserve Long Ditton from overdevelopment, maintain its character, improve its amenities and defend its remaining surrounding Metropolitan Green Belt.^[9]

Demography and housing

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.

The proportion of households in the settlement 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).

Notable residents

• Trevor Bowring (1887–1908), first-class cricketer
• Sydney Camm (1893-1966), aeronautical engineer and aeroplane designer.

Notes and references

References

External links

• St Mary's Church website
• Long Ditton Residents' Association website

Media related to Long Ditton at Wikimedia Commons