Fetcham

Fetcham
Bridleway on Fetcham Downs
20th-century houses in Fetcham
Fetcham Location withinSurrey
Area	9.72 km2(3.75 sq mi)
Population	7,996 (2011 census)
•Density	823/km2(2,130/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ1455
Civil parish	n/a
District	Mole Valley
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
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

Fetchamis a suburban village in theMole Valleydistrict, inSurrey,England west of the town ofLeatherhead,on the other side of theRiver Moleand has amill pond,springs and an associated nature reserve. The housing, as with adjacentGreat Bookham,sits on the lower slopes of theNorth Downsnorth ofPolesden Lacey(NT).Fetcham Grovehas Leatherhead and the village's main leisure centre and football club, between the two settlements. Fetcham has two short parades of shops and services, several sports teams and parks and a small number of largepubsand food premises.

Neighbouring Bookham and Leatherhead have railway stationsand a junction of theM25 London Orbital Motorwayis a 3-mile (4.8-km) journey from it passing alongside theRiver Molebeyond a brief upland made up of most of Fetcham's remaining farms and woodedGreat Bookham Commondemarcating Fetcham's northern border. The northern few square miles and the larger North Downs are protectedGreen Belt,forming abufferbetweenStoke D'Abernon(the south ofCobhampost town) andDorkingrespectively.

History

The name Fetcham is derived from the Anglo-Saxon "Fecca's ham" – Fecca's settlement. Fetcham lay within theCopthornehundred.

Indeed, there is evidence that there were even earlier settlements, with the discovery of Stone and Bronze Age tools andRomanartefacts, as well as three ancient burial grounds.

Fetcham appears inDomesday Bookof 1086 asFeceham.It was held partly byWilliam the Conqueror;partly by Richard from theBishop of Bayeuxpartly by Oswald theThegn.Its Domesday assets were: 7hides;5½millsworth 17s; 10½ploughs;2oxen;30 acres (12 ha) ofmeadow;woodland,herbage andpannageworth 23hogs.It rendered £10 10s 0d per year to itsfeudal systemoverlords per year.Fetcham, therefore, was referenced in theDomesdaysurvey as three manors; one known as King's Manor was probablyFetcham Park;another was given toOdo, Bishop of Bayeuxafter theNorman conquest.The third was an Augustinian foundation fromMerton Priory,at Cannon Court, whichHenry VIIIdissolved in 1538.

Its small manorial farming community numbered 176 in the survey, but halved as a result of theBlack Deathin 1349. In the first half of the nineteenth century the population was still only around 370[1].In the 1931 census it had reached 1,318 and by 1972 was 7,331.

St Mary's Churchhas been a place of Christian worship for over 1000 years. Built duringAnglo-Saxonand earlyNormanperiods, it is probably on the site of an even earlier timber church. There are many hints of its past in its structure. These include the south-west quoin of the nave, and a single splay window high on the south wall with traces of Roman brick as well as arches that are presumed to pre-date 1066.

In 1951 thecivil parishhad a population of 4178.On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished.

Topography

The village of Fetcham is slightly larger than the English non-city parish average; extending from theRiver Moleat the village's east side, it is bounded by the neighbouring villages ofGreat BookhamandLittle Bookhamon its west.

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,community halls,largepublic housesas well as nearby churches.

Fetcham Park House
front elevation

The Fetcham Conservation Area includes the impressive 18th-century mansion ofFetcham Park House.The Salt Box, The Well House, The Dower House and Ballands Hallare four of a cluster of old buildings in that area. Others are sparingly strewn throughout Fetcham including at Grade II*: Le Pelerinand Thorncroft Manor.

The Mill Pond springs are a large number of chalk springs, still used to supplypotable 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 ChurchGrade II* listed medieval,off The Ridgeway

To its south are the Fetcham and Leatherhead Downs, which are a part of theNorth 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.
• Oakfield Junior School for 256 pupils ages 7–11. The present school opened (as Fetcham County School) in September 1963.

Culture, sport and social life

Fetcham's solepub,The Bellwas built in brick in the 1930s on the site of an earlier pub, oppositeFetcham Infants School.It changed ownership several times in the late 20th century until it was bought by theYoungsbrewery chain in 2004, when it had a major refit, followed by another in late 2007. The Bell is mentioned inThe Good Food Guideand holds apub quizon Mondays.

The large Village Hall in The Street is home to several organisations, including Fetcham VillageWomen's Institute.It was also the venue for several early performances by the influential bandJohn's Children,which included sometime frontmanMarc Bolan.

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 threeCub Scoutpacks and twoScoutTroops,as well asBeavers. FetchamExplorersshare the 1st Fetcham Scout Group hall and facilities.

Fetcham FCfootball club no longer exists, Fetcham Park United formed in 1971 is now an adult amateurCharter Standardfootball club affiliated with theSurrey FA.Its two teams play in Division 1 and Division 5 of theLeatherhead & 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, inEpsom.

Transport

All parts of the large village are within 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of a railway station giving easy access to London. TheM25 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,EpsomandLeatherheadcan 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 A245CobhamRoad 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 betweenEpsomandGuildfordthrough the village.

Rail

TheNew Guildford Lineskirts the north of most of the houses in Fetcham, but there is currently no station in the village. There were proposals for a station in the village centre during the 1930s/40s which would have served the main village centre and been located at what is now Hilley Field Lane . The nearest stations areLeatherhead,Cobham & Stoke D'AbernonandBookham.

Emergency services

Fetcham is served by the following emergency services:

• Surrey Police
• South East Coast Ambulance Serviceas of 1 July 2006. TheSurrey,Sussex, andKentAmbulance 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

2011 Census Homes

Ward	Detached	Semi-detached	Terraced	Flats and apartments	Caravans/temporary/mobile homes/houseboats	Shared between households
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%.

2011 Census Households

Ward	Population	Households	% Owned outright	% Owned with a loan	hectares
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

• List of places of worship in Mole Valley

Surrey portal

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

• Fetcham Community Information
• Fetcham history (British History Online)(5,500ww)
• 'Fetcham – Fincham', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 232–35
• 1st Fetcham Scout Group
• Vicar of St Mary’s church in Fetcham between 1836 – 1839