Claygate

Claygate
Claygate Parade and village sign, showing bricks and theClaygate Pearmain
Claygate Location withinSurrey
Area	4.71 km2(1.82 sq mi)
Population	7,168 (Civil Parish 2011)
•Density	1,522/km2(3,940/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ1563
•London	14+1⁄4mi (23 km)
Civil parish	Claygate
District	Elmbridge
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Esher
Postcode district	KT10
Dialling code	01372 020 (small part)
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Esher and Walton

Claygateis an affluentsuburban village inSurrey,England, 14 miles (23 kilometres) southwest of central London. It is the onlycivil parishin theborough of Elmbridge.AdjoiningEsherandHinchley Woodto the west and north respectively, and bordered by green belt land to the south and east, Claygate lies within theGreater London Built-up Area.

Claygate was once in the main manor ofThames Ditton,but is now administered fromEsher.It is primarily residential and has a small number of offices, outlying farms and two small shopping areas, the Old Village and the Parade, with hair and beauty shops, a supermarket, fivepubsand a number of restaurants.

Claygate lies on theClaygate Beds,a clay formation up to 15 metres (50 feet) thick, which extends well beyond the village. These beds are the youngest part of theLondon Claygeological formation, forming a transition between the clay and the sandierBagshot Bedsabove.

History

Etymology

Claygate may have its name from the clay pits in the village that provided bricks for a large surrounding area including some ofHampton Court Palace.Claygate's lack of main thoroughfares has been attributed to the angle of theRiver Thamesleading theA307main road (from London) south-west instead throughEsher,as well as historical conditions where through roads became impassible in wet weather because of the clay; often close to the surface.Equally, mid-distance routes chose a line to avoid this land, before the advent of road surfacing, such as those throughTolworthand Esher.

Manor

Claygate appears in theDomesday Bookof 1086 as amanorof Thames Ditton,Claigate.This main manor of the village was held byWestminster Abbey.Its domesday assets were:1⁄2hide;2ploughs,5 acres (2 hectares) ofmeadow,woodlandworth 1 hog. It rendered £2 10s 0d per year to itsoverlords.The manor descended (after its purchase in 1565) from theVincent familyto theEvelyn family.Much land remained in the manor when it was sold between 1718 and 1721 to theEarl of Lovelace,the King family and currentlyLocke Kingfamily who had sold the vast majority of its land by 1970.

Other medieval history

Claygate was formed as anecclesiastical parishfromThames Dittonin 1841. Scant remains were traced in boundary lines of an early medieval track running fromKingston Hillto the ford of theMolenear to a square entrenchment inLeatherheadalmost inStoke D'Abernon.

19th century

In about 1822 theClaygate Pearmainapple was discovered by John Braddick, growing in a hedge here. In 1840 its church, Holy Trinity, was built of stone in 14th-century style, with a tower, enlarged in 1860, and restored in 1902. The school was built in 1838 as a Church school, and enlarged in 1849.It was rebuilt by the School Board of Thames Ditton in 1885. Claygate has a Baptist chapel, built in 1861.

Claygate's development chiefly was in the 60 years after the construction of its railway line and station (on theNew Guildford Line);the stationopened in 1885.

With commanding views over the surrounding countryside is Ruxley Towers, aNeo-GothicVictorianedifice constructed byLord Foleywho owned a considerable amount of land. On the other side of the village is Telegraph Hill where asemaphorestation was built in 1822 to transmit messages between theAdmiraltyandPortsmouth.

20th century

In 1911 brick and tile production works, rather than retail sites, continued to employ men near the station in the 1910s. In 1911 Claygate was under the same urban council as Thames Ditton.

21st century

The Al-Hilli family who were killed in theAnnecy shootingsin France, lived in Claygate.

Geography

Claygate's topsoil rests upon the youngestbeds of the London Clayafter which the village is named, herecapped in places by sandin the southern part of the civil parish. Claygate has its ownparish council.Apart from an interweave of streets withEsher,Claygate is surrounded by woodlands and open countryside, including Claygate Common, Princes Covert, Winney Hill, Surbiton Golf Course, Telegraph Hill,Littleworth Common and Arbrook Common.Much of the outlying farmland is used for grazing ponies, two farms are run for cultivation.The Rytheis a major stream running north through Claygate, and as a responsive channel in the clay basins has been implicated in late 20th century flash flooding in small pockets of the village: a major flood alleviation scheme has been completed which commenced in 2002.The centre-to-centre distance from London is14+1⁄4miles (23 kilometres).

Many of Claygate's residents commute to the capital using the train services, seeTransport.Claygate is in the relatively small area between theM25andKingston-upon-Thames.Constrained by the Green Belt, demand has resulted in Claygate being subject to a level of permitted in-fill and back-garden development.

View over Claygate from Telegraph Hill to Ruxley Towers

Commerce and services

"The Parade" is the larger of Claygate's two shopping areas. It starts at Claygate railway station and continues through The Parade itself into Hare Lane.

Claygate has fivepubs:one of the annual village traditions is aBo xing Daytour of these byMorris dancers.

Local newspapers covering Claygate includeThe Surrey Advertiser,The Surrey CometandThe Herald,and two freely distributed newspapers,The InformerandThe Guardian.Claygate is in the editorial area ofBBC Surrey,although its proximity to London means all of the capital's radio stations can be heard.

There are several small farms in Claygate; many of the farms are or incorporate horseriding centres.

Community

Holy Trinity Church

Established in 1885, Claygate (Primary) School initially stood on Elm Road. Although the Infant School closed a little after celebrating its centenary, 'The Firs', which served as the Junior School, transitioned into the primary site. Later in the 20th century, the original school building was repurposed to house Claygate's Youth Centre/Community Centre and the Capelfield surgery. Additionally, Rowan Preparatory School operates as a private independent institution, offering nursery and primary education specifically for girls.

The local Anglican church, "Holy Trinity," constructed in 1840, stands out due to its unique dual spires. The community also houses the First Church of Christ Scientist. For adherents ofRoman Catholicism,the Church of the Holy Name, located on Arbrook Lane in Esher, offers services.

Claygate Village Association is a non-political charity founded in 1946, organise some of the key village events; the Christmas lights, The Claygate Music Festival, the Claygate Gardens Trail, Claygate in Bloom and for the first time in 2014, the Claygate Spring Festival. The village is served with medical support by Capelfield Surgery. Community groups, clubs, and sports teams. include Claygate Cricket Club and Claygate Royals Football Club. A major annual event is the Claygate Flower & Village Show which takes place on the Recreation Ground in late July each year. 2013 saw the 100th show, where there were 7,000 visitors.

A monthly magazine covers the borough with one other edition nationally,Living Within.

Education

Claygate is served by a mix of state and independent schools that also serve the areas of Esher and Hinchley Wood, all of which share the KT10 postcode.

State Primary Schools

• Esher Church School
• Cranmere Primary
• Hinchley Wood Primary
• Claygate Primary

Independent Primary Schools

• Rowan Preparatory School
• Shrewsbury House Pre-Prep
• Milbourne Lodge

State Secondary Schools

• Esher College
• Esher Church of England High School
• Hinchley Wood School

Independent Secondary Schools

• Milbourne Lodge
• Claremont Fan Court

In arts and the media

Semaphore House on Telegraph Hill

Filming carried out in Claygate includes:

• The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner(Tony Richardson 1961) starringTom Courtenay,set at Ruxley Towers (Ruxton Towers in the film) and showing much of the surrounding countryside before the construction of the Esher By-pass.
• The BBC TV situation comedyWyatt's Watchdogswhich starredBrian WildeandTrevor Bannisterand was about aNeighbourhood Watchgroup.
• Never the Twain(1981) which used the Greek Vine restaurant (now Averna, an Italian restaurant) frontage on The Green as the shop fronts. TheThames Televisionsitcom starredWindsor DaviesandDonald Sindenas two grumpyantiqueshop owners.
• A sketch forThe Two Ronnies
• A shampoo commercial
• A clip fromMen Behaving Badly.(filmed outsideThe Winning Horse)

Previous residents of Claygate include "Python"Terry Jones,"Rolling Stone"Ronnie Wood,and presenter/actorMichael Aspel.British historianFrances Yates(1899-1980), a longtime resident, is buried in the churchyard at Holy Trinity church. Claygate often has a celebrity to switch on its Christmas lights. These have includedCliff Richard,Gloria Hunniford,Tony StampandRoger ValentinefromThe Bill,Bernie Nolan,Mick Hucknall,Ronnie Wood,Anthea Turnerand most recentlyBobby Davro.

Transport

Rail

Claygate railway stationis managed bySouth Western Railway,which operates all services.Trains run toLondon WaterlooviaSurbitonand toGuildfordviaEffingham Junction.

Buses

Claygate is served byLondon Buses'route K3to Esher, Surbiton, Kingston and Roehampton Vale, operated byLondon United.

Roads

The A3 trunk road has its Hinchley Wood and Esher (A309) spur road directly north of Claygate allowing a traffic-lit junction with convenient access to/from London, and second junction by the Scilly Isles Roundabout with access toHampton Court Bridgefor journeys north.

A third A3 junction is almost 2 km along Copsem Lane to the south for journeys towards the south-west and west, Wisley interchange or for journeys east, continuing south along theA245to theLeatherheadCommon junction of theM25.

Demography

The proportion of households in Claygate who owned their home outright was 8.5% above the regional average. The proportion who owned their home with a loan was 4.0% higher than the regional average; providing overall a lower proportion than average of rented residential property and ofsocial housingrelative to the average inSurrey,the district and the national average. As with neighbouringEsher,Claygate has a large number of very large properties (mansions). These are concentrated within the Ruxley Private Estate, on the Esher-Claygate border and in the roads to the south of the railway station.

2011 Census Key Statistics

Output area	Population	Households	% Owned outright	% Owned with a loan	hectares
Claygate (CP)	7,168	2,788	41.0	39.1	471

Politics

Claygate is served by a parish council made up of 10 elected representatives. The parish council has some responsibilities, acquired from Surrey County and Elmbridge Borough Councils, such as highway, garden sites andtree planting.The parish council is also influential in its responses to planning applications in the area.

Claygate is in the parliamentary constituency ofEsher and Walton,which since its inception in 1997 has been a relativelysafe seatfor theConservative Party.The local MP since 2024 isMonica Harding.Local government is administered byElmbridge Borough CouncilandSurrey County Council.

AtSurrey County Council,one of its 81 councillors represents the area within theHinchley Wood, Claygate and Oxshottdivision.

AtElmbridge Borough Councilall wards of the borough are deemed appropriate to be represented under the current constitution of councillors by three councillors.

Elmbridge Borough Councillors

Election		Member	Ward
	2016	Mary Marshall	Claygate
	2016	Alex Coomes	Claygate
	2016	Kim Cross	Claygate

Surrey County Councillor

Election		Member	Electoral Division
	2013	Mike Bennison	Hinchley Wood, Claygate and Oxshott

References

10. Your Councillors by Ward Elmbridge Borough Council *[1]Retrieved 2 September 2016

• Malcolm W H PeeblesThe Claygate Book: a History of a Surrey Village(1983) andMillennium edition(1999)
• Claygate Village Residents AssociationClaygate Village: Enquire Within(1983)

External links

• Claygate Parish Council website
• The Claygate Flower & Village Show website
• The Claygate Music Festival website
• The History of Claygate
• Holy Name Church website
• Holy Trinity Church website
• 1st Claygate Scouts – Scouting in Claygate since 1909
• Surrey County Council."Claygate".Exploring Surrey's Past.Retrieved31 May2017.