Oxted

Oxted
The timber-framed stucco façades of buildings on Oxted High Street
Area	15.15 km2 (5.85 sq mi)
Population	11,314 (Civil Parish)
• Density	747/km2 (1,930/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ3953
• London	17.9 mi (28.8 km)
Civil parish	Oxted
District	Tandridge
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	OXTED
Postcode district	RH8
Dialling code	01883
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	East Surrey

Oxted is a town and civil parish in Surrey, England at the foot of the North Downs, north of East Grinstead and south-east of Croydon. Oxted is a commuter town which has a station with a direct train service to London Bridge and Victoria, it has sources of the River Eden, Kent including its main source, and its main developed area is contiguous with the village of Limpsfield.

The village of Tandridge is the other nearby settlement which sits above the gap (with the town in it) of the Greensand Ridge caused over millennia caused by the erosion by the headwaters of the Eden and it is the ridge itself which gives its name to the local government district which is headquartered in the town. An annual pram race takes place in the town.

History

Mills and manors

The town lay within the Anglo-Saxon Tandridge hundred. Oxted appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Acstede, meaning 'Place where oaks grew'. It was held by Eustace II of Boulogne. Its Domesday assets were: 5 hides; 1 church, 2 mills worth 12s 6d, 20 ploughs, 4 acres (16,000 m²) of meadow, pannage worth 100 hogs. It rendered £14 and 2d from a house in Southwark to its feudal overlords per year.

Three mills are mentioned in the inquisition on Roland of Oxted, 1291–2. To a greater or lesser extent these were alienated from the main manor, which had become one of four, before 1689, when they were in the possession of Thomas Causton. In 1712 only one is mentioned as appertaining to the manor. The five manors were: Oxted, Barrow Green, Bursted/Bearsted, Broadham, Stocketts and Foyle.

The history of the first suggests wealthy tranche of the parish and is instructive as to social history; by marriage it became by agreed settlement a manor of Ralph Earl of Westmorland, with remainder to Thomas Cobham, his wife's uncle. Margaret died in 1460, leaving no children and her husband held the manor until his death in 1485, when it passed to Anne, only child and heir of Thomas Cobham, who had married Sir Edward Burgh. She died in 1526, and her husband, who 'became distracted of memorie,' died two years later, leaving a son and heir Thomas, afterwards created the Lord Burgh.

Civil development and expansion from village into a commuter town

The original village of Oxted (now Old Oxted) is a small village centred around a short high street with four pubs (The Old Bell, The George Inn, The Crown Inn and The Wheatsheaf) just off the A25. Oxted's oldest church which still provides services, St Mary's, was built in a field, upstream from and north-east of the medieval heart of Oxted, near Master Park and the railway station. The Grade I listed church dates from at least Norman times and stands on a conspicuous mound.

With the arrival of the railway in 1884 (after many years' delay caused by lack of funds) Oxted boomed in line with London's trade growth around its station, north-east of Old Oxted), and new buildings created "New Oxted". These new buildings were built in the Tudor style, particularly with stucco frontages. All Saints Catholic Church was built in 1913-1928 designed by prominent Arts & Crafts architect James L. Williams (died 1926, his other work includes Royal School of Needlework, St George’s in Sudbury, London (1926–27) and The Pound House in Totteridge (1907)). The United Reformed Church's building followed in 1935, which is listed for its coloured glass and Byzantine design by architect Frederick Lawrence.

In 2011 The Daily Telegraph listed Oxted as the twentieth richest town in Britain.

Community events and status

Band and civic centre

Oxted is one of the few Surrey towns to retain its town brass band, Oxted Band, which has been a permanent fixture within the town since 1901 and the town became the administrative town of the Tandridge District when it was established in 1974.

Pram race

Oxted is host to a charity pram race held annually. It was started in 1977 by Eric and Elsie Hallson, who ran it for nearly 20 years before retiring. Entrants wear fancy dress and must push a pram around the two thirds of a mile course, stopping at each of the seven licensed premises on the way to quaff a drink as quickly as they can. The race ends in Old Oxted high street where the road is closed for the evening and a street party is held.

Events in Master Park

The park hosts annual events such as by the local cricket club.

Geography

The Greenwich Meridian runs through Oxted, passing through Oxted School and the parish encompasses a long divide between the two ranges of hills, reaching up to their escarpments, the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge which is almost completely eroded at Hurst Green within the parish due to the action of the multiple headwaters of the River Eden, Kent which rise in the parish, including its main source.

Nonetheless this in terms of its long boundaries renders the north of the parish within the so-called Vale of Holmesdale, which is drained by four main, unconnected rivers. The other very near village (other than Limpsfield) is that of Tandridge which sits on an edge of the Greensand Ridge, where as at Redhill it has been eroded by the action of small, fast southward-flowing brooks over the course of many millennia. These ultimately flow into the Medway once they have reached mid-Kent. Limpsfield is contiguous with Oxted; both have a main clustered community with the remainder of the land largely wooded or agricultural.

Notable residents

• American writer and poet Stephen Crane lived in Oxted in 1897, where he met writers such as Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford.
• Artist Albert Houthuesen lived and painted in Oxted in 1950.
• Since the 1970s businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed has lived at Barrow Green Court and farm near Oxted.
• Band Rooster come from the Oxted area.
• Photographer Bert Hardy moved to Oxted in 1964 and died there in 1995.
• Palaeontologist, TV presenter and author, Alan Charig lived in Oxted from 1958 until his death in 1997.
• Singer Louise, formerly of the band Eternal and now married to footballer Jamie Redknapp, lived in Oxted during her childhood.
• Television presenter Kim Woodburn lives in Old Oxted
• Footballers who have lived in Oxted include Julián Speroni, goalkeeper for Crystal Palace Football Club, Ian Pearce who is currently assistant manager at Lincoln City Football Club, Hull City A.F.C. striker Nicky Forster, former Manchester City and Middlesbrough midfielder, Jamie Pollock, and former Hearts winger, David Wagstaff, retired to Oxted in 1993.
• Thomas Ernest Bennett 'Tibby' Clarke lived in Oxted in the 1950s: his Ealing comedy The Titfield Thunderbolt derives its name from an almagamation of near-by villages Limpsfield and Titsey.

Education

Oxted's main school is Oxted School (Oxted County School until 2000), which is a large secondary school. Opened in 1929, it has over 2000 pupils and is one of the largest in the country. There are two other state schools in Oxted, Downs Way primary school and St Mary's C of E junior school.

There is one private school, Hazelwood School (co-education 2.5 to 13 years).

Governance

There is one representative on Surrey County Council, conservative Nick Skellett CBE. There are a total of six representatives on Tandridge District Council with much of Oxted South being Hurst Green :

Member Since		Member	Ward
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1994	David Courtenay Weightman	Oxted North & Tandridge
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1987	Gordon Charles Keymer	Oxted North & Tandridge
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	2003	Martin Fisher	Oxted North & Tandridge
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	2007	Simon Ainsworth	Oxted South
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	2000	Barry Charles Chittenden Compton	Oxted South
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	2004	Elizabeth Parker	Oxted South

There is also a parish council with 11 members shared with Hurst Green, Surrey described as Oxted, it being in the same post town.

Demography and housing

2011 Census Homes

Output area	Detached	Semi-detached	Terraced	Flats and apartments	Caravans/temporary/mobile homes	shared between households
(Civil Parish)	1,427	1,282	911	799	3	1

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

2011 Census Key Statistics

Output area	Population	Households	% Owned outright	% Owned with a loan	hectares
(Civil Parish)	11,314	4,423	36.6%	36.5%	1,515

The proportion of households in the civil parish 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 Tandridge (district)
• Oxted railway station and the Oxted Station Outrage, a farcical incident in which Harold Laski bombed the men's lavatory at Oxted railway station in a gesture of solidarity with the suffragettes.
• Oxted School
• Titsey Place