Old Dean

51°21′N 0°43′W / 51.350°N 0.717°W / 51.350; -0.717

Old Dean is a suburb of Camberley in Surrey, England.

History

Most of the estate was built in the 1950s on the Old Dean Common for residents of heavily bombed areas of Greater London that were in Surrey, not the County of London between 1894 and 1965 and were made homeless after World War II, expanded by the Camberley Urban District, with county assistance, to be used in part as a London overspill estate. Many of the roads on the estate reflect this, being named after the London boroughs which paid for the expansion (the others are named after places on the common). Examples include Kingston Road, Mitcham Road and Wimbledon Road.

Description

The area starts approximately 1km NNE from the town centre. The estate is built on the Olddean or Old Dean Common and is bordered to the south by the A30 (London Road) and falls within the district of Surrey Heath Borough Council.

The resident population of Old Dean at the 2011 Census was 4,636 people, five per cent of the population of Surrey Heath local authority.^[1]

Properties in this area, built in the 1950s and 1960s, are mainly semi-detached and terraced, with a number of maisonettes on the northern edge of the estate. It was originally a council estate, however, under the Conservative government's right to buy scheme, a proportion of these properties are now in private ownership. It has elected the only Labour councillors in the borough.^[2] When the estate was first constructed, the portion between the A30 and Upper College Ride, was littered with demolished concrete blockhouses and military installations. An "ideal" playground for the dozens of children who moved there in the early 1950s. These were once the barracks and training grounds of Charles De Gaulle's Free French Army and the connection is maintained in the name of the primary school: Lorraine takes its name from the Cross of Lorraine, from the French Region, the School's badge features the Free French insignia. When the School opened under the tutelage of Mr MacKean, the then French Ambassador attended the opening ceremony and read a message from General De Gaulle. In the early 21st century more affordable housing was added.

Amenities

The Old Dean has four schools:

Pine Ridge Infant School
Lorraine School & Nursery
Cordwalles Junior School, and
Collingwood College.

The Old Dean has the Camberley Fire and Rescue Service.

The estate has a parade of convenience and service shops which are near its centre, a doctor's surgery, three parks, a youth centre and three churches (Church of England St Martin's, Roman Catholic St Peter's & St John's and Newfrontiers' The Beacon Church).

Media

The estate has been used as a location for filming scenes in the fictional BBC drama Holby Blue. Shots were filmed around the Old Dean including high speed police chases.

Transport

Roads

The only through route serving the area is the A30.

Public Transport

A bus service (Number 1) connects the Old Dean with Camberley Town Centre and Aldershot

Camberley railway station is centred 1.1 miles (1.8 km) south.

References

^ Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density United Kingdom Census 2011 Office for National Statistics Retrieved 21 November 2013
^ Surrey Heath Borough Council http://www.surreyheath.gov.uk/council/electoralinformation/localelection2011.htm Archived 2013-04-30 at the Wayback Machine

External links

[ons-1] Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density United Kingdom Census 2011 Office for National Statistics Retrieved 21 November 2013

[2] Surrey Heath Borough Council http://www.surreyheath.gov.uk/council/electoralinformation/localelection2011.htm Archived 2013-04-30 at the Wayback Machine

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