Newdigate is a village and civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

 lying to the east of the A24 road

A24 road (Great Britain)

The A24 is a major road in England. It runs south from Clapham in southwest London through Morden before entering Surrey and heading through Ewell, Epsom, Ashtead, Leatherhead and Dorking...

 running between Dorking

Dorking

Dorking is a historic market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately south of London, in Surrey, England.- History and development :...

 and Horsham

Horsham

Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...

. Neighbouring villages include Charlwood

Charlwood

Charlwood is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. It is immediately northwest of London Gatwick Airport in West Sussex, close west of Horley and north of Crawley. The historic county boundary between Surrey and Sussex ran to the south of Gatwick Airport...

, Capel and Coldharbour

Coldharbour, Surrey

Coldharbour is a village in Surrey UK. It is situated on Leith Hill in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.Europa Oil & Gas has submitted a planning application to Surrey County Council to explore for oil and gas in Coldharbour....

. The civil parish covers 1,919 hectares.

Newdigate has a medieval church

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 called St Peter's

St. Peter's Church

St. Peter's Church, or variations on that name including Old St. Peter's Church, may refer to:-Bermuda:* St. Peter's Church, St. George's, the oldest-surviving Anglican church outside the British Isles, and the oldest surviving Protestant church in the New World.-Ireland:* St. Peter's Church,...

, an infant school, a village shop, with sub post office and two public houses as well as many small businesses.

Within the parish four names are important - Newdigate, Ewood, Parkgate and Kingsland. The name Newdigate is probably derived from "on Ewood gate" which means on the road to Ewood, as Newdigate began as a road through the forest rather than a fixed settlement. Ewood (Yew Wood) was described from early times as a "park" which was an enclosure of the forest for the purpose of deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

 hunting - the patent rolls

Patent Rolls

The Patent Rolls are primary sources for English history, a record of the King of England's correspondence, starting in 1202....

 of 1312 refer to it. This later gave rise to the name Parkgate, the "gate" by now meaning an entrance.

From the 1930s to the early 1980s Newdigate was home to the Schermuly Rocket Pistol Apparatus Ltd. company, manufacturer of devices for firing rescue lines to stricken ships.

The area is renowned for its clay

Clay

Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

 soil and is the home to numerous brick

Brick

A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...

 manufacturers. Today, the industry is in decline and the local brickworks is now a housing estate

Housing estate

A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...

called Mulberry Place, or more commonly, "The Mulberries".

External links

• Newdigate organisation
• Pictures of Newdigate (Out of Service)
• The Surrey Oaks pub
• The Six Bells pub