Sanderstead
Encyclopedia
Sanderstead is a village in London Borough of Croydon
, located on high ground at the edge of the built-up area of Greater London
. From 1915 to 1965 it formed a parish in the Coulsdon and Purley Urban District
of Surrey
. Having been a farming community in previous centuries, Sanderstead is now essentially a dormitory village for commuters to central London and Croydon
. The Grade I listed All Saints' Church dates from the 13th century but was extensively altered in later periods. Sanderstead station
is lower down the hill and has trains to East Croydon
and central London
, and to East Grinstead
and Uckfield
.
reference to Sanderstead can be found in the will of Alfred, an ealdorman, which is dated 871.
The village lay within the Anglo-Saxon
administrative division of Wallington
hundred
.
Sanderstead appears in Domesday Book
of 1086 as Sandestede. It was held by St Peter's Abbey, Winchester (Hyde Abbey
). Its domesday assets were: 5 hide
s. It had 9 plough
s, wood worth 30 hogs. It rendered £15.
There is evidence of prehistoric human activity in Sanderstead. North of the village at Croham Hurst
on a wooded hill are circular barrows believed to be from a Bronze Age
settlement. This is now part of a public open space and the site is marked by a brass monument. A Romano-British
homestead (small farming settlement) was discovered during the construction of the Atwood School. This was further excavated during the 1980s when the school was extended revealing the remains of several round huts, hearths, a broach and pottery, some of which hailed from North Africa
.
The manor house
, known as Sanderstead Court
, was home to the Atwood family. This large country house was probably first constructed in the early sixteenth century. The Atwoods and their descendants occupied the house for about three hundred years. It was turned into a hotel in 1928, and before the second world war it was used by the Royal Air Force
(RAF). It was very badly damaged by fire (not a bomb) in 1944 and was demolished in 1958. One very small part of the hotel building does however still stand. On the site now lies "Sanderstead Court", a three-storey block of flats.
One of the more curious aspects of Sanderstead is that it has no pub, unlike nearby Warlingham
which has around six. The reason for this is that some time ago, both the Atwood family (the Lords of the Manor) and the Rector of the church were against drinking. At the British Library
there is a letter from the rector writing to both the parishes of Sanderstead and Warlingham (which lies to the south of the village) calling the latter "sinners" as they visited the pubs.
Located between Limpsfield Road and Kingswood Lane, is the large mainly square Kings Wood.
It derives its name from a small wood to the north of Kings Wood Lodge. In 1823, Ordnance Survey Maps called the wood Sanderstead Wood, but this might be due to a mistake.
It covers some 147½ acres, criss-crossed by ancient rides and is on relatively flat ground. It was purchased in 1937 under the Green Belt Act by the local council and is now public open space. There is the site of a Romano-British settlement on the northern boundary, a small farmstead undisturbed for 2000 years.
London Borough of Croydon
The London Borough of Croydon is a London borough in South London, England and is part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the largest London borough by population. It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name...
, located on high ground at the edge of the built-up area of Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
. From 1915 to 1965 it formed a parish in the Coulsdon and Purley Urban District
Coulsdon and Purley Urban District
Coulsdon and Purley Urban District was a local government district in north east Surrey from 1915 to 1965.It was formed in 1915 from part of the abolished Croydon Rural District...
of 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...
. Having been a farming community in previous centuries, Sanderstead is now essentially a dormitory village for commuters to central London and Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
. The Grade I listed All Saints' Church dates from the 13th century but was extensively altered in later periods. Sanderstead station
Sanderstead railway station
Sanderstead railway station is in the London Borough of Croydon, a mile from Sanderstead village. It is in Travelcard Zone 6.The station, operated by Southern, is served by Oxted Line trains from East Grinstead and Uckfield to East Croydon and London Bridge and London Victoria.On the London-bound...
is lower down the hill and has trains to East Croydon
East Croydon station
East Croydon station is a railway station and tram stop in Croydon, 10.35 miles south of London Bridge in Travelcard Zone 5. It is the largest and busiest station in Croydon and the busiest in London outside Travelcard Zone 1 in terms of the number of passengers entering and exiting...
and central London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and to East Grinstead
East Grinstead
East Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. It lies south of London, north northeast of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester...
and Uckfield
Uckfield
-Development:The local Tesco has proposed the redevelopment of the central town area as has the town council. The Hub has recently been completed, having been acquired for an unknown figure, presumed to be about half a million pounds...
.
History
An Anglo SaxonOld English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
reference to Sanderstead can be found in the will of Alfred, an ealdorman, which is dated 871.
The village lay within the Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
administrative division of Wallington
Wallington (hundred)
Wallington was an ancient hundred in the north east of the county of Surrey, England. The majority of its area has been absorbed by the growth of London; with its name currently referring to the district of Wallington...
hundred
Hundred (division)
A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...
.
Sanderstead appears in Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 as Sandestede. It was held by St Peter's Abbey, Winchester (Hyde Abbey
Hyde Abbey
Hyde Abbey was a medieval Benedictine monastery just outside the walls of Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was dissolved and demolished in 1538....
). Its domesday assets were: 5 hide
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
s. It had 9 plough
Plough
The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
s, wood worth 30 hogs. It rendered £15.
There is evidence of prehistoric human activity in Sanderstead. North of the village at Croham Hurst
Croham Hurst
Croham Hurst is a 33.6 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in South Croydon in the London Borough of Croydon...
on a wooded hill are circular barrows believed to be from a Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
settlement. This is now part of a public open space and the site is marked by a brass monument. A Romano-British
Romano-British
Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...
homestead (small farming settlement) was discovered during the construction of the Atwood School. This was further excavated during the 1980s when the school was extended revealing the remains of several round huts, hearths, a broach and pottery, some of which hailed from North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
.
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
, known as Sanderstead Court
Sanderstead Court
-History:The building is located next to the All Saint’s Parish Church in Sanderstead.The building did not appear on the Tithe map of 1844....
, was home to the Atwood family. This large country house was probably first constructed in the early sixteenth century. The Atwoods and their descendants occupied the house for about three hundred years. It was turned into a hotel in 1928, and before the second world war it was used by the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
(RAF). It was very badly damaged by fire (not a bomb) in 1944 and was demolished in 1958. One very small part of the hotel building does however still stand. On the site now lies "Sanderstead Court", a three-storey block of flats.
One of the more curious aspects of Sanderstead is that it has no pub, unlike nearby Warlingham
Warlingham
Warlingham is a large village on the south-eastern boundary of London, England, just across the border in Tandridge district, east Surrey. Neighbouring villages include Sanderstead, Hamsey Green, Whyteleafe, Farleigh, Fickleshole, Tatsfield and Woldingham...
which has around six. The reason for this is that some time ago, both the Atwood family (the Lords of the Manor) and the Rector of the church were against drinking. At the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
there is a letter from the rector writing to both the parishes of Sanderstead and Warlingham (which lies to the south of the village) calling the latter "sinners" as they visited the pubs.
Located between Limpsfield Road and Kingswood Lane, is the large mainly square Kings Wood.
It derives its name from a small wood to the north of Kings Wood Lodge. In 1823, Ordnance Survey Maps called the wood Sanderstead Wood, but this might be due to a mistake.
It covers some 147½ acres, criss-crossed by ancient rides and is on relatively flat ground. It was purchased in 1937 under the Green Belt Act by the local council and is now public open space. There is the site of a Romano-British settlement on the northern boundary, a small farmstead undisturbed for 2000 years.
Notable residents
- John AtwoodJohn Atwood (Assistant Governor)John Atwood was an Assistant Governor of the Plymouth Colony, in the US state of Massachusetts, in 1638.- Biography :John Atwood's parents were Nicholas Wood , of Sanderstead Court in the English county of Surrey , and Olive Harman , daughter of the wealthy London merchant, James Harman...
(1576–1644) was the Assistant Governor of the Plymouth ColonyPlymouth ColonyPlymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
, in the US state of MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, in 1638. His childhood was spent at Sanderstead CourtSanderstead Court-History:The building is located next to the All Saint’s Parish Church in Sanderstead.The building did not appear on the Tithe map of 1844....
.
- Rt. Hon. Stephen Rumbold LushingtonStephen Rumbold LushingtonStephen Rumbold Lushington was an English Tory politician and an administrator in India. He was Governor of Madras from 1827 to 1835....
(1775–1868) lived for a time at Sanderstead CourtSanderstead Court-History:The building is located next to the All Saint’s Parish Church in Sanderstead.The building did not appear on the Tithe map of 1844....
and his daughter was born there in 1816. He was Joint Secretary of the Treasury (1824-7), Governor of Madras (1827–32), and M.P. for Rye (1807–12) & for Canterbury (1812–1830)
- Kate MossKate MossKate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
, an English model, originally lived near Sanderstead. She lived in Addiscombe and then moved to Sanderstead as a teenager. She went to Ridgeway Primary School on Southcote Road in Sanderstead and then to Riddlesdown High School on Dunmail Drive.
- Ruth EllisRuth EllisRuth Ellis , née Neilson, was the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom. She was convicted of the murder of her lover, David Blakely, and hanged at Holloway Prison, London, by Albert Pierrepoint.-Biography:...
(9 October 1926 — 13 July 1955), the last female to be executed in the United Kingdom, lived in a house on Sanderstead Hill.
- Malcolm MuggeridgeMalcolm MuggeridgeThomas Malcolm Muggeridge was an English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist. During World War II, he was a soldier and a spy...
was born in Broomhall Road on 24 March 1903.
- Charlotte Gane (1974-), British television presenter, best known for her appearances on AvagoAvagoAvago was a gaming television channel in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. It was launched on 4 July 2002.- Games :...
.
- Jonathan Wilkins (1975-), editor of Star Wars Insider, often holds soirees and Winter Warmers in the area.
Nearest places
- SelsdonSelsdonSelsdon is an area located in the southern suburbs of the London Borough of Croydon. The suburb was developed during the inter-war period during the 1920s and 1930s, and is remarkable for its many Art Deco houses...
- South CroydonSouth CroydonSouth Croydon is a locality in Greater London, the area surrounding the valley south of central Croydon about 1 km in radius, centred on the Red Deer public house on the Brighton Road. It is part of the South Croydon post town and in the London Borough of Croydon...
- Hamsey GreenHamsey GreenHamsey Green is a place on the plateau of the North Downs between the villages of Sanderstead to the north and Warlingham to the south. It is split almost across the centre east and west with the southern part in the Tandridge district of Surrey...
- WarlinghamWarlinghamWarlingham is a large village on the south-eastern boundary of London, England, just across the border in Tandridge district, east Surrey. Neighbouring villages include Sanderstead, Hamsey Green, Whyteleafe, Farleigh, Fickleshole, Tatsfield and Woldingham...
- KenleyKenleyKenley is a district in the south of the London Borough of Croydon. It borders Purley, Coulsdon, Riddlesdown, Caterham and Whyteleafe. Kenley is situated 13 miles south of Charing Cross. The 2001 census showed Kenley having a population of 13,525....
- PurleyPurley, LondonPurley is a place in the London Borough of Croydon, England. It is a suburban development situated 11.7 miles south of Charing Cross.The name derives from "pirlea", which means 'Peartree lea'. Purley has a population of about 72,000....
- RiddlesdownRiddlesdownRiddlesdown is a place in the London Borough of Croydon, one mile east from the centre of Purley. The name applies both to an area of chalk downland, which is maintained by the City of London Corporation as common land, and to the nearby residential district....
Nearest railway stations
- Sanderstead railway stationSanderstead railway stationSanderstead railway station is in the London Borough of Croydon, a mile from Sanderstead village. It is in Travelcard Zone 6.The station, operated by Southern, is served by Oxted Line trains from East Grinstead and Uckfield to East Croydon and London Bridge and London Victoria.On the London-bound...
- Purley Oaks railway stationPurley Oaks railway stationPurley Oaks railway station is in the London Borough of Croydon in south London. The station is on the Brighton Main Line between Croydon and Redhill. All trains serving it are operated by Southern and it is in London Travelcard Zone 6...
- Riddlesdown railway stationRiddlesdown railway stationRiddlesdown railway station is in the London Borough of Croydon in south London, on the Oxted line. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Southern, and it is in Travelcard Zone 6.- Platforms :...