Human settlement in England
Long Ditton
is a residential suburb in the borough of
Elmbridge
,
Surrey
, England on the boundary with the
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
,
London
. In medieval times it was a
village
, occupying a narrow
strip of land
. Neighbouring settlements include
Hinchley Wood
,
Thames Ditton
and
Surbiton
.
Its northernmost part is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-west of central
Kingston upon Thames
, 11.3 miles from
Charing Cross
, and 15 miles (24 km) north-east of
Guildford
. It is divided in two by the
South West Main Line
and is bordered by a straight east?west spur road to meet the
A3
in a
cutting
to the south. The old
Portsmouth Road
passes by the
River Thames
in the northern end of the village, and the riverbank here is privately owned.
In both local economy and public transport, the
high street
and railway stations at
Hinchley Wood
and
Surbiton
are the nearest such amenities.
History
[
edit
]
St Mary's Church was built in 1880
Ditton
was a
Saxon
settlement which, by
Domesday
, was a single ecclesiastical parish but split in two, as it remains. This split was between the riverside manor and parish of
Thames Ditton
, and the longer, eastern area, Long Ditton, which is a long rectangle of land extending from developed land by the
River Thames
to Ditton Hill. Nowadays Ditton Hill reaches beyond the wide
A3
and
A309
as far as Woodstock Lane South, much of which is in Claygate parish (and has an
Esher
postal address).
[2]
Two Dittons appear in the
Domesday Book
of 1086 and were written as
Ditone
and
Ditune
. The one that became known as Long Ditton was held by Robert Picot from (i.e. under)
Richard Fitz Gilbert
. The one that became known as
Thames Ditton
was held by
Wadard
under Bishop Odo. Long Ditton's Domesday assets were: 4
hides
; 1 church, 1
mill
worth 9s, 3½
ploughs
,
woodland
for 15
hogs
, 1 house in
Southwark
paying 500
herrings
. It rendered £2 10s 0d.
[3]
Henry I
granted all four chapelries neighbouring Kingston to
Merton Priory
, therefore it is uncertain whether the manor had a church or chapel at Long Ditton in that period. Until the early 20th century the parish had two non-
contiguous
parts, Long Ditton proper and an exclave in
Tolworth
. A strip of Kingston parish, its
hamlet
of
Hook
, lay between the two parts. The western portion, Long Ditton proper, had 896 acres (363 ha)
[4]
and had near-identical boundaries to today's ecclesiastical parish.
In 1565 the
manor
was bought by George Evelyn, whose family produced
gunpowder
here for several generations, with gunpowder mills proliferating across Long Ditton and beyond. The Evelyns bought up much of the country that was heavily involved in the
English Civil War
, using the profits from gunpowder.
[4]
George's grandson
John Evelyn
, who gained posthumous fame for his
Diary
, had to flee the country during the Civil War as swathes of family land fell awkwardly between
Royalist
and
Parliamentarian
strongholds. It was John who gleaned further prestige for the family name with his assimilation into the Royal Court of
Charles II
. When St Mary's Church was rebuilt in 1880, and monuments erected to commemorate local dignitaries, there were few other Long Ditton figures to celebrate, and the place became something of an Evelyn shrine.
[4]
In 1951 the
civil parish
had a population of 4007.
[5]
On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished.
[6]
St Mary's Church
[
edit
]
The original church dated in part from the 12th century, with the earliest recorded
rector
being in 1166. By the 18th century the church had fallen into a bad state of decay and in 1778 a replacement was built on the same site, of a small
Greek cross
plan, built of brick.
[4]
This was itself replaced by the present
Church of England
parish
church in 1880. Designed by
George Edmund Street
and built next to the 18th-century church, it is primarily of buff-covered coursed marble stone with
bath stone
dressings overlying this in part, forming decorative arches.
[7]
Remains of the 18th-century church can be seen in the churchyard's garden of rest which contains church floor memorials to the Evelyn family, with only one of its memorials moved to the present church building. Both the current
[8]
and the remains of the 18th-century church are
Grade II listed
.
[9]
By the early 20th century the
rectory
had become derelict and was demolished. Its greater part was half-timber; it is pictured in Malden's
A History of the County of Surrey
, and probably dated from the 16th century.
[4]
People buried in the churchyard include global businessman and civil structural engineer
Terence Patrick O'Sullivan
, aircraft design engineer Sir
Sydney Camm
, Indian Army General Sir
Orfeur Cavenagh
, and
Austin Partner
, a victim of the sinking of the
Titanic
.
[10]
Demography
[
edit
]
A small part of the electoral ward,
Long Ditton
, was in the 2000s exchanged
[
to and with what?
]
, including adding to
Hinchley Wood
(south of
Hinchley Wood railway station
).
The Long Ditton
ward's
population at the
2011 census
was 6,343 living in 2,504 households. The total area was unchanged from ten years before at 214 hectares (530 acres) and the density had increased to 27.2 to 29.6 persons per hectare.
[1]
Geography
[
edit
]
The place is one of only two small portions of
Elmbridge
that is part of a
post town
outside its area, in this case,
Surbiton
which is in the neighbouring borough of
Kingston upon Thames
.
Soil and Elevation
[
edit
]
Long Ditton's soil is chiefly London clay, but to the north is
Thames
alluvial topsoil
, gravel and sand, and it contains two patches of
Bagshot Sand
in the southern part.
Economy
[
edit
]
Chadwick Place, a 21st Century development by the London border and in the closest part of Long Ditton to
Surbiton railway station
which has a non-stopping service to London
Residential estates have been built on Long Ditton's former agricultural land, and it has become a
dormitory settlement
, and a satellite suburb to
Esher
,
Kingston upon Thames
and
Surbiton
. The nearest railway stations are
Thames Ditton
,
Surbiton
and
Hinchley Wood
. Long Ditton is also served by buses.
It can be claimed that Long Ditton has retained its village character: it has a village hall and a cricket club. It is a
clustered village
, which has now developed its riverside. Modest green spaces are interspersed with housing in the area; they are principally recreation grounds and do not form
buffer zones
with other settlements, except some commercial plant nurseries and garden centre businesses which separate Long Ditton from
Claygate
.
Residents' Association
[
edit
]
The Long Ditton Residents' Association (LDRA -
www.longditton.org
) is a non-political body whose aims are to preserve Long Ditton from overdevelopment, maintain its character, improve its amenities and defend its remaining surrounding
Metropolitan Green Belt
.
[11]
Demography and housing
[
edit
]
2011 Census Homes
Output area
|
Detached
|
Semi-detached
|
Terraced
|
Flats and apartments
|
Caravans/temporary/mobile homes
|
Shared between households
[1]
|
(ward)
|
703
|
706
|
669
|
419
|
7
|
0
|
The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.
Output area
|
Population
|
Households
|
% Owned outright
|
% Owned with a loan
|
hectares
[1]
|
(ward)
|
6,343
|
2,504
|
33
|
44
|
214
|
The proportion of households in the settlement 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).
Notable residents
[
edit
]
Notes and references
[
edit
]
References
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Long Ditton
at Wikimedia Commons
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Towns, villages and
neighbourhoods
| Cobham
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Esher
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Surbiton
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Thames Ditton
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Molesey
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Leatherhead
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Walton on Thames
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Weybridge
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Notable parks
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Places of worship
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Education
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Transport
| Railway stations
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Roads
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Notable other
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Buildings and structures
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Sport
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