Ashtead, Surrey
Historical Description
Ashtead, a parish in Surrey, with a station on the L. & S.W. and L.B.&S.C. railways, 16 miles from London, and 2 SW of Epsom. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office. Acres, 2651; population, 1351. Ashtead Park, the seat of the Ralli family, is a splendid mansion, and contains some good pictures. The park has some venerable old oaks and elms, and a long avenue of limes, and is well stocked with deer. Ashtead Common, above the park, commands picturesque views; and contains, among wood, an ancient entrenchment. The Roman Stone Street passed through the parish, and has left relics in the materials of the church. There is a mineral spring similar to that of Epsom. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £325. The church is an ancient structure, with a tower, and embodies Roman bricks and tiles in its walls, but has undergone numerous alterations. Sir Robert Howard used to entertain Charles II. in a mansion which occupied the site of the present Ashtead House. An almshouse for eight poor widows has £44 from endowment, and other charities £16. There is an iron church, with sittings for 150.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Surrey | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Ashtead St. Giles | |
| Hundred | Copthorne | |
| Poor Law union | Epsom |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1662, but is much mutilated.
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Surrey History Centre, have images of the Parish Registers for Surrey online.
Churches
Church of England
St. George
The church of St. George, near the station, has sittings for about 350 persons.
St. Giles (parish church)
The church of St. Giles is a stone building with an embattled western tower containing 8 bells, hung in 1873: the stained east window was brought from a convent in Flanders and there is a memorial window and monuments to the family of Howard: the church was restored in 1891 at a cost of £1,800, raised by public subscriptions, and affords 270 sittings.
Baptist
Baptist Chapel
The Baptist chapel, erected in 1895, has seating for 130 persons.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Ashtead from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Ashtead (St. Giles))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Surrey is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Ashtead are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Surrey papers online:
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Surrey, 1662-1668 is available on the Heraldry page.