Discover the history behind our buildings and countryside
Produced in memory of Sally Hornsby
by Claygate Parish Council
Claygate is an oasis on the edge of suburbia, bordered by woods on three sides, with its origins going back to the Domesday Book in 1086. A commemorative plaque can be seen on the Village Green.
Some of the subsequent history is reflected in the names of roads; for example, Blakeden Drive, named after Henry VIII’s confectioner who was granted the manor at the dissolution of the monasteries; Telegraph Lane leading to Semaphore House; Forge Drive and Kilnside indicating the more recent history of brick making; Foley Road named after Lord Foley of Ruxley Lodge (now Ruxley Towers), who owned large estates in Claygate and Chessington, and Fitzalan Road named after his brother, Fitzalan Foley, who developed housing in Claygate, most of which now lies in the Foley Estate Conservation Area.
Before the coming of the railway in 1885, people worked mainly in agriculture or in the brickfields. It is not known when bricks and tiles were first made here. Working of the three known brickfields appears to have begun around the middle of the nineteenth century, since prior to this the land was classified as arable. It is recorded that bricks from Claygate were used to repair Hampton Court Palace around that time.
The oldest brickfield was on the site of Kilnside and Fishersdene (named after the clay pond over which it is built). The other workings were on either side of Oaken Lane, at Cavendish Drive on the west and what is now woodland to the east. Bricks from these fields were used to build the railway station and also the bridge at the end of Claremont Road.
The firm of Claygate Fireplaces was established in 1922 and became famous for its brick fireplaces throughout the country and abroad. They were built on site at the Common Road pit until it closed in 1964. Glenavon House in Common Road, with its decorative brickwork, was once the offices of the firm.
There is much to see and enjoy in walks in and around Claygate and this leaflet has been prepared to add to the interest by providing brief notes on some of the major points of interest, with paths included for longer walks in the surrounding woodland areas.
Further information can be found in ‘The Claygate Book’ by Malcolm Peebles which can be purchased from Rukshana’s in Hare Lane.
1 THE STATION was built in 1885 for the opening of what was known as the New Guildford Line from Waterloo. Originally powered by steam, full electrification of the line came in 1925. The goods yard was used largely for the import of feedstuffs and manure for Claygate’s farms, for sending their produce to market, for bringing in coal and ash to the brickworks and for domestic use. In 1963 the yard closed and the site became the station car park.
2 THE PARADE, originally called Station Road, was developed as the main shopping centre after the arrival of the railway. The shops nearest the station were built in the 1890s, the eastern end a little later and those in Hare Lane in the 1930s.
The Village Sign was erected by the Claygate Village Residents’ Association (CVRA) to mark the year 2000.
3 THE GREEN, now a conservation area. Before The Parade was developed, Claygate’s shopping area was centred around The Green. Two of the first purpose-built shops are still evident: one, now occupied by Matthew Pierce, estate agent, was previously Singlehurst the butcher; the other, now a private house with the shop front retained, was previously the Studio Bakery and originally the post office.
The drinking fountain was presented to the village by Lord Foley in 1893 to commemorate the wedding of the future King George V and Mary of Teck. The granite horse trough was donated by the Metropolitan Cattle Trough Association in 1911 to commemorate the coronation of George V. The large ash and oak trees commemorate Queen Victoria’s gold and diamond jubilees (1887 and 1897). The two apple trees are Claygate Pearmain and Braddick Nonpareil, planted in 1996 by the CVRA. Both varieties were discovered in local hedgerows in 1822. The Green was redesigned by the CVRA in 1986, winning a Civic Trust award.
4 ELM ROAD SCHOOL, now THE YOUTH CLUB
Claygate’s National School was relocated from a site near Holy Trinity Church to newly-built premises in Elm Road in 1886, with provision for 111 boys, 111 girls, 85 infants and accommodation for three staff. As school was not compulsory until 1903 in Surrey, there were no fixed starting or leaving ages. From 1940 pupils of 11+ went to Hinchley Wood and in 1973 a school was built in Foley Road to take the older primary children. Eventually, in 1987 Elm Road School was closed and the children accommodated at Claygate Primary School.
Claygate Youth Club Association has leased the building from Surrey County Council since 1985.
5 ROSE COTTAGE, 12, ST LEONARDS ROAD is one of the oldest houses in Claygate. It was built around 1695, as a gamekeeper’s cottage (or cottages, as it is thought there were originally two), on the Couchmore Estate. Notable is the Royal Exchange fire mark on the front brickwork.
6 TELEGRAPH HILL
At 167 feet (50.9 metres) above sea level, Telegraph Hill was the site of one of the Admiralty’s chain of semaphore stations from Whitehall to Portsmouth. The building, called Semaphore House, was completed in 1822 and operated until the electric telegraph took over in 1847. Until then, weather permitting, a message could be transmitted from the Admiralty at Whitehall to Portsmouth in a matter of minutes. In 1930, Esher Council bought Telegraph Hill for public recreation. Semaphore House subsequently passed into private ownership.
7 THE FORGE, 43 Common Road, was begun in 1896 by Jesse Hogsden who had worked at the village smithy at No 1, Sydney Terrace before it was burned down in 1895. At the start of the twentieth century, Claygate’s blacksmith in Common Road was shoeing 20 horses a week, such was the importance of horse traffic for the movement of goods. The business stayed in the family, changing after time to the repair of lawnmowers etc. and eventually closing to become a private house in 1996.
8 THE PILLAR BOX at the junction of Stevens Lane and Common Road is one of only 137 in the country with the monogram of the uncrowned King Edward VIII.
9 The land at RUXLEY TOWERS was bought by the 5th Lord Foley in 1870, comprising over six hundred acres in Claygate and Chessington. He lived in Claygate until his death in 1905 and built the west wing and the tower with its gargoyles. His brother succeeded him, and after his death, all his Claygate and other local landholdings were auctioned in 1919. The house and grounds were bought in 1939 by the Navy, Army and Airforce Institutes (NAAFI) who moved their headquarters there, remaining until 1962 when Ruxley Towers was sold to the General and Municipal Workers’ Union. After the GMWU moved out in the late 1980s, the building reverted to private ownership. The NAAFI remained in Claygate, with its training centre at Wingham in Oaken Lane from 1946–95, after which Wingham became a nursing home.
10 CLAYGATE COMMON was enclosed in 1838 and acquired by Esher Council in 1922. Some time late in the nineteenth century Lord Foley, who owned the land, had a nine-hole golf course built. It was a popular local facility, but it closed after the outbreak of war in 1914. Between the wars, there were racing stables on the far side. Cricket and football were played on the Common before the Recreation Ground was opened.
11 FEE FARM was built in 1766, with later additions in 1785 and 1819. The farmhouse probably replaced an older farm, which paid a fee to Westminster Abbey for the use of the land – hence the name. A beagle hunt used to meet here to pursue hares on foot.
12 THE RECREATION GROUND, Church Road was acquired by Esher Council in the 1920s and set aside for public recreation.
13 HOLY TRINITY CHURCH was built in 1840 on former common land. At this time Claygate formed its own parish, thus saving worshippers the walk to church at Thames Ditton via Old Claygate Lane. The church was enlarged in 1866 and 1904, and again in 1999 when an extra aisle was added together with a new church hall and vicarage, funded largely by the congregation and the local community.
The War Memorial in the churchyard was unveiled on 6 March 1921 to commemorate the 43 Claygate men who lost their lives in the First World War. Another memorial inside the church is in memory of the 44 men who died in the Second World War.
14 CLAYGATE VILLAGE HALL, Church Road was built between 1959–65 and is owned by the village. The Village Hall Association is the governing body, comprising representatives of the community and organisations using the hall.
15 LOSEBERRY, Hare Lane was built in the mid-nineteenth century by John Peter Robinson, the owner of the Oxford Street department store and a large landowner in Claygate. He built Loseberry Farm soon afterwards, although the land had been farmed by several other people before that. The England cricketer, Bunny Lucas, lived here and founded Claygate cricket club in 1885. Both house and farm were bought by the Crown Commissioners in 1907; the house reverted to private ownership in 1981.
