Burgh Heath

Burgh Heath (/ˌbɜːr ˈhiːθ/ or, especially amongst older residents, /ˌbʌrə ˈhiːθ/)[1] is a residential neighbourhood with a remnant part of the Banstead Commons of the same name. Immediately north of Upper Kingswood on the A217 road, it adjoins part of Banstead to the north. The north of the area is more specifically called Great Burgh, but the terms are largely interchangeable.

Burgh Heath

St Mary's parish church
Burgh Heath
Location within Surrey
Population1,884 (2011 Census)
OS grid referenceTQ242580
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townTadworth
Postcode districtKT20
Dialling code01737
PoliceSurrey
FireSurrey
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament

History

Burgh or Great Burgh was a very old manor of Banstead with an Old English name which was one of several settlements to have seen very little expansion before the end of the 19th century being on land which was part of the large, and water-scarce Banstead Heath or Common on the North Downs. It developed into a village-like hamlet in the early part of the 20th century.[2]

The Domesday Book records a church at Burgh, connected with its manor held by Odo, Earl of Kent.[3] Rectors were instituted to it in the 14th and 15th centuries, but there is no evidence of its having been a separate parish from Banstead after 1414, in the latter's many governmental and ecclesiastical patent, enquiry and taxation rolls.[2] Bergh or Burgh Church was between Little Burgh House and Church Lane, where the foundations remained supporting a barn until about 1880.[2]

The present Church of England parish church of Saint Mary is a Gothic revival building completed in 1909.[4]

A pump-station was built in 1943 at Burgh Heath on the PLUTO fuel pipeline running from the Thames to Dungeness. It was declared surplus to requirements in 1973 and was later sold and demolished.[5]

Geography

Burgh Heath is a residential settlement centred on a remnant part of the Banstead Commons of the same name on upper slopes of the North Downs. Adjoining are Nork an neighbourhood of the village Banstead which has that village's train station, directly north and Upper Kingswood to the south. The dual carriageway has meant that today there are two separate areas of housing: a larger part with shops on the main road and surrounding Canons Lane to the east and the other to the west close to the ponds, facing Burgh Heath and to distinguish it from the built up sections, known to its residents as "The Green". The 2011 Census recorded Burgh Heath's population as 1,884 people living in 843 households.[6] Burgh Heath has a large supermarket store, a luxury sports car garage and Toyota's UK headquarters are in the north of the area at Great Burgh.[7] There is a parade of shops along the A217 of small independent retailers and several small restaurants. However, the majority of residents in the area are commuters out of the area.

Open areas of Burgh Heath

The residential area is bordered to the south by the Burgh Heath itself, one of four parts of Banstead Commons, managed by the Banstead Commons Conservators and its byelaws. It is bordered east and north by farmland leading to Banstead Woods, managed by local authority Reigate and Banstead Borough Council.[2]

Beside the supermarket is a triangular wood in part of which is Burgh Heath BMX Track.[8]

References
  1. Davison, Mark (26 October 2014). "A look back to yesteryear: when a Surrey village was a holiday resort". Surrey Mirror. Local World. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  2. Malden 1911, pp. 252–262
  3. "Burgh". Open Domesday. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013.
  4. Nairn 1971, p. 121.
  5. Tim Whittle: Fuelling the Wars - PLUTO and the Secret Pipeline Network 1936 to 2015 published 2017 p209. ISBN 9780992855468
  6. "Area: Reigate and Banstead 007D (Lower Layer Super Output Area): Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  7. "Working at Toyota". Toyota (GB).
  8. "Directory of local parks and countryside in the Borough, including details about facilities at each". Reigate and Banstead Borough Council. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013.

Sources
  • Malden, HE, ed. (1911). "Banstead". A History of the County of Surrey. Victoria County History. III. Westminster: Archibald Constable. pp. 252–262.
  • Nairn, Ian; Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (revision) (1971) [1962]. Surrey. The Buildings of England (2nd ed.). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 121. ISBN 0-14-071021-3.
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