Fetcham
| Fetcham | |
| Surrey | |
|---|---|
 The Mill Pond at Fetcham | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ147557 |
| Location: | 51°17’20"N, 0°21’14"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 8,300 |
| Post town: | Leatherhead |
| Postcode: | KT |
| Dialling code: | 01372 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Mole Valley |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Mole Valley |
Fetcham is a village in Surrey lying to the west of Leatherhead, on the other side of the River Mole and Mill Pond springs and the associated nature reserve.
The Mill Pond springs are a large number of chalk springs, which provide much of the water supply for the surrounding area. These springs even continued to supply water during the droughts of 1976 and 2006.
Although some would call it a suburb of Leatherhead, Fetcham is actually a busy village with good local shops, and has easy access to London, Guildford, Cobham, Epsom and, of course, Leatherhead.
The name Fetcham is derived from the Anglo-Saxon “Feccan ham” Fecca's settlement.
Fetcham is within the Copthorne hundred.
History
There is evidence of habitation from long before Fecca's time: Stone Age and Bronze Age tools and Roman artefacts have been found hereabouts and three ancient burial grounds.
Fetcham appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Feceham. It was held partly by William the Conqueror; partly by Richard from the Bishop of Bayeux partly by Oswald the Thegn. Its Domesday assets were: 7 hides; 5½ mills worth 17s, 10½ ploughs and 2 oxen, 30 acres of meadow, woodland, herbage and pannage worth 23 hogs. It rendered £10 10s 0d.[1] Fetcham in the Domesday survey had three manors; one known as King's Manor was probably Fetcham Park; another was given to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux after the Norman conquest. The third was an Augustinian foundation from Merton Priory, at Cannon Court, which Henry VIII dissolved in 1538.
Its small manorial farming community numbered 176 in the survey, but halved as a result of the Black Death in 1349. In the first half of the nineteenth century the population was still only around 370 [1] [2]. In the 1931 census it had reached 1,318, and by 1972 was 7,331[3].
The Fetcham Conservation Area includes the impressive 18th century mansion of Fetcham Park House. The Well House, The Dower House and Ballands Hall are three of a cluster of old buildings in the area.
St Mary's Church has been a place of Christian worship for over 1000 years. Built during Anglo-Saxon and early Norman periods, it is probably on the site of an even earlier timber church. There are many hints of its past in its structure. These include the south-west quoin of the nave, and a single splay window high on the south wall with traces of Roman brick as well as arches that are presumed to pre-date 1066.
Village
The village of Fetcham is quite large; extending from the River Mole at the village's east side, it is bounded by the neighbouring villages of Great Bookham and Little Bookham on its west. To non-residents, Fetcham may seem to be part of Leatherhead, but not to the villagers of Fetcham, for however close in to the larger town, it retains it own centre and identity.
The centre of the village has a number of shops, various in nature, with roadside free car parking. These are sufficient for the day-to-day demands of the local population. Food and drink is catered for by restaurants and food outlets supplying Indian, Chinese, and Italian cuisine, as well as a friendly fish and chips shop and a pleasant bakery coffee shop.
To the south of Fetcham the Fetcham and Leatherhead Downs stretch away, part of the North Downs.
Churches
St Mary's Church
- Independent / Evangelical:
- Cannon Court Evangelical Church
- Community Church (meets in Fetcham Infants' School)
- Roman Catholic: Church of the Holy Spirit
Big Society
Fetcham has just one pub and a large Village Hall in The Street
1st Fetcham Scout Group has its headquarters in Cock Lane. It has two Cub Scout packs and two Scout Troops, as well as Beavers and Explorers.
References
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Fetcham) |