Sutton is the principal town in the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated 10.6 miles (17 km) south-southwest of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Nearby settlements include Belmont, Carshalton, Cheam, Banstead, St. Helier, Wallington and Worcester Park.

Sutton is one of several towns located on a narrow bed of Thanet sands which extends from Croydon in the east, to Epsom in the west. To the south of this belt is chalk of the North Downs, and to the north is clay. The belt of Thanet sands allowed wells to provide clean water, whereas the clay to the north mostly offered surface water of unsuitable quality. This feature attracted settlements to the sand belt from a very early date. The most notable of these were Epsom, Ewell, Cuddington, Cheam, Sutton, Carshalton, Wallington, and Waddon.

History

Pre 1700

When the Saxons were settling England, their preferred method was to divide the country into square parishes centred around the church, manor house and village, with cultivated fields around these, and common grazing ground on the outside. The settlements that had squeezed onto the belt of Thanet Sands were too close together to allow for this arrangement, so the parishes in this area were made long and narrow, with the church, manor and village still the centre, but with cultivated fields next to these, and common grazing ground beyond. Consequently, Sutton's parish is about three miles (5 km) long, and about a mile wide.

Archaeological finds in the region date back over ten thousand years, but the first substantial evidence of habitation comes from the excavation of a Roman villa in Beddington. The Roman road of Stane Street forms part of the northern boundary of the parish of Sutton. The course of Stane Street through the area is now followed by the modern roads Stonecot Hill and London Road, and designated A24 on road maps.

Sutton was recorded as Sudtone in a charter of Chertsey Abbey believed to have been drawn up in the late seventh-century when the Manor was granted to the Abbot of Chertsey by Frithwald, Governor of Surrey. Some sources state the early name as Suthtone or Sudtana instead. Other place names that appear in this charter are Bedintone, Cegeham (Cheam), and Aeweltone (Carshalton).

The area lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Wallington hundred.

The name Sutton is often assumed to have meant "south town", but Sudtone probably meant "south enclosure", from the Anglo-Saxon "ton" for enclosure. In Surrey, an early enclosure was usually a farm, and in Sutton it most likely refers to Oldfields farm, which lay on the southern slope from Rose Hill to the Angel. It was a "south" enclosure because it lay south of the Roman road Stane Street.

William The Conqueror's Domesday Book of 1086 assesses Sudtone:

In the time of King Edward it was assessed at 30 hides; now at 8½ hides. There are 2 carucates in the demesne, and 29 villains and 4 cottars with 13 carucates. There are 2 churches, and 2 bondmen, and of meadow. The wood yields 10 swine. In the time of King Edward it was valued at 20 pounds, now at 15 pounds.

The Domesday Book also states that the Abbot of Chertsey held the Manor. This remained so until 1538 when the Manor was sold to King Henry VIII, along with the manors of Ebisham (Epsom), Coulsdon, and Horley. They were all then granted to Sir Nicholas Carew of Beddington in that same year. When Sir Nicholas was sentenced to death for treason, the King seized the manors, and they remained possessions of the Crown until King Edward VI granted part of them to Thomas, Lord of D'Arcy of Cliché, but kept the Manors of Sutton, Ebisham and Coulsdon. Queen Mary later restored the whole of these manors to Francis, only son of Sir Nicholas Carew. At a later date, and for unknown reasons, the Manor once more became possession of the Crown until King Charles II granted it to the Duke of Portland in 1663, who sold it in 1669 to Sir Robert Long, who sold it that same year to Sir Richard Mason. The Manor has regularly changed hands since.

Post 1700

In 1755, a turnpike road from London to Brighton was constructed, intersecting with a turnpike road from Carshalton to Ewell which was constructed at the same time. The toll bars for Cheam Road and Brighton Road were originally located at right angles to each other by the Cock Hotel, an inn that sat on the south-east corner of the intersection of the turnpikes. The toll bar for Carshalton Road was where the police station is now, though the existence of this toll bar is disputed. All three of these toll bars moved further away from the intersection after a number of years to account for the growth in Sutton's size. The northmost toll bar was situated where Rosehill is now. The toll bars remained in effect until 1882.

Sutton railway station was opened on May 10, 1847. Likely due to the new, fast link to central London, Sutton's population more than doubled between 1851 and 1861. New housing to accommodate this growth was constructed in the Lind Road area, and called the "New Town". Today, a pub on the corner of Lind Road and Greyhound Road is named The New Town.

Sutton Water Company was incorporated in 1863, and the provision of water mains finally allowed houses to be built outside of the area defined by the water-yielding Thanet Sands. The Lord of the Manor at the time, Mr Alcock, sold land that was previously unsuitable for residential buildings, making it available for new construction. Sutton's population more than doubled between 1861 and 1871.

The Sutton parish formed Sutton Sanitary District in 1882. The Local Government Act 1894 replaced the parish with the Sutton Urban District. The district was renamed Sutton and Cheam Urban District in 1928 and in 1934 gained the status of municipal borough. In 1965 the Municipal Borough of Sutton and Cheam was abolished by the London Government Act 1963 and its area transferred to Greater London to be combined with that of other boroughs to form the London Borough of Sutton.

During the Second World War, few places were bombed. However, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists 187 civilian casualties for Sutton and Cheam.

In 1959 a local resident George Alcock started a campaign to preserve a unique avenue of Copper Beech trees. This led the same year to the formation of the Sutton & Cheam Society of which he was secreatry for many years. A plaque commemorating his life is situated on the corner of Christchurch Park with Brighton Road.

In 1945 the Sutton and Cheam constituency was constituted.

Today

Sutton provides one of the many town centres in the London area. There are good public transport links through buses and trains, and a one-way system around the High Street as well as three car parks. There are two large shopping centres in the town centre: the St. Nicholas Centre and Times Square as well as a High Street. The Aspects apartment block can be seen across Sutton.

In Sutton town centre, there are three main churches which are the Sutton Baptist Church, Trinity Church and St. Nicholas Church, as well as a Salvation Army in Benhill Avenue.

There are also two areas of green space in the town centre; one called Manor Park which is situated opposite the modern Police Station and the other simply called Sutton Green, located at the lower end of the high street relatively near Sutton Bus station. Sutton Library sits at the top of the town next to the Civic Offices, home of Sutton Council. There is a cinema opposite the St. Nicholas Centre, the two being connected by an above street level covered walkway. To the north of Sutton, there is the Benhill Estate.

Sutton nightlife is both plentiful and vibrant and boasts a substantial number of pubs and clubs in and around the Sutton High Street area. The nightlife scene in Sutton has expanded rapidly since the late Nineties.

Town twinning

• Gagny in France
• Gladsaxe in Denmark
• Minden in Germany
• Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Germany
• Tavernelle in Italy

Shopping

The borough offers a 'Shopmobility' service to disabled people, and wheel chairs are provided.

Sutton has two shopping centres, both of which are in Sutton High Street. The largest of these is the St. Nicholas Centre with three main levels. Times Square is the smaller of the two shopping centres. Also Sutton High Street contains many well known stores. The High Street starts by Marshall's Road and extends to the station, in Grove Road. Supermarket stores Asda and Morrisons are located at either ends of the High Street. The area is pedestrianised during shopping hours.

Education

See Schools in Sutton

Education is to an extremely high standard in Sutton and the Sutton LEA is regularly in the top 5 of the whole country . There are several primary schools in and around the borough.

Parks

Sutton has 89 parks and open spaces within its boundaries, a total area of 1500 acres (6 km²). The main parks are:

• Beddington Park
• Carshalton Park
• Cheam Park
• Grove Park
• Nonsuch Park
• Oaks Park
• Overton Park, Sutton

Media

The episode The Return of Mr Bean was filmed at department store Allders on its previous site, which is now occupied by Waterstones book shop and others. Furthermore, episodes of The Bill television programme have often been filmed in Sutton (including recently the Durand Close council estate in Carshalton, now in process of demolition), and nearby Merton. Additionally, the Channel 4 TV showThe Games training is filmed at Sutton Arena. The town's football club, Sutton United F.C. have also appeared regularly on adverts from energy drink manufacturers, Lucozade.

Notable people

• Kim Acourt, Glamour model.
• Tony Barton, Aston Villa's 1982 European Cup winning manager was from Sutton.
• Noel Coward, actor and playwright lived in Lenham Road until the age of 6
• Quentin Crisp Writer and gay icon
• Bradley McIntosh, member of former chart topping band S Club 7, attended Greenshaw High School.
• Katie Melua, award winning singer, songwriter and musician, lived on Gander Green lane and attended Nonsuch High School for girls.
• Mike Parry, author, journalist, radio host and controversialist.
• Joanna Rowsell, world championship gold medal cyclist.
• Harry Secombe, the humourist, was a local personality. The Secombe Theatre in Sutton is named after him.
• Melanie South, British tennis player, attended Nonsuch High School for girls.
• Graham Sutherland, painter, etcher, designer.
• Barry Tebb poet, novelist, editor, translator, founder of Sixties Press and mental health campaigner.
• Thomas Wall, ice-cream and sausage entrepreneur and philanthropist.

Transport

bus services that stop at Sutton are operated by London General, Epsom Coaches , Arriva London and Metrobus. Routes 80, 151, 154, 164, 213, 280, 407, 413, 420, 470, S1, S3, S4 and the X26 Express to Heathrow Airport all stop in Sutton, as well as two school routes which are 613, operated by London United and 627 operated by Arriva London. A list of all Sutton bus routes and their destinations are listed below.

• 80 (Belmont Prisons - Hackbridge Reynolds Close)
• 151 (Worcester Park Station - Wallington Shotfield)
• 154 (Morden Tube Station - West Croydon Bus Station)
• 164 (Wimbledon Station - Sutton Station)
• 213 (Kingston Fairfield Road Bus Station - Sutton Bus Garage)
• 280 (Tooting St. Georges Hospital - Belmont Station)
• 407 (Sutton Marshalls Road - Caterham Station)
• 413 (Morden Tube Station - Sutton Bus Garage)
• 420 (Sutton Bus Station - Redhill Bus Station)
• 470 (Epsom Town Centre - Colliers Wood Tube Station)
• S1 (Mitcham Cricketers - Banstead Marks & Spencer)
• S3 (Worcester Park Station - Sutton Hospital)
• S4 (St. Helier Station & Hospital - Roundshaw)
• X26 Express (Heathrow Airport Central Bus Station - East Croydon Station)

Within the town of Sutton, there are three railway stations. Sutton station is the town's major station, where frequent trains to London Victoria and London Bridge run, as well as services to Horsham, Dorking, Epsom Downs, Wimbledon, and Luton. West Sutton and Sutton Common are both on the First Capital Connect lines to Wimbledon.

Sutton also has a taxi rank, which can be picked up from outside the station. The taxis queue along Lower Mulgrave Road.

Sport

Association football club Sutton United F.C. are based in Sutton, who play in the Isthmian Premier Division.

Sutton Cricket Club is based in Cheam Road, Sutton, (entrance in Gander Green Lane.) The Club’s 1st XI plays at the highest level of the sport available to it, the England & Wales Cricket Board’s, ‘Surrey Championship Premier Division.’ The club’s 2nd and 3rd teams also play at the highest level available to them, the, ‘Surrey Championship 2nd XI and 3rd XI Premier Divisions.’ Sutton Cricket Club also provide league cricket for 4th and 5th XIs on Saturdays and for three XI’s on Sundays, two of which are dedicated to youth development. The club has a colts section with over 150 participants, and owns a second ground in Holmwood Close, Cheam. A cricket week is held at the Cheam Road ground every season, in addition to the club playing at least one mid-week friendly fixture every week.

Sutton Pumas basketball club are based in the Westcroft Leisure Centre, Carshalton.

References

• Charles J. Marshall (1971). History of Cheam & Sutton. S.R. Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0-85409-649-3.
• Robert P. Smith (1970). A History of Sutton AD 675–1960. Published by Derek W. James, no ISBN.
• Martin Andrew (2001). Around Sutton. Frith Book Company Ltd. ISBN 1-85937-337-2.
• Sutton Guardian: Our Town: History Retrieved 2005-10-12.
• London Borough of Sutton, Heritage Retrieved 2005-11-16.

External links

• London Borough of Sutton local government official website.
• Sutton, London - history and old photographs
• Sutton Town Centre Partnership working to improve Sutton.