A Brief History of Leatherhead

A small market town in Surrey, with a very interesting history is Leatherhead, located 4 miles south of Epsom. Though probably seeing human habitation as far back as the Neolithic Era, and certainly known to the Romans (Stane Street passes nearby), the first mention of Leatherhead was in Anglo-Saxon times, appearing in King Alfred’s will and being bequeathed to his son Edward. Later appearing in the Domeday Book as Leret, it was held by Osbert de Ow, and even this far back had a church. Its position on a crossroads and on a ford of the River Mole, led it to becoming a market town and Henry III granted Leatherhead the right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair. The Running Horse pub which still stands in Leatherhead today dates from 1403 and has been mentioned in poems and writings over the centuries. The Swan Hotel was a popular coaching station beside the River Mole, it declined only after the arrival of the railway in the 19th century. Leatherhead’s charming old centre was mostly ruined in the 1970’s and 1980’s as it was developed as a pedestrianised area with little thought for the history of this charming town. Map of Leatherhead.

Towns of Surrey UK

One of the south-east of England’s Home Counties, Surrey has borders with Hampshire, Kent, West Sussex, Berkshire, East Sussex and Greater London, it has just over 1 million inhabitants. Before the Roman invasion of Britain, the area which now forms Surrey was settled by a tribe called the Atrebates, who were allies of Rome, it later became part of the Brittania Prima region. The county town of Surrey is Guildford, a historic town which dates from a Saxon settlement on the River Wey, its name probably comes from the Saxon Gyldeford (“Gold Ford”). Guildford Castle dates from these ancient Saxon times and was renovated in 2003. Modern day Guildford is a busy English market town and has been voted among the top 10 best places to live in England. Not far from Guildford is another large town called Woking, a popular commuter town for those working in central London. Woking was made famous by HG Wells, as the place where the Martians first landed in his book “War of the Worlds”. Woking however has a long history and probably developed around an 8th century monastery, mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, Woking was named as Wochinges at that time. Modern day Woking mostly developed around the railway station built during the mid-nineteenth century. Another of Surrey’s larger towns, Camberley is a more recent development, growing up around Sandhurst’s Military Academy during the 19th century, the area was formerly part of Bagshot Heath, a favourite haunt of highwaymen. The first town was called Cambridge Town, but was later changed to Camberley as the Post Office often got the mail confused with that bound for Cambridge. A smaller Surrey town situated on the River Mole, Leatherhead has a history that goes back much further than that of Camberley, way back in fact, to Anglo-Saxon times, when a settlement was founded in around 880 AD. Named in the Domesday Book as Leret, Leatherhead had a parish church during the 11th century. One of the oldest surviving buildings is the Running Horse pub which was originally built in 1403. South of Leatherhead is the small but charming town of Dorking, well known for its large number of antique shops and dealers. Dorking’s history goes back even further as it originally developed along the Roman road Stane Street, which carried travellers from London to Chichester, it later became a coaching post for those heading to Brighton during the 18th century. To the north of Dorking and Leatherhead is another famous Surrey town – Epsom, renowned for its running of the English Derby horse race since 1780. Epsom is an affluent town which also has a long history and was formerly called Evesham at the time of the Domesday Book in the eleventh century.