Leigh, Surrey

Shire countyRegionCountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townReigatePostcode districtRH2Dialling code01306PoliceSurreyFireSurreyAmbulanceSouth East Coast UK Parliament 51°12′36″N 0°15′29″W / 51.210°N 0.258°W / 51.210; -0.258

Leigh /ˈlaɪ/ is a village and civil parish in Surrey, between Reigate, Dorking and Charlwood in the east of Mole Valley district. The village centre is suburban and its remainder is agricultural, interspersed by four satellite clustered localities: Dawesgreen, Bunce Common, Shellwood Cross and Nalderswood which benefit from the amenities of the village and a minority of the remainder is woodland.

History

A hoard of 62 Roman silver denarii was discovered in a field at Swains Farm in 2004. The oldest of the coins dates from 31 BC and the most recent were minted in around 180 AD after the death of the emperor Marcus Aurelius.^[2]

Before the Norman Conquest, and in dwindling use afterwards, the village lay within the Reigate hundred. Leigh appears to have been a centre for the Wealden iron industry,^[3] and the village was explicitly exempted from a legal prohibition of making charcoal from certain timber types issued by Elizabeth I, so that iron smelting could continue.^[4]

Amenities

The Plough pub, one of two in the village (the other being The Seven Stars) is pictured above next to other homes and the village green. In the village is a church, St Bartholomew's, and the Leigh site for the North Downs Primary School, for school years one to three. The village has a large play area for younger children largely constructed of natural materials. Adjacent to the play area is the recreation ground, home to since 1900.^[5]

Localities

Each of the four communities surrounding the village is subsidiary to Leigh itself. Nalderswood however, including by road, is almost as close to Sidlow, which is a slightly smaller village with fewer amenities.

Dawesgreen

Separated from Leigh by a buffer of less than 200m to the south, Dawesgreen is a linear settlement on a built-up crossroads including one of the village pubs, and two other listed buildings

Bunce Common

Bunce Common is on the continuation of the road east from Dawesgreen. It is more dispersed, with plots of lower density, and has a road to Shellwood Cross.

Shellwood Cross

Shellwood Cross occupies the south-west corner of Leigh civil parish, on slopes by the upper part of the unnamed brook that flows past the east of the village centre and includes three listed buildings, one of which is a barn.

Nalderswood

Nalderswood is by a little knoll known as the Mynthurst. The Deanoak Brook is a second tributary of the Mole, itself a tributary of the Thames, and is separated from the existing line of buildings forming most of Nalderswood by the Little Mynthurst rise.

Demography and housing

The United Kingdom Census 2011 shows an increase of more than 8% in population from 856, ten years previously. The proportion of households in Leigh who owned their home outright was within 4% of the borough and 12% above the national average. The proportion who owned their home with a loan was 1% greater than the national average; providing overall a higher proportion than average of rented residential property and of social housing than the national average, and above the average in Surrey.^[1]

2011 Census Key Statistics

Output area	Population	Households	% Owned outright	% Owned with a loan	Area (hectares)
Leigh CP	943	370	42.4	33.8[6]	1382

The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a large % of households living rent-free).

2011 Census Homes

Output area	Detached	Semi-detached	Terraced	Flats and apartments	Caravans/temporary/mobile homes	Shared between households[1]
(Civil Parish)	202	121	23	21	3	0

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 8%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.

Local government

At Surrey County Council, one of the 81 representatives represents the area within the Dorking Rural division.^[7]

At Mole Valley District Council most wards of the borough are deemed appropriate to be represented under the current constitution of councillors by one councillor, which is the case for Leigh.^[8]

Mole Valley District Councillor

Election		Member	Party (if any)	Ward
	2010[8]	Iain Murdoch	Liberal Democrats	Capel, Leigh & Newdigate
	2011[8]	Corinna Osborne-Patterson	Conservative Party	Capel, Leigh & Newdigate

Surrey County Councillor

Election		Member[9]	Party (if any)	Electoral Division
	2013	Helyn Clack	Conservative Party	Dorking Rural

Notable residents

• André Previn (1929-2019), pianist, composer and conductor, lived in Leigh^[10]

References

External links

• The Parish Council official Website for Leigh, Surrey