History
Unlike Hooley which was mostly part of Coulsdon manor and parish, the land here was within the traditional boundaries of Merstham as a village, that is within its ecclesiastical parish. The property called Netherne – 'Lez Nedder' in 1522 – was acquired in the first decade of the 20th century by the Surrey County Council for an asylum; the quit-rent payable yearly for the land of a little over half of one pound sterling recorded in 1522 was enfranchised from the land by the Council paying its owner. [2]
Being on the ridge of the North Downs, the relevant mineral prosperity of the parish was important at the slopes straddling this particular plateau, very sparsely inhabited though it was, and increasingly bereft of water, being aloft of aquifers. The county history of 1911 states: [2]
...chalk at Merstham has also been long famous for its lime. The lime produced is not quite equal to the Dorking and Betchworth, but superior to the Guildford product. The lime used to be extensively used as manure, and is still so employed. Cement is also now made from it. The mineral works at Merstham helped to bring about improved means of conveyance. The mediaeval line of carriage was by cart to Battersea for conveyance by water to Westminster, and to Kingston upon Thames for water carriage to Windsor.
20th century psychiatric care
Netherne Hospital opened in 1903 as a pleasant asylum for psychiatric patients. The complex could house up to 2000 patients at its peak and its founders built its own laundry, power station, sewage works, farm and sporting facilities. The hospital was known to be progressive in its treatment of mental illnesses, including in its use of art therapy and psychiatric rehabilitation. It closed in 1994 following the community integration of most of its patients.
The hospital chapel is now home to the new community's swimming pool and gym. Notwithstanding this history, little remains at all apart from a minority of converted buildings including the iconic main administration building, several ward block, villas, staff houses, the upper lodge ( now a shop) and the water tower. The central area comprising the original administration building, the water tower, two ward blocks, and four smaller detached buildings now form the Netherne on the Hill Conservation area, and are locally listed. [3]
Conversion to residential estate
The former hospital estate was sold by the Department of Health to M J Gleeson in 1995, with development of a new village commencing shortly afterwards. The development was to have included about 440 houses, a nursing home, a business centre, a shop, a public house and recreational open space. [4] The developer Gleeson never built the nursing home, business centre or public house, and sold much of the land to other developers after having to pay for expensive essential works to the road bridge spanning two deep railway cuttings close to the A23 to the west of the village.
Coulsdon is a town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. Coulsdon was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey that included the settlements of Purley and Kenley. It was merged with Sanderstead in 1915 to form the Coulsdon and Purley Urban District and has formed part of Greater London since 1965.
Reigate and Banstead is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Reigate and the borough also includes the towns of Banstead, Horley and Redhill. Parts of the borough are within the Surrey Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Northern parts of the borough, including Banstead, lie inside the M25 motorway which encircles London.
Reigate is a town in Surrey, England, around 19 miles (30 km) south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as Cherchefelle and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for human activity is from the Paleolithic and Neolithic, and during the Roman period, tile-making took place to the north east of the modern centre.
Redhill is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead within the county of Surrey, England. The town, which adjoins the town of Reigate to the west, is due south of Croydon in Greater London, and is part of the London commuter belt. The town is also the post town, entertainment and commercial area of three adjoining communities : Merstham, Earlswood and Whitebushes, as well as of two small rural villages to the east in the Tandridge District, Bletchingley and Nutfield.
Merstham is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies 17 miles south of Charing Cross just beyond the Greater London border. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the town. Merstham has community associations, an early medieval church and a football club.
East Surrey is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Claire Coutinho, a Conservative who formerly served as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The seat covers an affluent area in the English county of Surrey.
Reigate is a constituency in Surrey represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Rebecca Paul, of the Conservative Party.
Hooley is a village in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. Within its small grid of streets is the 13th-century church of Chipstead which has been, since time immemorial, its ecclesiastical parish. Hooley is connected via paths and the A23 road to the larger community of Coulsdon, to the north, in the London Borough of Croydon.
Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is 3 miles (5 km) south of Sutton, 5 miles (8 km) south-west of Croydon, 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and 13 miles (21 km) south of Central London.
Coulsdon and Purley Urban District was a local government district in northeast Surrey from 1915 to 1965. The local authority was Coulsdon and Purley Urban District Council. The former area of the district is now mostly part of the London Borough of Croydon in Greater London, with parts in the Tandridge District and the Borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey.
Earlswood is a suburb of Redhill in Surrey, England, which lies on the A23 between Redhill and Horley. Earlswood Common is a local nature reserve that separates the suburb from the southern outskirts of Reigate and has two lakes and picnic areas. Earlswood station is on the Brighton Main Line. To the east of the line are Royal Earlswood Park, the East Surrey Hospital and Whitebushes.
Meadvale or less commonly Mead Vale is a southern residential suburb that straddles borders of Redhill and Reigate in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, and one of two which do so. The average elevation of the district is higher than the centres of each of the towns – Meadvale is bisected east-west by the Greensand Way at the top of a moderately low section of the Greensand Ridge. Its population, as broadly defined on its ward definition, is 3,090 spread over 64 hectares based upon the most recent national census.
Chipstead is a predominantly commuter village in the Reigate and Banstead district, in north-east Surrey, England, that has been a small ecclesiastical parish since the Domesday Survey of 1086. Its rolling landscape meant that Chipstead's development was late and restricted compared to parishes of comparable distance from London. Formerly and formally including Hooley and Netherne-on-the-Hill, on census day, 1831 Chipstead had 66 homes. Today, excluding those two parts, the village has 1,212 homes spread across the slopes and crests of a northern section of the North Downs. Parts of the village are in or adjoin the Surrey Hills AONB.
Woodmansterne is a village in the borough of Reigate and Banstead, Surrey, bordering Greater London, England. It sits on a small plateau of and a southern down slope of the North Downs and its ecclesiastical parish borders continue to span old boundaries and reach into Chipstead, Coulsdon and Wallington.
Reigate was a hundred in the historic county of Surrey, England. It was geographically consonant with the southern two thirds of the current Borough of Reigate and Banstead together with two parishes in Tandridge and fractions of former parishes in the London Borough of Croydon and Borough of Crawley, West Sussex. Accordingly, it included the medieval-established town of Reigate with its motte castle and land which became the towns of Redhill and Horley.
Gatton is a former village in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead, Surrey, England. It survives as a sparsely populated, predominantly rural locality, which includes Gatton Park, no more than 12 houses, and two farms on the slopes of the North Downs near Reigate.
Margery is a heavily buffered, lightly populated hamlet in the Reigate and Banstead district in the English county of Surrey. It sits on the North Downs, is bordered by the London Orbital Motorway, at a lower altitude, and its predominant land use is agriculture.
Netherne Hospital, formerly The Surrey County Asylum at Netherne or Netherne Asylum was a psychiatric hospital in Hooley, Surrey in the United Kingdom.
