Burgh Heath

Burgh Heath
Modernist housing at Burgh Heath
Burgh Heath  Burgh Heath shown within Surrey
Population	6,219 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	TQ242580
District	Reigate and Banstead
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Tadworth
Postcode district	KT20
Dialling code	01737
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Reigate
List of places UK England Surrey

Burgh Heath (/ˌbɜːr ˈhiːθ/ or, especially amongst older residents, /ˌbʌrə ˈhiːθ/) is a residential neighbourhood with a remnant part of the Banstead Commons of the same name. Lying immediately north of Upper Kingswood on the A217 road, it adjoins part of Banstead to the north. The north of the area is more specifically known as Great Burgh though the terms are largely interchangeable.

History

At Burgh was a church (connected with its manor held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux which was mentioned in the Domesday book), to which rectors were instituted in the 14th and 15th centuries, but there is no evidence of its having been a separate parish from Banstead after 1414, in the latter's many governmental and ecclesiastical patent, enquiry and taxation rolls. Bergh or Burgh Church was between Little Burgh House and Church Lane, where the foundations remained supporting a barn until about 1880.

Burgh or Great Burgh was a very old manor of Banstead with an Anglo-Saxon name which was one of several settlements to have seen very little expansion before the end of the 19th century being on land which was part of the large, and water-scarce Banstead Heath or Common on the North Downs. It developed into a village-like hamlet in the early part of the 20th century.

Geography

Burgh Heath is a residential settlement centred on a remnant part of the Banstead Commons of the same name on upper slopes of the North Downs. Adjoining are Nork an neighbourhood of the village Banstead which has that village's train station, directly north and Upper Kingswood to the south. The dual carriageway has meant that today there are two separate areas of housing: a larger part with shops on the main road and surrounding Canons Lane to the east and the other to the west close to the ponds, facing Burgh Heath and to distinguish it from the built up sections, known to its residents as The Green. Burgh Heath had a population of 2,099 forming 839 households at the time of the 2001 Census.

Burgh Heath has a large supermarket store, a luxury sports car garage and Toyota's UK headquarters are in the north of the area at Great Burgh. There is a parade of shops along the A217 of small independent retailers and several small restaurants. However, the majority of residents in the area are commuters out of the area.

Open areas of Burgh Heath

The residential area is bordered to the south by the Burgh Heath itself, one of four parts of Banstead Commons, managed by the Banstead Commons Conservators and its byelaws. It is bordered east and north by farmland leading to Banstead Woods, managed by local authority Reigate and Banstead borough council.

Beside the supermarket is a triangular wood in part of which is Burgh Heath BMX Track.

External links

• Article on history, with pictures, in local newspaper

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons