Gatton, Surrey
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| Gatton | |
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  Gatton Location within Surrey | |
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| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
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.
The parish lay within Reigate hundred. It is a former rotten borough and a former civil parish. In 1951 the parish had a population of 628.[1]
Early forms of Gatton's name include Gatatune (recorded between 871 and 889) and Gatetuna (in 1121). The name is thought to mean "goat-farm".[2] This may indicate either that the township had a specialised function (goat-farming) within the economy of a much larger Anglo-Saxon estate; or that it was required to make a specialised tribute obligation, in the form of goats, to its overlord.[3]
History
Gatton appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Gatone. It was held by Herfrid from the Bishop of Bayeux. Its Domesday assets were: 2½ hides; 5 ploughlands; a church; 6 acres (24,000 m2) of meadow; and woodland and grazing for 7 pigs. It rendered £6.[4]
From 1332 onwards Gatton was taxed as a town (at a higher rate than that payable by a village or rural settlement); and from 1450 part of the parish was the parliamentary borough of Gatton, sending two members to the House of Commons.[5] However, there is no evidence of the late medieval settlement developing any other distinctively urban characteristics. Instead, the settlement shrank, and by the beginning of the 17th century the antiquary William Camden was able to describe it as "scarce a small village, though in times past it hath beene a famous towne".[6] By 1831 the parliamentary borough had only seven voters and 23 houses, placing it among the most notorious of "rotten boroughs". It was abolished by the Reform Act 1832.
Gatton "Town Hall", on Gatton Park estate, is a folly erected in 1765: it takes the form of an open Doric temple. It was here that the parliamentary elections were held. Behind it stands a large urn bearing a Latin inscription, which includes the line "Salus populi Suprema Lex Esto": "Let the well-being of the people be the supreme law".[7][8] James Ogilvy commented in 1914: "The whole erection could shelter about thirty people from the rain; whether it superseded an earlier town hall does not appear to be known."[9]
A salient of the parish ran southwards, south of Merstham to the boundary of Nutfield, but it was added to Merstham in 1899.[5][10]
On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished.[11]
Church
The church is dedicated to St Andrew. Before the early 19th century, it was a late medieval building revealing evidence of early Norman origins.[12] It was heavily remodelled in the "Gothick" style in 1834 by Frederick John Monson, 5th Baron Monson, essentially as his private chapel and a showcase for his collections. Its contents include a fine 15th-century rood screen, brought from another unidentified English church.[5][7] In 1930, stones from the structure were removed by Sir Jeremiah Colman (1st Bart.) and the rector of Gatton and given to Colorado College of Colorado Springs, USA, to be incorporated into the Eugene Percy Shove Memorial Chapel in honour of the donor's ancestor, Edward Shove, rector of Gatton 1615–1646.
The church is adjacent to the Royal Alexandra and Albert School. It is now used generally as a chapel: it has a joint benefice with and is reliant for regular services on services in Merstham Village, the conservation area part of Merstham.
