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HEALTH REPORT FOR 1954.
The Urban District of Coulsdon and Purley was constituted
by an Order of the Local Government Board dated 1st November,
1914, and came into existence on the 7th April, 1915. It has,
therefore, been a separate District for 40 years.
Situated on the North Downs immediately to the south of
Croydon, this well-favoured "dormitory" suburb, has a very considerable
proportion of its area reserved as part of the "Green
Belt," and there is comparatively little dense development.
The majority of the residents who work, do so in London
or Croydon, travelling to and fro daily. Locally there are no
really large manufacturing or other industries, most of the
residents employed in the District being connected with building
and decorating, with the provision of food and the other wants
of the inhabitants, or attached to the mental hospitals. The
amount of unemployment, apart from temporary unemployment
pending transfer, is still negligible.
AREA AND POPULATION.
The District has an area of 11,142 acres, these being distributed
among the wards as follows
Coulsdon East 2,812
Coulsdon West 1,253
Kenley 1,292
Purley 685
Sanderstead 2,311
Selsdon and Farleigh 1,924
Woodcote 865
At the time of the 1951 census the population was shown to
be 63,770 and this is thought to have increased slightly since, the
mid-year population for 1954 being estimated by the RegistrarGeneral
to have been 64,650 compared with 64,810 and 64,180 in
the two previous years, but the latest figure is almost certainly an
under estimate.
These numbers include persons resident in Institutions in the
District, the numbers of which at the end of 1954 were as follows:-
Cane Hill Hospital 2,502
Netherne Hospital 2,091
Russell Hill School 244
Reedham Orphanage 267
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