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Section A Natural and Social
Conditions of the District.
Area (in acres) 3,346
Number of inhabited houses (end of 1938) according
to Rate Books 16,074
Rateable Value at 31st December, 1938 £457,607
Sum represented by 1d. rate £1,830
THE Sanitary District, situated about midway between the
Thames and the North Downs, is roughly rectangular in
shape. It is approximately one mile in width and commencing
at a datum level of 72 at the northern boundary, it extends
for some five miles in a southerly direction up the slope of the
North Downs to a height of 450 feet above sea level.
The subsoil, which is clay in the northern part, changes to a
sandy gravel as one proceeds southwards, and then merges into
chalk, which covers the southern half of the district.
The River Wandle forms the eastern boundary in the northern
half and is fed by several springs which arise near the centre of the
district at the outcropping of the chalky subsoil. With the steadily
increasing demands made upon the underground supplies of the
Thames Basin, the flows from these springs have been more
irregular of recent years. In 1938, towards the end of the year,
all but the Lower Pool again failed.
The district continued its steady development, 391 new houses
being erected compared with 312 in the year before. The northern
and central parts of the district are now almost completely developed.
The London County Council's Housing Estate on St.
Helier covers the extreme northern portion and is continuous over
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