View report page

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. As mentioned in
previous reports, the flow of these springs has been increasingly
irregular in recent years as the result of the withdrawal of more and
more of the underground water supplies of the Thames Basin.
As in other war years, there was no new housing development
and accommodation shortage increased still further. Carshalton is
largely a dormitory area for the metropolis, there being little local
industry of any magnitude.
The northern and central parts are highly urbanised, while the
southern portion has a lesser housing density. A large proportion of
the properties are of the working-class type and the average rateable
value of premises, either whole dwellings or including dwellings, is
£24 10s. Od.
8