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Section A—Natural and Social
Conditions of the District.
Area (in acres) 3,346
Number of inhabited houses (end of 1954)
according to Rate Books 17,116
Rateable Value at 31st December, 1954 £527,285
Sum represented by 1d. rate £2,138
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 part,
one head of the river arising from several springs at the outcropping
of the chalk near the centre of the district. The absence of any sustained
period of low rainfall during the year enabled these springs which feed
the ornamental ponds and water courses to maintain an adequate flow
and so avoid the stagnation which has been experienced on more than
one occasion in recent years. Yet another application under the Water
Act, 1945, to extract water from the chalk in the vicinity of the district
was granted when the Minister's consent was given to the British
Electricity Authority to take up to half a million gallons daily from
a new bore-hole at their generating station in Croydon.
The area is mainly residential, a large proportion of the residents
earning their livelihood in Greater London. There is very little industry
established within its borders. Except for the public open spaces and the
Green Belt it is practically fully developed. The level of housing
occupation as revealed by the 1951 Census is the highest of any district
in Surrey and it is difficult to see how the substantial need for additional
housing accommodation can be met except by development outside
the area.
Largely developed within the last 25 years, Carshalton has a young
population, composed in large measure of families in the lower income
groups. As a result, the Rateable Value per head of population is
among the lowest in the county.
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