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Section A—Natural and Social
Conditions of the District
Area (in acres) 3,346
Number of inhabited houses (end of 1957) according
to Rate Books 17,450*
Rateable Value at 31st December, 1957 £827,019
Sum represented by Id. rate £3,328
(*Includes 254 combined with business premises for rating.)
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 more intermittent flow from the springs
which feed this head of the river which has resulted from the lowering of the
underground water table due to increased abstraction for various purposes,
denudes the upper pond of fresh water for considerable periods in times of
low rainfall. On these occasions this pond contains only surface water
drained from roads in the vicinity and is often liable to stagnation.
Although several of the springs failed during the year some flow was maintained
into the lower pond.
The district is mainly residential, little industry being established
within its boundaries. Housing accommodation for workers in the lower
income groups forms a large part of its development, the London County
Council Estate of St. Helier making a big contribution in this respect.
Density is greatest in the north of the district and decreases as one proceeds
towards the southern end where there is considerable amount of undeveloped
green belt land. As a consequence of this type of housing
development, the district has the lowest rateable value per head of population
in Metropolitan Surrey.
The rateable value of the district which at the end of 1956 was £864,238
fell to its present figure primarily as the result of the reduced rating of shops
and shops with other premises.
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