In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Gatton like this:
GATTON, a village and a parish in Reigate district, Surrey. The village stands on the ancient Roman road from Stane-street to Croydon, and near the source of the river Mole, 1 mile WNW of Merstham r. station, and 2½ NE by N of Reigate. It took its name from the Roman road or " gate;" is supposed to occupy the site of a Roman fort or station; has yielded Roman coins; ap-pears to have been a place of considerable importance in the middle ages; was made a borough, in 1451, by Henry VI.; sent two members to parliament till disfranchised by the reform bill; and had only about 20 houses and 100 inhabitants at the time of its disfranchisement. ...
The parish comprises 1, 260 acres. Post town, Merstham under Red Hill. Real property, £2, 387. Pop., 191. Houses, 36. The property is divided among a few. Gatton Park is the seat of Lord Monson; possessed the direction and disposal of the quondam borough; and was purchased by the late Lord Monson, in 1830, for £180, 000. The house is a stately edifice, in the Italian style; stands amid beautiful grounds, with a fine lake; has a splendid hall, modelled after the Corsini Chapel at Rome; and contains a rich collection of pictures. Upper Gatton House also is a handsome mansion; and was formerly a seat of the Duke of St. Albans. A small bridge in the parish, called Battle Bridge, was the scene of a great slaughter by women, of Danes fleeing from the battlefield of Ockley, in 851. A white soft stone, used in the construction of Hampton Court, and much valued for ovens and furnaces, was quarried. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £148. Patron, Lord Monson. The church stands in the grounds of Gatton Park; is an ancient structure, seemingly early English; contains a fine collection of Flemish oak carving; and was renovated in 1834.
Gatton through time
Gatton is now part of Reigate and Banstead district. Click here for graphs and data of how Reigate and Banstead has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Gatton itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Gatton, in Reigate and Banstead and Surrey | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/5224
Date accessed: 23rd April 2024
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