Carshalton

Until a hundred years ago, Carshalton was just a village near Sutton in Surrey, although for most of its history Carshalton was a far larger place than Sutton, the latter only overtaking Carshalton after the rail junction arrived. One of a string of towns and villages that lie along the spring line to the north of the North Downs, Carshalton was notable for the Ponds, one of the sources of the Wandle, and its lavender fields up on the downs.  

 

The London, Brighton and South Coast railway arrived in 1868, with Carshalton station (just north of the ponds) lying between Sutton and Mitcham.  From the late Victorian period until the 1930s, the village grew to merge with Sutton to the west and Wallington to the east and spread up the hill to the south over farmland and common land.  Classic suburbia.

 

The other branch of the LBSCR passed through the parish on its way to West Croydon, but until 1906 there was no call for a station.  In that year, a halt was opened on what had become known as Beeches Avenue - Carshalton Beeches station celebrated its centenary earlier this year.

 

In the same year, the South Metropolitain Electric Traction Co, a subsidiary of BET, opened its electric tram line from Sutton Green to Croydon.  The old road past the pond being unsuitable, a new road was specially built to the south, east from the Windsor Castle - Ruskin Road.  Ironically, this is one of the few roads to have lost its bus service in recent years.  Buses will return on 15 April 2007.