A brief history of Ashtead
Occupation has been traced back to about 2000BC but the first evidence of a permanent settlement was in Saxon times when the village was called Stede. The Roman road, Stane Street passes through the north of Ashtead where there is a site of roman occupation near St. Giles Church. There is also the remains of a Roman villa on Ashtead Common and traces have been found of a major tile works which may have supplied a major market in the South East and was probably the main economy of the villa.
After death of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, ownership of Ashtead passed to William the Conqueror's half brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeaux. The principal occupation of the area was farming until the late 19th century when cheap American grain caused a decline in farming. When Mary Howard, whose family owned most of Ashtead at that time sold her property in 1879, developers moved in due to Ashtead's closeness to London.
The railway reached Ashtead in 1859 and was electrified in 1925 when development stepped up a gear and most of the farm land made way for houses for commuters who worked in London. If it hadn't have been for the Green Belt that was created in 1947, all the woodland that we enjoy today would have disappeared and Ashtead would have become another suburb of London.
What little industrial work that was undertaken in Ashtead has disappeared. There was a factory that produced leathercloth for the motor industry located in The Street, originally owned by Brifex and later by Carrington Vyella but that closed in the mid 70's. Goblins were based in Ermyn Way for many years producing electrical goods, including the teasmade but the site is now owned by Esso.
In recent times, the building of the M25 has increased the popularity of Ashtead as a place to live and there has been much "in filling" to maximise the number of houses. There may be some relaxing of the green belt restrictions to provide affordable housing which is in chronic short supply.