Gatton

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This article is about a place in England. For other uses, see Gatton (disambiguation).

1 History
2 The present
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

Gatton was a village near Reigate in Surrey, England. The village lay within the Reigate hundred.

Gatton appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Gatone. It was held by Herfrid from the Bishop of Bayeux. Its domesday assets were: 2½ hides; 1 church, 6 acres of meadow, woodland and herbage worth 7 hogs. It rendered £6.^[1]

Gatton elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons but by 1831 had only seven voters and was disenfranchised as the most rotten borough in the country. A folly on Gatton Park estate, in the form of a small colonnade, is known as Gatton Town Hall and was where the elections were held.

[edit] The present

Gatton lies at the foot of the escarpment of the North Downs. Gatton Park now houses the boarders of The Royal Alexandra and Albert school. The North Downs Way passes through the park, between Reigate Hill and Merstham. There are extensive landscaped grounds, and these are opened to the public on a few afternoons each year.