St Martha, Surrey

St Martha's

Panorama of the south of the parish (foreground)
St Martha's
 St Martha's shown within Surrey
Area  3.44 km2 (1.33 sq mi)
Population 677 (Civil Parish)[1]
   – density  197/km2 (510/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTQ0248
Civil parishSt Martha's
DistrictGuildford
Shire countySurrey
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Guildford
Postcode district GU4
Dialling code 01483
Police Surrey
Fire Surrey
Ambulance South East Coast
EU Parliament South East England
List of places
UK
England
Surrey

Coordinates: 51°13′12″N 0°32′17″W / 51.220°N 0.538°W

St Martha is a hillside, largely wooded, small civil parish in the Guildford borough of Surrey towards the narrower part of the west half of the North Downs. It includes three homes north of St Martha's Hill, a southern knoll of the range of hills but almost all its population is south of this, in much of the village: Chilworth which is divided between it and Shalford parish. This results in an overlapping of areas where it is wished to consider the village of Chilworth (being hereto-before considered a hamlet). Chilworth gunpowder works mark the southern border of the entity, and are a well-preserved, publicly accessible area of bourne-side former industry, which helped to provide much of Surrey's contribution toward the gunpowder for many years of the British Empire.

Local government

The chairman of the parish council is David Bunting.[2]

History

Of national importance the quite heavily wooded valley floor where the cut mill race of the Tillingbourne runs, is the former Gunpowder Works, a large Scheduled Ancient Monument, formed of scattered industrial remains. This was a major production centre particularly in the Stuart period of the technology for the explosive and the explosive itself.[3]

Amenities

Main articles: Chilworth, Surrey and St. Martha's Hill

The principal amenities are those of Chilworth, half of which is in St Martha's. The 12th century church restored to its Norman state by Henry Woodyer is on a knoll above this — it remains as since the Middle Ages a spiritual sanctuary.[4]

Geography

The panorama above is view from St Martha's Hill over all of the south of the parish and beyond, it has a dense patch of woodland which obscure some of its homes however St Martha's ceases before the background rise, which is that of the start of the Greensand Ridge. The view and landscape resemble neighbouring Newlands Corner on the Downs.

The north of the parish is more heavily wooded and has three homes on a lane leading from Guildford there, White Lane, reflecting the chalkiness of the road.

Demography and housing

In 2001 it had a population of 667.[5]

 2011 Census Homes
Output area Detached Semi-detachedTerracedFlats and apartmentsCaravans/temporary/mobile homesshared between households[1]
(Civil Parish)199 51 21 21 1 0

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.

2011 Census Key Statistics
Output area Population Households % Owned outright % Owned with a loanhectares[1]
(Civil Parish)677293 57.7% 28.3%344[1]

The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density United Kingdom Census 2011 Office for National Statistics Retrieved 21 November 2013
  2. ↑ Guildford Borough
  3. ↑ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1018507)". National Heritage List for England.
  4. ↑ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1029553)". National Heritage List for England.
  5. ↑ Guildford census data