Editing Carshalton (section)

== History ==
{{Further|History of London}}
[[File:TheLeoniBridgeCarshalton.jpg|thumb|left|Looking across Lower Pond to the Leoni Bridge and The Grove]]
[[File:Carshalton William Ellis 1806.jpg|thumb|left|Carshalton Pond, 1806, before division into two ponds]]
To the south of the area now known as Carshalton, remains of [[Artifact (archaeology)|artefact]]s dating from the [[Neolithic]] to the [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] have been found, suggesting that this was an early place of habitation.<ref name=Malden>The Victoria History of the County of Surrey: Vol 4, edited by H.E.Malden, published 1912.</ref> Prior to the [[Norman Conquest]] it is recorded that there were five manors in this location owned by five freemen.<ref name=Lysons1>"The Environs of London: Vol 1 – County of Surrey" by [[Daniel Lysons (antiquarian)|Daniel Lysons]], published 1792.</ref>

The village lay within the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] administrative division of [[Wallington (hundred)|Wallington]] [[hundred (division)|hundred]].

Carshalton appears in [[Domesday Book]] as ''Aultone''. It was held by Goisfrid (Geoffrey) de Mandeville. Its domesday assets were: 3½ [[hide (unit)|hide]]s; 1 church, 10 [[plough]]s, 1 [[Mill (grinding)|mill]] worth £1 15s 0d, {{convert|22|acre|m2}} of [[meadow]], [[woodland]] worth 2 [[hog (swine)|hog]]s. It rendered £15 10s 0d.<ref>[http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm Surrey Domesday Book] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715015325/http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm |date=15 July 2007 }}</ref>

In the Domesday era there was a church and a water mill in Carshalton, which was then still made up of a number of hamlets dotted around the area, as opposed to a single compact village.<ref name="sutton.gov.uk">{{cite web |url=https://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1240 |title=London Borough of Sutton – Carshalton: A brief history |publisher=Sutton.gov.uk |access-date=26 June 2014 |archive-date=15 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415065023/https://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1240 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the Middle Ages the land in the village was generally farmed in the form of a number of open fields, divided into strips. The number of strips which each land owner possessed was based roughly on his wealth. There was also an area of open downland in the south of the parish for grazing sheep.<ref name="sutton.gov.uk"/>

Carshalton was known for its springs; these may have given the place its name ''Cars – Aul – ton''. ''Aul'' means well or spring. A ''ton'' is a farm which was in some way enclosed. The meaning of the Cars element is uncertain but early spellings (Kersaulton and Cresaulton) may indicate connection with a cross or perhaps cress, watercress having been grown locally.

In his book ''History of the Worthies of England'', the 17th century historian [[Thomas Fuller]] refers to Carshalton for its walnuts and trout.

Land was primarily put to [[agronomy|arable]] use and the river Wandle gave rise to manufacturing using [[Water wheel|water power]]. A water mill to grind corn was mentioned in the ''Domesday Book''. By the end of the 18th century it was recorded that there were several mills for the production of paper and parchment, leather, snuff, log-wood and seed oil. There were also bleaching grounds for [[Calico (textile)|calico]].<ref name=Lysons1/><ref name=Wilks/>

There were timber-framed houses from the end of the Middle Ages, and brick and wooden weather boarded houses from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. By the middle of the 19th century Carshalton's population was 2,411, making it, at the time, the largest village in what was to become the London Borough of Sutton. It had a very varied character with houses for the wealthy at one extreme and tenements in back yards at the other. In 1847 a railway line was laid from Croydon to Epsom through Carshalton, but the first station was built in fields south of Wallington. A station in the village itself was not established until 1868 when the Sutton to Mitcham Line was constructed. The development of Carshalton got into its stride in the early 1890s when the Carshalton Park Estate was sold for housing development.<ref name="sutton.gov.uk"/>

Carshalton is mentioned in the following historic Surrey folk-rhyme:

<poem>
"[[Sutton, London|Sutton]] for mutton,
Carshalton for beeves,
[[Epsom]] for whores,
and [[Ewell]] for thieves."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/wmn/fow/fow16.htm |title=Folk-Lore of Women: Chapter XIV: Local Allusions to Women |publisher=Sacred-texts.com |access-date=26 June 2014}}</ref>
</poem>

[[File:Carshalton War Memorial 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Carshalton War Memorial]]
During the [[Victorian era]] and into the early 20th century, Carshalton was known for its [[lavender]] fields<ref>Volume 16, Page 293 of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.</ref> (also see below under "Landmarks"), but the increasing land demand for residential building put an end to commercial growing.

The [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] lists 78 civilian casualties in Carshalton during [[World War II]].

[[File:Carshalton Library 2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Carshalton Council Offices]], later converted for use as the public library]] 
Carshalton formed part of the [[Carshalton Urban District]] from 1894 to 1965;<ref>{{cite web|title=A Vision of Britain through Time, University of Portsmouth Department of Geography – unit history of Carshalton, 1801–2001. |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10153141 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001000453/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10153141 |archive-date=1 October 2007  }}</ref> the UDC was based at the [[Carshalton Council Offices]] in The Square until the 1920s when it moved to The Grove.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33952|page=4214|date=23 June 1933}}</ref>