Editing Ashtead (section)

===19th century===
For the first seven decades of the 19th century, Ashtead remained a predominantly farming community. The manor continued to be owned by members of the Howard family and was inherited by Mary Howard in 1818.<ref name=Jackson_1977_p85>{{harvnb|Jackson|1977|p=85}}</ref> Mary Howard was a major benefactor to the village and was responsible for founding St Giles' School.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp48-49>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|pp=48–49}}</ref> She [[Financial endowment|endowed]] the [[almshouse]]s<ref name=Stuttard_1995_p92>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|p=92}}</ref> and, together with her husband, [[Fulk Greville Howard]], initiated a major redevelopment of the parish church.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp48-49/>

In 1825 [[George Rennie (engineer)|George Rennie]] and his brother, [[John Rennie the Younger|John]], proposed the construction of [[London to Portsmouth canal#Ship Canal Projects|The Grand Imperial Ship Canal]], between [[Deptford]] and [[Portsmouth]], to reduce the transit time from the capital to the south coast from 12 days to 24 hours and to avoid hostile waters in the event of war. The canal would have run across Ashtead Common, along the course of The Rye.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bouchard |first1=Brian |title=The Grand Imperial Ship Canal |url=https://www.ryemeadows.org.uk/local-history/44-the-grand-imperial-ship-canal |website=A vision for Rye Madows Wetlands |access-date=28 May 2021 |archive-date=15 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815140627/http://www.ryemeadows.org.uk/local-history/44-the-grand-imperial-ship-canal |url-status=live }}</ref>

The two common fields were enclosed in 1838, bringing to an end the [[open-field system]] in the manor. The land was divided into forty rectangular fields, each of around {{convert|4|ha|acre|0|abbr=on}}, which were leased to local farmers.<ref name=Gollin_1987/> The [[glebe]] strips were taken over by the Howards and the rector was given land to the south of the village centre in compensation.<ref name=Smith_1991>{{cite journal |last1= Smith |first1= L.A |year= 1991 |title=Ashtead Great and Little Glibes |url= https://leatherheadhistoryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/VOL_5_NO_4_1991.pdf |journal= Proceedings of the Leatherhead & District Local History Society |volume= 5 |issue= 4 |pages= 118–120 |access-date= 23 May 2021 }}</ref> In around 1850, the {{convert|92|ha|acre|0|abbr=on}} comprising the remaining core of Little Ashtead manor was sold for development, marking the start of a long period of housebuilding in the village.<ref name=Jackson_1977_p57>{{harvnb|Jackson|1977|p=57}}</ref>

The [[Sutton and Mole Valley lines|railway line through Ashtead]] was built by the Epsom and Leatherhead Railway Company and opened on 1 February 1859. It was constructed as a [[single-track railway|single-track line]] and, on opening, [[Ashtead railway station]] had only one platform and trains only [[request stop|stopped by request]]. Initially all services were operated by the [[London and South Western Railway]] (LSWR) and, for the first two months, only ran as far as {{rws|Epsom}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Davies |first1= H.J. |year= 1992 |title= The Epsom and Leatherhead Railway 1856-59 |url= https://leatherheadhistoryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/VOL_5_NO_6_1993.pdf |journal= Proceedings of the Leatherhead & District Local History Society |volume= 5 |issue= 6 |pages= 170–172 |access-date= 19 February 2021 }}</ref> The completion of the line through {{rws|Worcester Park}} enabled these trains to be extended to {{rws|London Waterloo}} from April of the same year. In August 1859, the [[London, Brighton and South Coast Railway]] (LBSCR) began to run trains from Leatherhead to {{rws|London Bridge}}, but did not begin stopping at Ashtead until the following year.<ref name=Vardey_1988_pp168-169>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|pp=168–169}}</ref><ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp85-90>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|pp=85–90}}</ref>

After the death of Mary Howard in 1877, much of the village was offered for sale.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp62-63>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|pp=62–63}}</ref> Ashtead Common was purchased by Thomas Lucas, who sold it four years later, in 1889, to the banker [[Ralli Brothers|Pantia Ralli]].<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp6-12>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|pp=6–12}}</ref> The rest of the land, much of it farmland, was split into eight separate [[land lot|lots]]. Since the sale coincided with a [[Great Depression of British Agriculture|period of depression in British agriculture]], the land sold cheaply. The lot containing Ashtead Park and Home Farm was withdrawn from sale when it failed to meet its [[reservation price|reserve price]]<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp62-63/> and was acquired by Pantia Ralli in 1889.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp65-79>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|pp=65–79}}</ref>

By 1887 the majority of the farms in Ashtead had been broken up and the land was in the hands of eight major owners and many smaller ones.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp62-63/> New houses began to be built on the east side of Woodfield Lane and to the north of Barnett Wood Lane. The area west of the station (including Links Road and Ashtead Woods Road) had been marked out for housing by 1894, but construction was delayed by difficulties in securing access over the railway.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp65-79/> Elsewhere building work was also slow<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp65-79/> and the population of the village increased from 906 in 1871 to 1,881 in 1901.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp62-63/>