Editing Ashtead (section)

===20th century===
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Development continued in the first decade of the 20th century and the population had reached 2,921 by 1911.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp110-111>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|pp=110–111}}</ref> Many of the new homes were in the west of the parish and housebuilding took place along Skinners Lane, Ottways Lane and Oakfield Road. By 1914, new houses had also appeared along Leatherhead Road, Woodfield Road and The Marld.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp110-111/> Many of the new residents were professionals who [[commuting|commuted]] to London by train.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp110-111/>

During [[World War I|the First World War]], several hundred men from the 21st Battalion of the [[Royal Fusiliers]] were [[billet]]ed in the village and were responsible for constructing a [[convalescence|convalescent hospital]] at [[Woodcote Park]] in Epsom.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp118-121>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|pp=118–121}}</ref> [[George V]] visited the village by train in October 1914 to inspect the troops.<ref name=Jackson_1977_p106>{{harvnb|Jackson|1977|p=106}}</ref> By January 1915, there were around 1500 soldiers based in Ashtead. The [[war memorial]] at St George's Church was dedicated in 1920.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp118-121/>

The [[interwar Britain|inter-war years]] saw the most rapid period of residential development, stimulated in part by the final breakup of the Ashtead Park estate, following the death of Pantia Ralli in 1924.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp127-129>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|pp=127–129}}</ref> The [[Railway electrification in Great Britain|electrification]] of the railway line in 1925 also made the village more attractive to potential homeowners.<ref name=Jackson_1977_p108>{{harvnb|Jackson|1977|p=108}}</ref><ref name=Knowles_1998>{{cite journal |last1= Knowles |first1= H.G.|year= 1998 |title= Leatherhead's railway stations |url= https://leatherheadhistoryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/VOL_6_NO_2_1998.pdf  |journal= Proceedings of the Leatherhead & District Local History Society |volume= 6 |issue= 2 |pages= 46–52 |access-date= 19 February 2021 }}</ref> The population increased from 3,226 in 1921<ref name=Stuttard_1995_p125>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|p=125}}</ref> to 9,336 in 1939.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_p132>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|p=132}}</ref>

[[File:Recruiting poster for the Home Guard, Ashtead, Surrey.jpg|thumb|upright|Recruitment poster for the Ashtead Home Guard]]
In September 1939, children were [[evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II|evacuated]] to Ashtead from [[Streatham]] and [[Dulwich]]. A unit of the [[Royal Norfolk Regiment]] was stationed in the village at the start of the war and, from 1941, [[Canadian Army|Canadian soldiers]] were billeted locally. Land bordering Craddocks Avenue was taken over for war [[allotment (gardening)|allotments]] and [[pig]]s were reared on vacant building plots on the Overdale estate. In 1940 a company of the [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] was formed.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp136-141>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|pp=136–141}}</ref>

In 1940 and 1941, several buildings in Ashtead suffered damage as a result of [[strategic bombing during World War II|enemy bombing]] during the [[Battle of Britain]] and [[the Blitz]], including [[St Andrew's Catholic School|St Andrew's School]], which was almost completely destroyed.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp136-141/> In the final year of the war, two [[V-1 flying bomb]]s landed in the village and a [[V-2 rocket]] landed to the south of Ashtead Park in February 1945.<ref name=Vardey_1988_p249>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|p=249}}</ref><ref name=Jackson_1977_p111>{{harvnb|Jackson|1977|p=111}}</ref>

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The 1944 [[Greater London Plan]] placed much of the land surrounding Ashtead in the protected [[Metropolitan Green Belt]], which severely limited the scope for urban expansion.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_p144>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|p=144}}</ref><ref name=Ashtead_Heritage_Trail>{{cite web |url= https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/sites/default/files/home/leisure/keeping-fit-active/ashteadtrail.pdf |title= Ashtead Village Heritage Trail |last= Cox |first= Barry |year= 2006 |publisher= Mole Valley District Council |access-date= 22 May 2021 |archive-date= 14 May 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210514101423/https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/sites/default/files/home/leisure/keeping-fit-active/ashteadtrail.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref> The northern half of Ashtead Park was threatened with development from the late 1940s and so it was purchased by Surrey County Council in 1957, before being passed to the ownership of the Leatherhead Urban District Council.<ref name=Jackson_1977_pp114-115>{{harvnb|Jackson|1977|pp=114–115}}</ref> In 1988, three conservation areas were designated in the village.<ref name=CA_map>{{cite web |url= https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/sites/default/files/home/building-planning/conservation/ashteadconservationareas.pdf |title= Ashtead Conservation Area |author= <!--Not stated--> |date= 16 February 1988 |publisher= Mole Valley District Council |access-date= 25 May 2021 |archive-date= 14 May 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210514115257/https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/sites/default/files/home/building-planning/conservation/ashteadconservationareas.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref>{{refn|The three conservation areas in the village are: a group of ten buildings at the junction of Rectory Lane and Dene Road; an area surrounding the Grade II-listed Ashtead House to the east of the village; a row of 14 [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] houses on the west side of Woodfield Lane.<ref name=CA_map/><ref name=MVDC_character/>|group=note}}