Editing Leatherhead (section)

===Transport and communications===
Leatherhead developed at a crossing point of the River Mole at the intersection between the north–south [[Kingston upon Thames|Kingston]]–Dorking and east–west Epsom–Guildford roads. The original position of the ford is unclear, but it may have been around {{convert|90|m|yd|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} upstream of the present Leatherhead Bridge at a point where a continuation of Elm Road would meet the river.<ref name=Vardey_1988_pp28-30/>

The first indication of a bridge at Leatherhead is a local [[deed]] dated to 1250, which was witnessed by a "Simon of the Bridge". Later that century, in around 1286, a Peter Dryaw of Fetcham is recorded as mortgaging the annual rent of a house "at the bridge in the town of Ledderede" to [[Merton College, Oxford]].<ref name=Ruby_Mole_1964>{{cite journal |last1= Ruby |first1= A.T. |year= 1964 |title= The Leatherhead River |url= https://leatherheadhistoryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/VOL_2_NO_8_1964.pdf |journal= Proceedings of the Leatherhead & District Local History Society |volume= 2 |issue= 8 |pages= 228–247 |access-date= 18 February 2021}}</ref> It is possible that the construction of the first bridge coincided with an expansion of the town and the enlargement of the parish church, which took place around 1200.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Renn |first1= D.F. |year= 1971 |title= The date of the first Leatherhead Bridge |url= https://leatherheadhistoryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/VOL_3_NO_5_1971.pdf |journal= Proceedings of the Leatherhead & District Local History Society |volume= 3 |issue= 5 |pages= 153–154 |access-date= 18 February 2021 }}</ref>

It is not clear to what extent the Mole was used for navigation in the past, but in the early Middle Ages, it is likely that [[draft (hull)|shallow-bottomed]] craft were able to reach Leatherhead from the [[River Thames|Thames]] for much of the year. In the late 13th century, Thorncroft Manor purchased a ''shout'', a type of boat up to {{convert|16|m|ft}} in length, used to transport produce to market.<ref>{{harvnb|Campbell|1993|p=59}}</ref> Several schemes were proposed to make the Mole navigable in the 17th and 18th centuries, but none were enacted.<ref name=Vine_1986>{{harvnb|Vine|1986|pp=6–7}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.iisg.nl/hpw/papers/law-bogart.pdf |title= Political Institutions and the Emergence of Regulatory Commitment in England: Evidence from Road and River Improvement Authorities, 1600–1750 |author= Bogart D |date= August 2007 |publisher= International Institute of Social History |access-date= 7 February 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110608072734/http://www.iisg.nl/hpw/papers/law-bogart.pdf |archive-date= 8 June 2011 |url-status= live}}</ref>

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| caption = Extract from ''Twenty Four Miles Round London'' (1820) by William Mogg showing the turnpike roads to Guildford, Epsom and Dorking
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The [[turnpike trust|turnpike road]] between Epsom and [[Horsham]], which ran through Leatherhead, was authorised by [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] in 1755.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/the-turnpike-road/ |title= The Turnpike Road |author= <!--Not stated--> |date= 4 June 2020 |publisher= Dorking Museum |access-date= 17 December 2020 |archive-date= 2 January 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101951/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/the-turnpike-road/ |url-status= live }}</ref> Turnpikes to Guildford and Kingston were opened in 1758 and 1811 respectively<ref name=Crocker_1999_p73>{{harvnb|Crocker|1999|p=73}}</ref> and one of the [[tollhouse]]s was sited near to the present Leatherhead Institute.<ref name=Vardey_1988_p129>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|p=129}}</ref> [[Stagecoach]]es, which had begun to run through Leatherhead to London in the 1680s,<ref name=Vardey_1988_p70>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|p=70}}</ref> increased in frequency after the building of the turnpikes. By 1838 there were daily coaches to [[Arundel]], [[Bognor Regis|Bognor]] and [[Worthing]],<ref name=Vardey_1988_p133>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|p=133}}</ref> which typically stopped at the Swan Inn in the High Street.<ref name=Vardey_1988_pp165-168>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|pp=165–168}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|The Swan Hotel, first recorded in 1637, stood at the junction of the High Street and Church Street.<ref name=Vardey_1988_p62/> Most stagecoaches stopped at the inn, which was described in a Directory in 1791 as "a very genteel house, with good accommodation, most excellent stabling and good post chaises with able horses for hire."<ref name=Vardey_1988_p133/> The Swan closed in 1936, was sold for development and was subsequently demolished.<ref name=Heath_2012_p11>{{harvnb|Heath|2012|p=11}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|p=243}}</ref>|group=n}} With the arrival of {{stnlnk|Epsom Town||the railway at Epsom}} in 1847, the long-distance coaches were discontinued and [[horsebus|horse-drawn omnibuses]] took over local journeys.<ref name=Vardey_1988_pp165-168/>

The first railway to arrive in Leatherhead was built by the Epsom and Leatherhead Railway Company. The line, which terminated at a station in Kingston Road, opened on 1 February 1859. Initially all trains were operated by the [[London and South Western Railway]] (LSWR) and, for the first two months, only ran as far as {{stnlnk|Epsom}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Davies |first1= H.J. |year= 1993 |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 {{stnlnk|Worcester Park}} enabled these services to be extended to {{station|London Waterloo}} from April of the same year and, in August 1859, the [[London, Brighton and South Coast Railway]] (LBSCR) began to run trains from Leatherhead to {{station|London Bridge}}.<ref name=Vardey_1988_pp168-169>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|pp=168–169}}</ref>

The Mole Gap through the North Downs had been identified as a potential railway corridor as early as the 1830s, but the line south from Leatherhead to {{stnlnk|Dorking}} was not opened until 1867.<ref>{{harvnb|Jackson|1988|pp=26–27}}</ref> The Kingston Road station, which had been laid out as a terminus, was closed and two new adjacent stations (either side of the present Station Approach) were opened. The LBSCR station, which was closer to the town centre, was initially the only one connected to the line to Dorking. It was designed by [[Charles Driver|C. H. Driver]] in a fine [[Gothic Revival]] style and is the station that survives today.<ref name=Vardey_1988_pp168-169/><ref>{{NHLE|num=1191033|desc=Leatherhead Station|grade=II|access-date=19 February 2021|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> The LSWR built its station as a terminus, but its line was extended westwards to {{stnlnk|Bookham}} in 1885. The two railway companies were [[Railways Act 1921|amalgamated]] in 1923, when the [[Southern Railway (UK)|Southern Railway]] was formed.<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> All railway lines through Leatherhead were [[railway electrification|electrified]] in 1925 and the LSWR station was closed in 1927. In the late 1930s, a southward extension of the [[Chessington branch line]] was proposed, but the creation of the [[Metropolitan Green Belt]] prevented the scheme from being enacted.<ref name=Knowles_1998/>

[[File:England. The M25 motorway at Leatherhead. (32993952868).jpg|thumb|The [[M25 motorway]] at Leatherhead]]
The construction of the [[A24 road (England)|A24 bypass]] (between Givons Grove and Leatherhead Common) started in 1931<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title= Leatherhead by-pass road |date= 2 April 1934 |page= 7 |issue= 46717 }}</ref> and the final section opened in May 1934.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title= The Whitsun Holiday |date= 21 May 1934 |page= 7 |issue= 46759 }}</ref> Young Street (the A246 between Bocketts Farm and Givons Grove) was built by the [[Canadian Military Engineers|Corps of Royal Canadian Military Engineers]] between June 1940 and May 1941.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Crossland |first1= EA |year= 1993 |title= The building of Young Street |url= https://leatherheadhistoryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/VOL_5_NO_6_1993.pdf |journal= Proceedings of the Leatherhead & District Local History |volume= 5 |issue= 6 |page= 160 |access-date= 8 February 2021 }}</ref> In October 1985, the town was joined to the UK motorway system when the [[M25 motorway|M25]] was opened between Wisley and Reigate.<ref>{{cite news |last= Petty |first= John |date= 5 October 1985 |title= Cracked M25 link to open |issue= 40526 |page=36 |location= London |work= Daily Telegraph }}</ref>