Editing Leatherhead (section)

===Commerce===
The right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair was granted to Leatherhead in 1248 by [[Henry III of England|Henry III]].<ref name=O_Connell/> The market place is thought to have been at the junction of Bridge Street, North Street and High Street and the town stocks were probably in the same area.<ref name=Vardey_1988_p62>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|p=62}}</ref> The market appears to have ended in the mid-[[Elizabethan era]], however the annual fair continued and in the late 17th century was held on 8 September, the feast of the [[Nativity of Mary]].<ref name=Vardey_1988_p98>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|p=98}}</ref>

The construction of the turnpikes, and later the railways, attracted wealthier residents to Leatherhead. Many of these incomers had accumulated their wealth as entrepreneurs in London and had no previous connection to the area. By the start of the [[Victorian era]], they were beginning to influence the local economy. Small, family-based manufacturing firms began to grow, engaged in industries such as [[brick|brick-making]], [[sawmill|milling of logs]], [[tanning (leather)|tanning]], [[shoemaking]], [[malting]] and [[brewing]]. In the [[1841 United Kingdom census|1841 census]], 18.5% of the town's inhabitants were employed in agriculture-related trades, but [[1881 United Kingdom census|forty years later]], the proportion had fallen to 5.4%.<ref>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|pp=149–152}}</ref>

Larger-scale industries arrived in Leatherhead in the first half of the 20th century. In 1928, the [[Rayon|Rayon manufacturing company]] opened a factory in Ermyn Way, close to the border with Ashtead parish<ref name=Stuttard_1995_p124>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|pp=124}}</ref> and was replaced ten years later by the manufacturing plant for [[Goblin Vacuum Cleaners]].<ref name=Stuttard_1995_p134>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|pp=134}}</ref> Also in the 1930s, a [[sericulture|silk-making]] farm and [[electrical cable]] factory were established in the town.<ref name=Stuttard_1995_p134/><ref name=Vardey_1988_pp232-234>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|pp=232–234}}</ref> Following the end of the Second World War, [[Ronson (company)|Ronson]], the US-based manufacturer of [[lighter|cigarette lighters]], opened a manufacturing plant at Dorincourt, to the north of the town.<ref name=Vardey_1988_pp257-258>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|pp=257–258}}</ref><ref name=Potted_Hist_Ronson>{{cite web |url= https://www.leatherheadlocalhistory.org.uk/miscellany/potted-history-42.pdf |title= Ronson UK, Randalls Road, Leatherhead |last= Powell |first= Goff |publisher= Leatherhead & District Local History Society |access-date= 8 November 2021 }}</ref> The factory moved to Randalls Road in 1953, but it closed in 1981 when the company went into liquidation. A business park opened in its place.<ref name=Potted_Hist_Ronson/><ref name=Heath_Tarplee_2005_pp58-59>{{harvnb|Heath|Tarplee|2005|pp=58–59}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|Dorincourt was acquired by the [[Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People]] in 1953.<ref name=Heath_Tarplee_2005_pp58-59/>  The charity's Independent Living Service is based at the site and provides residential care for up to 43 people with complex physical disabilities and learning disabilities.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://qef.org.uk/our-services/qef-independent-living-services |title= Independent Living Services |author= <!--Not stated--> |date= 14 July 2021 |orig-date= 14 November 2015 |publisher= QEF |access-date= 8 November 2021 |archive-date= 25 October 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211025074056/https://qef.org.uk/our-services/qef-independent-living-services |url-status= live }}</ref>|group=n}}

The Ex-services Welfare Society purchased Long House on Ermin Way following the end of the First World War. The charity constructed a factory in the grounds to provide employment for disabled veterans, producing electrical items, such as [[electric blanket]]s. In 1933, the organisation opened a treatment centre at Tyrwhitt House in Oaklawn Road, named after [[Reginald Tyrwhitt]], its president at the time. In 1981, the factory was purchased by [[Remploy]]. It continued to manufacture electrical goods, but under the new ownership, its operations expanded to include the assembly and packaging of mechanical equipment.<ref name=Tarplee_2010_pp48-43>{{harvnb|Tarplee|2010|pp=43–48}}</ref> The Remploy factory closed in 2007, with the loss of 43 jobs.<ref>{{cite news |author= <!--Not stated--> |date= 22 May 2007 |title= Disability firm to close 43 sites |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6679619.stm |work= BBC News |access-date= 11 November 2021 |archive-date= 7 September 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070907124303/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6679619.stm |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author= <!--Not stated--> |date= 30 November 2007 |title= Despair as Remploy factory gets closure notice |url= https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/despair-remploy-factory-gets-closure-4832168 |work= Surrey Live |access-date= 11 November 2021 |archive-date= 11 November 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211111120101/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/despair-remploy-factory-gets-closure-4832168 |url-status= live }}</ref> The Ex-services Welfare Society, now known as [[Combat Stress (charitable organisation)|Combat Stress]],<ref name=Tarplee_2010_pp48-43/> continues to operate its treatment centre at Tyrwhitt House in north Leatherhead.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://combatstress.org.uk/get-help/how-we-help/treatment-centres |title= Our treatment centres |author= <!--Not stated--> |year= 2021 |publisher= Combat Stress |access-date= 11 November 2021 |archive-date= 11 November 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211111120100/https://combatstress.org.uk/get-help/how-we-help/treatment-centres |url-status= live }}</ref>

Large-scale manufacturing in Leatherhead was short lived and, as the 20th century progressed, the town started to attract [[tertiary sector of the economy|service sector industries]]. Among the research institutes formerly based in the town, Leatherhead Food Research was founded in 1919<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2015/09/16/Food-research-organisation-saved-from-administration |title= Leatherhead acquired by Science Group for £1.6M |last= Gibbons |first= Laurence |date= 15 September 2015 |publisher= Food Manufacture |access-date= 28 February 2021 |archive-date= 28 February 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210228115332/https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2015/09/16/Food-research-organisation-saved-from-administration |url-status= live }}</ref> and the Central Electricity Research Laboratories (CERL) opened in 1950.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Forrest |first1= JS |year= 1955 |title= British Electricity Research Laboratories |journal= Physics Bulletin |volume= 6 |issue= 3 |pages= 42–52 |doi= 10.1088/0031-9112/6/3/003 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1= Forrest |first1= JS |year= 1965 |title= Central Electricity Research Laboratories |journal= Physics Bulletin |volume= 16 |issue= 9 |pages= 337–346 |doi= 10.1088/0031-9112/16/9/001 }}</ref> Both organisations left the town in the early 2000s.<ref>{{cite news |title= Leatherhead Food Research to leave town after 96 years |last= Weich |first= Ben |date= 24 November 2015 |work= Surrey Comet |url= https://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/epsom/14099068.leatherhead-food-research-to-leave-town-after-96-years/ |access-date= 28 February 2021 |archive-date= 28 February 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210228115334/https://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/epsom/14099068.leatherhead-food-research-to-leave-town-after-96-years/ |url-status= live }}</ref> The Ronson and Goblin factories closed in the early 1980s and their sites were redeveloped, in the latter case for the UK headquarters of [[Esso]].<ref name=Vardey_1988_pp257-258/> The UK head offices of [[Unilever]] (on the site of the former CERL) and [[Hyundai Motor Company|Hyundai]] were opened in Leatherhead in 2008 and 2020 respectively.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/business/unilever-staff-move-good-news-4720156 |title= Unilever staff move 'good news' for Leatherhead |last= Martin |first= Guy |date= 2 July 2013 |orig-date= 11 January 2013 |work= Get Surrey |access-date= 21 February 2021 |archive-date= 26 October 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201026221132/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/business/unilever-staff-move-good-news-4720156 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Shakesby |first= Chloe |date= 30 June 2020 |title= Hyundai relocates UK headquarters to Leatherhead |url= https://bdaily.co.uk/articles/2020/06/30/hyundai-relocates-uk-headquarters-to-leatherhead |work= Bdaily News |access-date= 28 February 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Swan Centre, High Street entrance, Leatherhead, Surrey.jpg|thumb|right|Swan shopping centre{{#tag:ref|The Swan shopping centre is named after the former Swan Hotel.<ref name=Heath_2012_p11/>|group=n}}]]
[[File:Looking down High Street, Leatherhead, 2024.jpg|thumb|The High Street, here in 2024.]]
A controversial redevelopment of the road network in the town centre took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The project began with the demolition of the Prince of Wales pub in 1979 and the Swan Centre, a covered shopping centre with a [[multistorey car park]], was constructed in its place. At the same time a one-way system was created and the High Street was pedestrianised.<ref>{{harvnb|Vardey|2001|p=124}}</ref> By September 1981, the scheme was already attracting criticism from local traders and residents, who blamed the traffic alterations for a steep decline in [[People counter#Business metrics|footfall]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.leatherheadahead.org.uk/militant_300981.htm |title= Militant Town - Shopkeepers up in arms |author= <!--Not stated--> |date= 30 September 1981 |publisher= Leatherhead Ahead |access-date= 20 November 2021 |archive-date= 19 January 2005 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050119173146/http://www.leatherheadahead.org.uk/militant_300981.htm |url-status= live }}</ref> In January 1983, the County Planning Officer admitted that the "complexity of present routes undoubtedly detracts from the appeal of the town to car-borne shoppers."<ref>{{cite news |author= <!--Not stated--> |date= 7 January 1983 |title= The county council knows best |url= http://www.leatherheadahead.org.uk/surreyad_070183.htm |work= Surrey Advertiser |access-date= 20 November 2021 |archive-date= 20 January 2005 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050120020340/http://www.leatherheadahead.org.uk/surreyad_070183.htm |url-status= live }}</ref> In 2002, [[BBC News]] named Leatherhead as having one of the worst High Streets in the country.<ref>{{cite news |author= <!--Not stated--> |date= 20 September 2002 |title= Britons name "best and worst streets" |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2270840.stm |work= BBC News |access-date= 20 November 2021 |archive-date= 19 May 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060519202756/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2270840.stm |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author= <!--Not stated--> |date= 27 March 2003 |title= Street loses "worst" title |url= https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/6257226.street-loses-worst-title/ |work= News Shopper |access-date= 20 November 2021 |archive-date= 20 November 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211120165544/https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/6257226.street-loses-worst-title/ |url-status= live }}</ref> Five years later, in 2007, the local press reported that the town was "bustling with people, and packed full with an abundance of shops, entertainment facilities and job opportunities." The revival in fortunes was attributed to a variety of community initiatives, including a new drama festival.<ref>{{cite news |author= <!--Not stated--> |title= Leatherhead High Street fights back |date= 23 February 2021 |orig-date= 16 October 2007 |url= https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/homes-and-gardens/places-to-live/leatherhead-high-street-fights-back-7786518 |work= Surrey Life |access-date= 20 November 2021 |archive-date= 20 November 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211120165543/https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/homes-and-gardens/places-to-live/leatherhead-high-street-fights-back-7786518 |url-status= live }}</ref>