Etymology and History
Claygate took its name from the clay pits that used to be in the village, providing bricks for a large surrounding area including most of Hampton Court Palace. The village lies at the start of the broad belt of clay deposits around London - it was, literally, the "GATE-way" to the "CLAY". The Claygate Beds, the youngest layers of the London Clay, take their name from Claygate. Claygate's relative isolation has been attributed to historical conditions when through roads became impassible in wet weather because of the clay.
Claygate appears in Domesday Book as Claigate. It was held by Westminster Abbey. Its domesday assets were: ½ hide; 2 ploughs, 5 acres (20,000 m2) of meadow, woodland worth 1 hog. It rendered £2 10s 0d.
For many centuries Claygate was a largely agricultural area, and part of the parish of Thames Ditton. Significant commercial development began in the late nineteenth century with the coming of the railway. In 1885 a branch known as the New Guildford Line between Guildford (the county town of Surrey) and London passed through Claygate, ensuring its rapid growth over the following years. There was significant house-building particularly during the 1930s and 1960s.
Claygate is dominated on one side by Ruxley Towers, a Victorian edifice constructed by Lord Foley who owned a considerable amount of land in the 19th Century. On the other side on Telegraph Hill is a semaphore station built in 1822 to transmit messages between the Admiralty and Portsmouth.
In about 1822 the Claygate Pearmain apple was discovered by John Braddick, growing in a hedge at Claygate.
Claygate School was established in Elm Road in 1885. The old school was closed shortly after its centenary and the Firs, formerly just the middle school, became the new single site. The original school building has been redeveloped as a Youth Centre and the Community Centre and Capelfield surgery were built on part of the site.
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