Gatton in 1842
Gatton is in Reigate hundred, about two miles north-east of Reigate. The area of the parish is 1,140 acres, partly on the North Downs, partly at their southern foot. Some Roman antiquities have been found, and Gale contends for there having been a Roman garrison here, but of this there is no sufficient evidence. Aubrey, in his ‘History of Surrey,’ has spoken of a castle at Gatton, but without any known evidence from ancient writers or any existing trace of its site. Gatton first sent members to parliament 29 Henry VI (A.D. 1451), and returned two down to the time of its disfranchisement by the Reform Act. The place has entirely lost whatever importance it may have possessed, and is now a scattered village of only 23 houses and 145 inhabitants. Gatton House, the residence of the late Lord Monson, is a handsome residence in an extensive and beautiful park : the parish church, which is in the park, is remarkable for the neatness with which it is fitted up. Until the disfranchisement of the borough by the Reform Act, the proprietor of Gatton House was patron. |