Gatton, Surrey Family History Guide
Gatton is an Ancient Parish in the county of Surrey.
Parish church:
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1599
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1679
Nonconformists include:
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Gatton Parish Registers
The Parish Registers of Gatton, Co. Surrey 1599 to 1812. Transcribed and Edited by W. Bruce Bannerman, F.S.A. Hon. Sec. of the Surrey Parish Register Society, Member of Council of the Surrey Archaeological Society, Etc. Published London 1908. – This book is a free download from Parishmouse
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
GATTON, a village and a parish in Reigate district, Surrey. The village stands on the ancient Roman road from Stane-street to Croydon, and near the source of the river Mole, 1 mile WNW of Merstham r. station, and 2½ NE by N of Reigate. It took its name from the Roman road or “gate;” is supposed to occupy the site of a Roman fort or station; has yielded Roman coins; appears to have been a place of considerable importance in the middle ages; was made a borough, in 1451, by Henry VI.; sent two members to parliament till disfranchised by the reform bill; and had only about 20 houses and 100 inhabitants at the time of its disfranchisement.
The parish comprises 1,260 acres. Post town, Merstham under Red Hill. Real property, £2,387. Pop., 191. Houses, 36. The property is divided among a few. Gatton Park is the seat of Lord Monson; possessed the direction and disposal of the quondam borough; and was purchased by the late Lord Monson, in 1830, for £180,000. The house is a stately edifice, in the Italian style; stands amid beautiful grounds, with a fine lake; has a splendid hall, modelled after the Corsini Chapel at Rome; and contains a rich collection of pictures. Upper Gatton House also is a handsome mansion; and was formerly a seat of the Duke of St. Albans.
A small bridge in the parish, called Battle Bridge, was the scene of a great slaughter by women, of Danes fleeing from the battlefield of Ockley, in 851. A white soft stone, used in the construction of Hampton Court, and much valued for ovens and furnaces, was quarried. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £148. Patron, Lord Monson. The church stands in the grounds of Gatton Park; is an ancient structure, seemingly early English; contains a fine collection of Flemish oak carving; and was renovated in 1834.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].