Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for BANSTEAD

BANSTEAD, a village and a parish in Epsom district, Surrey. The village stands under the SW side of Ban stead Downs, 4 miles E of Epsom; and has a post office under Epsom, a r. station, and a police station. The parish comprises 5,518 acres. Real property, £7,214. Pop., 1,461. Houses, 275. The property is subdivided. Banstead Park is a seat belonging to Mr. Yong; and Burgh House, in the neighbourhood, is the seat of the Earl of Egmont. Banstead downs rise to the height of 576 feet; command extensive views; and are famous for coursing, for hunting, and for fine sheep pasturage. Here, said Pope,

To Hounslow-Heath I point, and Banstead Down,
Thence comes your mutton, and these chicks my own.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £300.* Patron, the Earl of Egmont. The church is chiefly perpendicular English; has a good tower, surmounted by a tall spire; stands on high ground, and serves well, for miles round, as a landmark. Charities, £39. The Banstead and Epsom Downs railway, from the Sutton station of the Croydon and Epsom, was authorised in 1862 and opened in 1865.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Banstead AP/CP       Epsom RegD/PLU       Surrey AncC
Place: Banstead

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