Leigh, Surrey
Encyclopedia
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, between Reigate
Reigate
Reigate is a historic market town in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs, and in the London commuter belt. It is one of the main constituents of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead...
and Dorking
Dorking
Dorking is a historic market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately south of London, in Surrey, England.- History and development :...
.
It is located in the Mole Valley
Mole Valley
Mole Valley is a local government district in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Dorking.The district, named after the River Mole, was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the urban districts of Dorking and Leatherhead and most of the Dorking and Horley...
district. The civil parish has a population of 856 and covers 1,382 hectares.
A hoard of 62 Roman silver denarii
Denarius
In the Roman currency system, the denarius was a small silver coin first minted in 211 BC. It was the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased until its replacement by the antoninianus...
was discovered in a field at Swains Farm in 2004. The oldest of the coins dates from 31 BC and the youngest were minted in around 180 AD after the death of the emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Leigh appears to have been a centre for the Wealden iron industry
Wealden iron industry
The Wealden iron industry was located in the Weald of south-eastern England. It was formerly an important industry, producing a large proportion of the bar iron made in England in the 16th century and most British cannon until about 1770. Ironmaking in the Weald used ironstone from various clay...
, and the village was explicitly exempted from a legal prohibition of making charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
from certain timber types issued by Elizabeth I, so that iron smelting could continue.
The village lay within the Reigate
Reigate (hundred)
Reigate was a hundred in what is now Surrey, England. It includes the town of Reigate.The Reigate hundred includes the parishes of: Betchworth, Burstow, Buckworth, Charlwood, Chipstead, Gatton, Horley, Leigh, Merstham, Nutfield and Reigate....
hundred
Hundred (division)
A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...
. The Plough pub, one of two in the village (the other being The Seven Stars) is pictured left. Also in the village is a church, St Bartholomew's, and the Leigh Acorns school for years one to three. The village has an excellent play area largely constructed of natural materials.