Whyteleafe is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the district of

Tandridge Tandridge is a village and civil parish in the Tandridge District, in the county of Surrey, England. Its nucleus is on a rise of the Greensand Ridge between Oxted and Godstone. It includes, towards its middle one named sub-locality (hamlet), ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, with a few streets falling inside the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; ...

. The village, in a

dry valley A dry valley may develop on many kinds of permeable rock, such as limestone and chalk, or sandy terrains that do not regularly sustain surface water flow. Such valleys do not hold surface water because it sinks into the permeable bedrock. There ...

of the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and ...

, has three railway stations (on two parallel lines). Neighbouring villages and towns include

Woldingham Woldingham is a village and civil parish high on the North Downs between Oxted and Warlingham in Surrey, England, within the M25, southeast of London. The village has 2,141 inhabitants, many of whom commute to London, making Woldingham part o ...

Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equal ...

Coulsdon Coulsdon (, traditionally pronounced ) is a town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, in the ceremonial county of Greater London since 1965. Prior to this it was part of the historic county of Surrey. History The l ...

Warlingham Warlingham is a village in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England, south of the centre of London and east of the county town, Guildford. Warlingham is the centre of a civil parish that includes Hamsey Green, a contiguous, smaller sett ...

, and

Kenley Kenley is an area within the London Borough of Croydon. Prior to its incorporation into Greater London in 1965 it was in the historic county of Surrey. It is situated south of Purley, east of Coulsdon, north of Caterham and Whyteleafe and w ...

. To the west are

Kenley Aerodrome The former Royal Air Force Station Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley was an airfield station of the Royal Flying Corps in the World War I, First World War and the Royal Air Force, RAF in the World War II, Second World War. It played a s ...

, Kenley Common (owned by the

Corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

), Coxes Wood, and Blize Wood. To the east are

Riddlesdown Riddlesdown is a place in the London Borough of Croydon, one mile east from the centre of its post town of Purley, London, Purley. The name applies to the residential district and to the green space maintained by the City of London Corporation ...

, the Dobbin and Marden Park. The churchyard contains graves of airmen who died during

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, stationed at

RAF Kenley The former Royal Air Force Station Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley was an airfield station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the RAF in the Second World War. It played a significant role during the Battle of Britain ...

nearby. The village forms part of the

Greater London Built-up Area The Greater London Built-up Area, or Greater London Urban Area, is a conurbation in south-east England that constitutes the continuous urban sprawl of London, and includes surrounding adjacent urban towns as defined by the Office for National Sta ...

History

The village name comes from the distinctive white underside of the

whitebeam The whitebeams are members of the family Rosaceae, comprising subgenus ''Aria'' (or, according to some authorities, its own genus) of genus ''Sorbus'', and hybrids involving species of this subgenus and members of subgenera ''Sorbus'', ''Torminar ...

trees growing in the area. In 1855 Nathaniel Glover purchased White Leaf field and George Henry Drew later completed the building that was called "White Leafe House". By 1881 the surrounding area had become known as "Whiteleafe". As with Kenley the history of its land before that was that of other parishes, in this case

and to a lesser extent

and

. Its first primary school was built in 1892, enlarged in 1900 and again in 1907. In 1911 the population of Whyteleafe was "now larger than that of

village...A county council secondary school for girls has been set up in this year (1911)."

Amenities

Whyteleafe has: a large pub, a micropub, a newsagent, general store, two petrol stations (M&S and Waitrose food outlets), a post office, hairdresser, chemist, ladies' outfitter, baker, fish and chip shop, kebab shop, Indian restaurant, Chinese restaurant, launderette, barber, Tesco Express and an e-cigarette store. To the south of Whyteleafe are the headquarters of Gold Group International, the largest employer in the parish boundaries. Whyteleafe School, is a primary school which is part of the multi academy trus
GLF
and is situated at the bottom of Whyteleafe Hill. It makes use of the site of the former Whyteleafe Girls' Grammar School, vacated in the late 1970s.

Warlingham School Warlingham School is a large secondary school with pupils aged 11–16, and also has a sixth form for 16- to 18-year-olds. The school is located in the village of Warlingham, in Surrey, England. It is one of three other secondary schools in the ...

(secondary) is at the top of Tithe Pit Shaw Lane, on the edge of Whyteleafe in the east. The

C of E The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

church of St Luke was built in 1866, founded as a new parish in the

Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient Dio ...

Transport

There are three railway stations:

Whyteleafe South Whyteleafe South railway station serves part of the suburban village of Whyteleafe in the district of Tandridge, Surrey, England. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Southern, and it is on the Caterham Line from . There are ...

Whyteleafe Whyteleafe is a village in the district of Tandridge, Surrey, England, with a few streets falling inside the London Borough of Croydon. The village, in a dry valley of the North Downs, has three railway stations (on two parallel lines). Neighbouri ...

and Upper Warlingham. All three stations are served by Southern services. The Godstone road ( A22) cuts through north to south.

Bus routes A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

407 and

434 __NOTOC__ Year 434 ( CDXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aspar and Areobindus (or, less frequently, year 1187 '' ...

serve the area and run from Coulsdon, Croydon, Sutton, and Caterham. Whyteleafe village grew after the railway came on its way to Caterham in 1856. A second line, the

Oxted Line The Oxted line is a railway in southern England and part of the Southern franchise. The railway splits into two branches towards the south and has direct trains throughout to London termini. It was opened jointly by the London, Brighton and S ...

, following a slightly higher contour, opened in 1884. It serves different destinations to the south but also runs to

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Sport and leisure

AFC Whyteleafe is the main football club following the closure of Whyteleafe F.C. in 2021. AFC Whyteleafe, like its predessor plays in grounds on Church Road where the former club moved in 1959, when it moved from the field off New Barn Lane, now utilised by the adjacent Kenley School. Separate from its ground in the west of town is the large recreation ground below wooded hills in the east of town which has informal sports fields and a playground. Caterham and Whyteleafe Tennis Club is located in Manor Park near Whyteleafe South Station. The Surrey National Golf Club is located in nearby

Chaldon Chaldon is a village and civil parish in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The village is situated high on the North Downs, immediately west of Caterham and south of Charing Cross, the traditional centre of London. History Etymology an ...

Local government

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council administering certain services in the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1965 the Conservative Party has ...

, headquartered in

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

, elected every four years, has one councillor representing Caterham Valley, which incorporates the civil parishes of Caterham Valley and Whyteleafe. Whyteleafe has 2 representatives on Tandridge District Council, headquartered in

Oxted Oxted is a town and civil parish in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is south south-east of Croydon in Greater London, west of Sevenoaks in Kent, and north of East Grinstead in West Sussex. Oxte ...

: Whyteleafe is one of 21 civil parish councils in Tandridge District electing seven parish councillors every four years. The parish council clerk is Simon Bold.

Demography and housing

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%. The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).

References

External links

Village CouncilWhyteleafe Primary SchoolPhotos of Whyteleafe in the 1930s, 1954 and 2002
{{authority control Villages in Surrey Tandridge Civil parishes in Surrey