View source for Beddington

{{short description|Suburb of London}}
{{Other uses}}
{{distinguish|Bedlington}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Beddington
| country = England
| region = London
| static_image_name = 3 Beddington Park, London Borough of Sutton - Boating Lake.jpg
| static_image_caption = Beddington Park in the [[London Borough of Sutton]]
| population = 21,004
| os_grid_reference = TQ305655
| map_type = Greater London
| coordinates = {{coord|51.371|-0.132|display=inline,title}}
| post_town = WALLINGTON
| postcode_area = SM
| postcode_district = SM6
| post_town2 = CROYDON
| postcode_area2 = CR
| postcode_district2 = CR0
| dial_code = 020
| constituency_westminster = [[Carshalton and Wallington (UK Parliament constituency)|Carshalton & Wallington]]
| london_borough = Sutton
}}

'''Beddington''' is a suburban settlement in the [[London Borough of Sutton]] on the boundary with the [[London Borough of Croydon]].  Beddington is formed from a village of the same name which until early the 20th century still included land which became termed entirely as [[Wallington, London|Wallington]]. By the 13th century, the latter was also partially known as Hakebrug, and named after a bridge on the [[River Wandle]]. The locality has a landscaped wooded park at '''Beddington Park''' – also known as '''Carew Manor.'''  Alongside it, there are a nature reserve and sewage treatment works in the centre and to the north of its area respectively. The population of Beddington according to the 2011 census is 21,044.

Beddington forms part of the [[Carshalton and Wallington (UK Parliament constituency)|Carshalton and Wallington]] constituency, which, since [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024]], is represented in Westminster by [[Bobby Dean]], a [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]]. Of the six councillors that Beddington elects to [[Sutton London Borough Council|Sutton Council]] (from the wards Beddington North and Beddington South), three are Liberal Democrats and three are Independents.

==History==
{{see also|Wallington, London}}
The village lay in [[Wallington (hundred)|Wallington]] [[hundred (county subdivision)|hundred]] and until the 19th century was in secular and ecclesiastical terms a large [[parish]] in its own right. [[Wallington, London|Wallington]] was for centuries a [[Manorialism|manor]] in Beddington parish and although known as a shorthand for the area stretching from Cheam to Addington and from Chaldon to Mitcham (inclusive).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43046 |title=The hundred of Wallington: Introduction and map |editor=H.E. Malden  |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |year=1912 |work=A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 |access-date=26 January 2014 }}</ref> Wallington superseded Beddington's former area almost completely in the early 20th century.

The settlement appears in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as ''Beddinton(e)'' held partly by Robert de Watevile from Richard de Tonebrige and by Miles Crispin. Its ''Domesday'' Assets were: 6 [[hide (unit)|hide]]s; 1 church, 14 [[plough]]s, 4 [[gristmill|mill]]s worth £3 15s 0d, {{convert|44|acre|km2}} of [[meadow]], [[woodland]] worth 10 [[hog (swine)|hog]]s per year. It rendered: £19 10s 0d per year to its [[feudal system]] overlords.<ref>[http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm Surrey ''Domesday Book''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030192829/http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm |date=30 October 2007 }}</ref>  In 1901 it consisted of {{convert|3127.5|acre|km2}}, of which 1,439 acres were arable land, 614 permanent grass and 45 woods.  As this was before the expansion of Wallington, it extends on the south over the chalk downs at [[Roundshaw]] and northwards on to the London Clay. Lavender and medicinal herbs were grown commercially in the parish. The population in 1901 was 4,812.  The parish was bounded on the north by Mitcham Common, and the three parishes of Croydon, Beddington and Mitcham met on the railway line by Beddington Lane station.<ref name=m>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43048 |title=Parishes: Beddington |editor=H.E. Malden  |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |year=1912 |work=A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 |access-date=26 January 2014 }}</ref>

The 1911 [[Victoria County History]] documents Beddington in the period of its shrinkage.

{{blockquote|Wallington is now more urban than Beddington; the hamlet in 1901 had a population of 5,152 on an area of 312 acres. In prehistoric times it also appears to have been the more important place, since it gave its name to the hundred. It is possible that the Roman remains mentioned above may be a relic of a formerly important place, and that its name may preserve the memory of the Wealas, the [[Roman Britain|Romanized Britons]], whom the Suthrige found here when Britain was [mostly] becoming England. In historical records, however, Wallington is not a place of importance. There was a chapel, but there is no record of a parish church. In Bishop Willis's visitation of 1725 the chapel is described as partly used for a barn, no service having taken place [in memory]. It was ruinous later in the century and was pulled down in 1797. There were extensive [[common land|common fields]], as was usual in the parishes on the north side of the chalk range. They were [[enclosure|inclosed]] under an Act of 1812. In 1835 a system of allotments was established, which seems to have flourished for a time. A few old houses remain at Wallington Corner, but none of these appear to date from earlier than the beginning of the 19th century.<ref name=m/>}}

A parish hall was built at Wallington in 1888, following its church and parish being set up in 1867 (in Beddington at the time). Holy Trinity Church school was built in 1896; the High School for girls was built in 1895 and enlarged in 1905.  Thus it came about that Wallington took up most of the land of Beddington.<ref name=m/>

A [[static inverter plant]] of [[HVDC Kingsnorth]] stood here in the late 20th century.

==Beddington Mill==
[[File:Beddington, Wandle Mill - geograph.org.uk - 1767182.jpg|thumb|Beddington Mill in 2010]]
The Domesday Book mentions two Mills at Beddington, and the current one is thought to have been the site of one of these. Once erroneously thought to have been owned in the late 16th century by [[Sir Walter Raleigh]], an early 17th-century lease shows that it was in fact owned by the Carew family as a flour mill. In 1805 it was a snuff mill with a new owner, and it changed hands several times before being burnt down and replaced by the current building in 1891–1892 by Wallis & Co as a flour mill and bakery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1315 |title=Information about the historic mill in Beddington |publisher=London Borough of Sutton |access-date=18 October 2014 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023054924/https://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1315 |archive-date=23 October 2014 |df=dmy}}</ref>

The old – 18th-century or earlier – mill house remains to this day.

== Beddington Park ==
[[File:Carew manor.jpg|thumb|left|255px|Carew Manor, the former [[manor house]] of the Carew family, now Carew Manor School, Beddington]]

===Carew Manor===
Beddington Park was the former [[manor house]] of the Carew family, lost to money lenders (see [[George Samuel Ford (bill discounter)|George Samuel Ford]]) and bad debts by Charles Hallowell Hallowell Carew in the 1850s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Re Charles Hallowel Hallowell Carew, Esquire of Beddington Park, in the county of Surrey|url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/21931/pages/3362/page.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202223058/http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/21931/pages/3362/page.pdf |archive-date=2013-12-02 |url-status=live|work=15 October 1856|publisher=London Gazette|access-date=25 November 2013}}</ref>  The Domesday Book mentions two Beddington estates and these were united by [[Nicholas Carew (Lord Privy Seal)|Nicholas Carew]] to form Carew Manor in 1381. The Manor, once a medieval moated house, was home to the Royal Female Orphanage from 1866 until 1968. It now contains council offices and Carew Manor School.

In about 1591 [[Sir Walter Raleigh]] secretly, and without royal permission, married one of [[Queen Elizabeth I]]'s [[maid of honour|maids of honour]], [[Elizabeth Raleigh|Elizabeth Throckmorton]] of Carew Manor. Raleigh spent time in the [[Tower of London]] for this and Elizabeth was expelled from the court but the marriage appears to have been a genuine love-match and survived the imprisonment. A popular story is that when Raleigh was beheaded by [[James I of England|James I]] in 1618, Elizabeth claimed his embalmed head and kept it in a bag for the rest of her life. His body was buried in [[St. Margaret's, Westminster|St Margaret's, Westminster]], and after his wife's death 29 years later, Raleigh's head was returned to his tomb and interred at St. Margaret's Church.<ref>[[John Lloyd (producer)|Lloyd, J]] & [[John Mitchinson (researcher)|Mitchinson, J]]: ''The Book of General I''.</ref>

During the visit of [[Christian IV of Denmark]] to England in August 1606, the royal party visited Beddington, hosted by [[George Carew, 1st Earl of Totnes|Sir George Carew]].<ref>Maurice Lee, ''Dudley Carleton to John Chamberlain, 1603–1624'' (Rutgers UP, 1972), p. 87.</ref>

The [[Grade I]] [[listed building|listed]] [[great hall]] (or banqueting hall),<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-206699-beddington-place-great-hall-only-walling Beddington Place (Great Hall Only), Sutton]</ref> containing a fine [[hammerbeam roof]], survives from the mediaeval house. In the grounds are part of the [[orangery]] built in the early 18th century around orange trees planted by Sir [[Francis Carew]] (claimed to be the first planted in England) and an early 18th-century [[Grade II*]] listed [[dovecote]].<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-206705-pigeon-house-to-north-west-of-beddington Pigeon House to North West of Beddington Place, Sutton]</ref>

[[File:Carew arms.svg|thumb|upright|Arms of Carew ''Or, 3 [[Lions in heraldry|lions passant]] in pale sable'']]
Archaeologists have discovered a Tudor garden including a [[grotto]] at Carew Manor, believed to have been created by Sir Francis Carew in the 16th century. Its exact location has not been disclosed in order to protect it from looting.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Carew Manor • Wandle Valley|url=https://wandlevalleypark.co.uk/locations/sutton/carew-manor/|access-date=2021-03-13|website=Wandle Valley|language=en}}</ref>

As well as Carew Manor, the family have given their name to a street in nearby [[Wallington, London|Wallington]], Carew Road.

===Carew Arms===
Arms of Carew: ''Or, 3 [[Lions in heraldry|lions passant]] in pale sable''<ref>Debrett's Peerage, 1968, Carew Baronets, p.155</ref>  were the arms shown on the seal of "Nicholas de Carreu" (c. 1255 – 1311), appended to the [[Barons' Letter, 1301]], which he joined as "Lord of [[Moulsford|Mulesford]]" and which were [[blazon]]ed for the same bearer in the Caerlaverock Poem or [[Roll of Arms]] of 1300, when he was present at the Siege of [[Caerlaverock Castle]]. From him are descended the [[Carew baronets]] of Antony and of Haccombe, the [[Earl of Totnes]] and [[Baron Carew]].

===St Mary's Church===
[[File:Southwest View of the Church of Saint Mary, Beddington (03).jpg|thumb|300px|St Mary's Church]]
The [[Grade II* listed]] 14th-century flint parish church of St Mary's occupies a prominent position in Beddington Park, immediately south of what is now Carew Manor School.  It contains an organ screen by [[William Morris]]. The church is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-206694-parish-church-of-st-mary-the-virgin-wall Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Sutton]</ref>
*It has substantial amounts of fabric from the 14th and 15th centuries
*It was extensively restored and provided with an extremely elaborate and interesting mid-Victorian decorative scheme.
*It has monuments and other fixtures of importance from circa 1200 to the 20th century, including the font and Carew tombs.
*The Morris and Co. organ is of special note, and the Last Judgment [[reredos]] is unusual.
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== Transport ==
Beddington is served by the Wimbledon branch of the [[Tramlink]] network. The nearest railway station is {{rws|Waddon}}.

The area is served by a number of bus routes, all of which are operated by [[Transport for London]].
*[[London Buses route 407|407]] – Sutton to Caterham
*[[London Buses route 410|410]] – Wallington to Crystal Palace
*[[London Buses route 463|463]] – Pollards Hill to Coulsdon South
*[[London Buses route S4|S4]] – Waddon Marsh to Sutton

== Namesakes ==
[[Beddington Heights, Calgary]] is named after Beddington, Surrey.

== Nearest places ==
[[File:Boating lake, Beddington Park - geograph.org.uk - 1212630.jpg|thumb|The boating lake in Beddington Park]]
* [[Carshalton]]
* [[Hackbridge]]
* [[Mitcham]]
* [[Roundshaw]]
* [[Waddon]]
* [[Wallington, London|Wallington]]
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==References==
{{commons category|Beddington}}
{{reflist}}

{{LB Croydon}}
{{LB Sutton}}

[[Category:Areas of London]]
[[Category:Districts of the London Borough of Sutton]]