Briefly mentioned in Virginia Woolf’s book Mrs. Dalloway, Caterham is a town located in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. This place looks pretty close to a town that someone would imagine to only exist in a storybook. Originally people settled in what is now known as Caterham-on-the-hill. The town really grew when the railroad gave people more access to resources outside of their area in 1856. The town was home of the Metropolitan Asylum for Imbeciles which was created in 1870. The thirteen houses and one chapel had a separate space for infectious diseases. It could hold close to 2,000 patients at once.

Some things never changed in this little town. For example, since it was built in 1866, the Norman church of St. Lawrence remains directly across the road from St. Mary’s, an Anglican church. St. John the Evangelist church was constructed in 1882 and is larger than the previous churches. St. John’s is also still standing today. The Caterham Barracks had an interesting life as well. First, in 1877, they were used as a warehouse for foot guards and got expanded in 1897. The space held up to 1,400 men at a time. However, in 1975 it was a public house for soldiers until the structure was destroyed by an IRA bomb. During the 1990s the site was revamped into space for housing.

This town doesn’t appear to have much on the surface, but just below it holds a lot of history. The people who lived there made sacrifices for it to be the safe environment it is today.

Works Cited

“Caterham.” Exploring Surrey’s Past.

https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/places/surrey/tandridge/caterham/. Accessed 5 December 2020.

“Parishes: Caterham.” British History Online. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol4/pp265-270. Accessed 5 December 2020.

“Welcome to St. Mary’s.” St. Mary’s Caterham. https://www.stmaryscaterham.org/. Accessed 5 December 2020.