Foley Road

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PARISH COUNCIL ACHIEVEMENT 2ND APRIL 2024: "Assisted the CVA by taking three vanloads of cuttings to the Leatherhead Recycling Centre following the removal of large quantities of over-growth along The Firs verge between Dalmore Avenue and Foley Road."

2024 Planning Applications

Claygate Primary School

ADDRESS: Claygate Primary School, Foley Road APPLICATION NUMBER: 2024/3225 PROPOSAL: Variation of Condition: 4 (Hours of Opening) of planning permission 2021/1647 (Single-storey pool enclosure and associated access and decking) to extend the opening hours Monday to Friday 6:30 am to 21:30 pm and Saturday 7:00 am to 20:00 pm. COMMENTS: Variation of Condition under s.73

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№ 9

ADDRESS: 9 Foley Road APPLICATION NUMBER: 2025/0295 PROPOSAL: Confirmation of Compliance with planning permission 2023/2060. CPC VERDICT: EBC VERDICT: Condition(s) - Confirm Compliance.

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№ 55

ADDRESS: 55 Foley Road APPLICATION NUMBER: 2025/0168 PROPOSAL: First-floor rear extension with balcony, two-storey front extension with gable roof to create new main entrance and alterations to fenestration. CPC VERDICT: No Objections. With Comments: Please can the First Floor Bedroom have obscure glazing. Also the new side windows to have obscure glazing. EBC VERDICT: Refuse Planning Permission. Reason(s): 1 The proposed development cumulatively would fail to integrate appropriately with the character and appearance of the local area and given its overall bulk, mass and design would be disproportionate, uncharacteristic and incongruous in its appearance compared to the existing dwellinghouse, that would be dominant and out of keeping with the rhythm of the streetscape. As such, the proposed development would fail to comply with Policy CS11 and CS17 of the Core Strategy 2011, Policy DM2 of the Development Plan 2015, the revised NPPF 2024 and NDG 2019. 2 The proposed development would, by reason of its height and depth, have an unneighbourly and overbearing impact which would be harmful to the front garden area, the amenities and privacy of No. 57 Foley Road. This is contrary to Policy DM2 of the Elmbridge Development Management Plan 2015 and to the advice provided by Design Code 2024.

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№ 63

ADDRESS: 63 Foley Road APPLICATION NUMBER: 2025/0313 PROPOSAL: Tree Preservation Order EL:05/31 - It's a red beech tree. Due to the extent of the disease, and proximity of buildings, I am seeking to reduce the canopy to reduce stresses at the base, and hopefully prolong the life of the tree. See quotation for details. CPC VERDICT: No Objections, No Comments EBC VERDICT: Refuse Proposed Tree Work.

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№ 67

ADDRESS: 67 Foley Road APPLICATION NUMBER: 2024/1159 PROPOSAL: Single-storey rear extension and front porch canopy.

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№ 69

ADDRESS: 69 Foley Road APPLICATION NUMBER: 2024/2728 PROPOSAL: Claygate Foley Estate Conservation Area - T1 Apple - Reduce the crown by 2 meters to outside the previous points T2 Apple - Lightly prune to shape (less that 0.5 meters). COMMENTS: Tree Conservation Area. Tree Wardens

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ADDRESS: 69 Foley Road APPLICATION NUMBER: 2024/2728 PROPOSAL: Claygate Foley Estate Conservation Area - T1 Apple - Reduce the crown by 2 meters to outside the previous points T2 Apple - Lightly prune to shape (less than 0.5 meters). CPC VERDICT: NO, NC EBC VERDICT: Conservation Area Tree Works Acceptable.

Historical Notes

The Foley Estate

The arrival of the railway stimulated the development of housing in Claygate. One of the village's largest landowners, the Hon Fitzalan Charles John Foley, later the 6th Baron Foley, parcelled up for sale in 1885 the area which is largely encompassed by Church Road, Vale Road, Hare Lane and the railway. This area was divided up into 258 plots. Many of the plots had 25 foot frontages and cost £50, as it was expected that the main development would comprise small suburban villas. In fact only a limited number of these smaller properties were built, mainly along Vale Road and the northern end of Gordon Road, as many purchasers bought two or more adjoining plots on which they built one large house.

The development plan was also altered in a number of other respects:

• Abrook (not Arbrook) Lane which was an old lane to Arbrook Farm was not developed.
• Fitzalan Road was confined between Beaconsfield and Foley Roads and not extended to Church Road.
• Plans to build St. Johns Road on the east side of the railway, Charlotte Road, St. George's Road and St. James's Road on the west side, were not executed.
• The proposed level crossing halfway along Gordon Road did not materialise, but a bridge over the railway off Claremont Road (the proposed name was Charles Road) was constructed.

It would seem that Fitzalan Foley misjudged his market who in the main built large Victorian houses, most of which still remain to this day although there have been several casualties along the way. Perhaps it is not surprising that the size and quality of houses that were built were rather better than originally envisaged.

• Firstly, there was the attraction and influence of nearby Claremont.
• Secondly, the terms of sale tended indirectly to encourage such development:
  • For example, no private dwelling houses could be erected on plots 1 to 19, 40 to 46, 71 to 146 and 161 to 209 inclusive of less value than £300 for a single house or £500 for a pair of houses.
  • For plots 20 to 39, 47 to 51,56 to 70, 147 to 160 and 210 to 258 the minimum values were £500 to £800 respectively, and for plots 52 to 55 £300 for a house or shop.
  • The excavation of clay and other soil was prohibited except for the purpose of erecting the building, as also were the manufacture of bricks and other industrial activities.

Thus although the original development plan was not realised in its entirety, nevertheless by 1914 the basic pattern of housing envisaged by Fitzalan Foley was established along much of Gordon Road and Beaconsfield Road, and also along part of Foley Road and Claremont Road. The houses on Foley Road near the junction with Coverts Road that back onto the recreation ground were originally built to accommodate some of the living-out domestic staff of Ruxley Lodge when it was owned by the Foley family.

The Foley Family

Of all the families that have resided in Claygate over the years, it is probably the Foley family that has left the most enduring impression. Although they never owned the Manor of Claygate as such, as major landowners and benefactors they were regarded by most of the local residents as fulfilling the role of village squire. The Foley family were of Worcestershire origin, but for nearly 50 years at least two heads of this family made Ruxley Lodge their principal residence.

The Foley's lineage stems from Richard Foley of Dudley, Worcestershire, circa 1600. He had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, also named Richard, who lived at Stourbridge, Worcestershire, amassed a considerable fortune as an ironmaster in the first half of the 17th century, and was particularly noted for reviving the English nail-making industry. After his death in 1657 his fortune passed to his second son, Thomas Foley, as his eldest son had died without surviving male issue. Thomas of Widey Court, Worcestershire, married Anne, daughter and heir of John Browne of Spelmonden, Kent, who owned many landed properties in several counties which were added to Thomas's paternal inheritance; whether these included any properties in Claygate is not recorded.

Their grandson, also named Thomas, was created 1st Baron Foley of Kidderminster in January 1712, having been Member of Parliament for Stafford from 1695 to 1712. When he died in January 1733 his son, Thomas, became the 2nd Baron Foley. He died unmarried in January 1766, and the Barony became extinct, but his estates devolved upon his cousin, also named Thomas, who was created 1st Baron Foley of Kidderminster on 20 May 1776.

Thomas was succeeded as the 2nd Baron Foley by his eldest son, yet another Thomas, who was MP for Hertfordshire from 1767 to 1774 and for Droitwich from 1774 to 1777. The 3rd Baron Foley was his eldest son Thomas born in 1780, a Privy Counsellor and Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire. His eldest son, Thomas Henry (1808-1869), became the 4th Baron, a Privy Counsellor and Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms, and married the eldest daughter of the 13th Duke of Norfolk.

Their eldest son, Henry Thomas (1850-1905) became the 5th Baron Foley on the death of his father in Paris in November 1869. He married Evelyne Radford of Smalley, Derby, who died in 1968 aged 92. They had no children, and on the death of Henry on 17 December 1905, the title passed to his brother, Fitzalan Charles John (1852- 1918), the 6th Baron Foley, Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey and a Captain in the 3rd battalion of the Sherwood Foresters. Fitzalan died unmarried and without issue on 14 February 1918, and was succeeded by his cousin, Gerald Henry (1898-1927) who married Minoru Greenstone of Johannesburg, South Africa. The 8th Baron Foley of Kidderminster is their son, Adrian Gerald, a composer and pianist who married Patricia Zoellner of Pasadena, California.

The Foleys in Claygate

The first Foley to come and live in Claygate was Henry Thomas, the 5th Baron. In 1869, Ruxley Lodge, including the farmhouse, cottages and over a 100 acres of land, was put up for sale by Marie Elizabeth Beckford, widow of William Beckford. The estate was purchased in 1870 for £22,500 by the trustees of the Foley family on behalf of the 5th Baron. Presumably they moved in shortly thereafter, and then probably moved out again temporarily while the Lodge was extended. We also know that when Henry Thomas died in 1905, his brother Fitzalan Charles John, became the 6th Baron; he had lived in Claygate for the greater part of his life and was much involved in the sale and development of local property in the latter part of the 19th century. Whether Gerald Henry, the 7th Baron, actually lived in Claygate, as opposed to visiting it, is not clear. In any event, in the year after his cousin died, he occasioned Claygate's longest and most memorable sale when the contents of Ruxley Lodge were auctioned on his behalf by Castiglione & Scott of Hanover Square over a six-day period commencing 14 October 1919.

One can only guess at what attracted the Foleys to Claygate in the first place; quite possibly it was the availability of a substantial estate close to Claremont, which with its royal associations must have been quite an attraction for such a prestigious family.

In 1920 Ruxley Lodge estate was leased to Henry Andrews before it was sold in the late 1920s to Robert Campbell Robb of Maidenhead and his two associates, a builder and a solicitor, both of Teddington.

The Claygate 'Golden Book' would have it that Ruxley Lodge was built by Lord Foley, but this is not so; in fact the original Lodge dates from the 18th century, possibly even earlier. It had several owners before the Foleys including a Mr Phillips (circa 1800), Baronet Sir Robert John Buxton (circa 1830), his son Sir John Jacob Buxton (circa 1840), John Philip Fletcher (circa 1850) and William Beckford. there were other owners before 1800 and possibly during the period 1800 to 1870 as well. Some accounts suggest that Lady King and Lord Lovelace also lived there for a time, but if they did it was probably as tenants and not as owners.

What Henry Thomas Foley did, and this is how the Golden Book account may have gone astray, was to extend Ruxley Lodge, and to add towers with turrets and gargoyles. These additions eventually led to the Lodge being renamed Ruxley Towers.

The Foley Charity

In 1887 or thereabouts, Henry Thomas Foley set aside a small piece of his estate alongside Common Road, more or less opposite where Emmanuel Hall was built, as a site for a village institute. On this site he arranged for a building to be erected for the purpose of providing the men of Claygate with a workshop where instruction in carpentry could be given under the guidance of his own craftsmen.

As this was not well patronised, Lord Foley agreed to the building being adapted for use as a Working Men's Club and Institute. This was more successful and the institute continued, except for a period during the First World War when it was used as a recreation centre for the armed forces, until about 1920. By then membership was so low that the age limit was reduced from 18 to 14; later it became a club for boys only.

In 1929, when the Foley family had disposed of the greater part of their holdings in Claygate, they transferred the property in Common Road to a group of five local trustees for the benefit of the parish of Claygate to be used as a meeting place for various clubs and societies that were of a non-political nature. This was a generous gesture as the Foleys received no payment for this transfer of ownership, and for some years had been maintaining the building out of their own pockets and charging only a nominal rent.

In October 1937, some of the trustees agreed to the sale of the building and land to Esher UDC for £456. The proceeds known as the Foley Trust were invested in War Loans, and interest accruing from this investment was distributed to various youth organisations. In more recent times this building in Common Road became dilapidated. Several attempts to use it as a youth club failed in the face of opposition from nearby residents.

The Foleys also put into trust the cottage on Claygate Common known as Keeper's Cottage.

References

• Peebles, Malcolm (1983). The Claygate Book. (Millennium edition). Stockbridge: by BAS Printers Ltd. ISBN 0-9508978-0-9.

  

• Many thanks also for the photos, many supplied by Terry Gale, from the Claygate Local History Facebook group.

Further Information

• Foley Road in previous years