Best Places to Live in Surrey 2024
Blessed with a wealth of thriving market towns, pretty villages and beautiful bucolic countryside, Surrey has a lot to offer - not least that it’s well connected to the capital, the south coast and two international airports. This really is a destination offering the best of all worlds.
- Farnham
- Reigate
- Oxted
- Weybridge
- Cobham
- Claygate
For a quintessential English village a mere stone’s-throw from the capital, you can’t go past Claygate. There’s a traditional main street packed with independent shops, a cute village green and big community spirit. Part of our Best 260 Places to Live series.
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Claygate is an idyllic sought-after village, bordered by woods and countryside on three sides and interlacing with Esher and Hinchley Wood on the fourth. Community spirit is high—and the Claygate community calendar reflects that with a packed schedule of events throughout the year. It’s home to the country’s oldest village flower show—the Claygate Flower and Village Show which takes place on a Saturday in July at the Claygate Recreation Ground attracting upwards of 6,000 people. And the annual Christmas light turn-on is a big event, with a celeb more often than not doing the honours—Cliff Richard, Mick Hucknall and Ronnie Wood among them.
EAT
You won’t go hungry in Claygate. The village itself has no less than four pubs, including The Foley, The Griffin, the Hare and Hounds, and Brightwater Brewery’s Platform 3, apparently the UK’s smallest pub and as the name suggests right next to Claygate Station. The Foley has 17 boutique bedrooms and a fab garden. The Hare and Hound do great music nights and serve real ale – some of it brewed locally.
For a village, there’s also plenty in the way of world cuisine. Zeitoun is a popular Lebanese restaurant on The Green which also has a mean cocktail menu and a big range of gins. Next door is Averna, serving up homemade Italian dishes. And at the other end of the village, José Pizarro’s Swan Inn offers up a gorgeous authentic Spanish tapas menu. There’s also Ume for Chinese.
Parade + Albany are fab for brunch, or lunch (make mine a smashed avo on toast). And there’s also Laz Café (great coffee, plus unique art for sale on the walls), Caffé Capital (also great coffee—they roast their own beans). Those with energetic or sporty kids will love Pistachios In The Park, which looks out across Claygate Rec.
SHOP
There are two shopping areas in Claygate. The Parade is the larger of the two and it’s brimming with a collection of independent stores including a butcher, bakery, green grocer and fishmonger, plus cafés and restaurants. The High Street—aka the Old Village—faces the village green, and it’s here you’ll find a couple of lovely restaurants. For women’s fashion, head to Cat and Mouse, Trew Art offers offers a curated collection of original artwork by international artists, and Claygate Interiors is nice for a mooch (and a good spot to snaffle lovely gifts).
HEALTH & WELLBEING
Claygate Clinic is your one-stop shop for complementary health care with everything from acupuncture and herbal medicine to reiki and osteopathy. Capelfield Surgery is the local GP, and there are several dentists including Summerfield Dental Practice and Lumino Dental.
Claygate Community Pool is open every day offering adult swimming sessions, family play sessions, plus aqua aerobics. Claygate Yoga Clinic offers yoga, including classes for teens, plus massage and sleep therapy, menopause support and nutritional therapy.
COMMUNITY
There’s plenty here for families and children especially sporty folk. A range of clubs offer plenty of options including active football, netball and cricket clubs. And there are more societies and clubs than you can shake a stick at. Think floral, choral, dramatics, book, gardening and more. Surbiton Golf Club is also very close. All that surrounding green space means countryside walks are practically mandatory, and you’re spoiled for choice with Claygate Common, Telegraph Hill, Esher Common and Arbrook Common all on the doorstep.
NEARBY ATTRACTIONS
Claremont Landscape Gardens, just a mile or two away in Esher, is a Grade Ⅰ listed National Trust garden that includes an amphitheatre and lake. Chessington World of Adventures is 10 minutes away in the car. For more vigorous activities try the Sandown Sports Complex, which features a ski centre and tree-top skywalk just 1.5 miles away. And of course the Sandown Park Racecourse is also in Esher for world-class horseracing.
CULTURE
You’ll have to nip over to Esher—less than two miles away where a visit to the Esher Theatre will leave you wholly entertained, with live music, dance and comedy. The Everyman Cinema also offers big-screen action with a boutique feel and a wine bar.
AVERAGE HOUSE PRICE
Properties in Claygate sold for an average price of just over £1m over the last year. Most of the houses sold were detached properties, selling for an average price of £1,481,390. Semi-detached houses sold for an average of £870,429, with flats going for £521,591.
NURSERIES
Claygate Montessori School in Church Lane is Ofsted-rated ‘Outstanding’, as is the Christopher Robin Nursery in nearby Hinchley Wood.
SCHOOLS
Rowan Prep is a great prep school for girls, set over two sites in Claygate village. Shrewsbury House Pre-Preparatory for boys is on the edge of the village, and Shrewsbury House Prep is just a little further away in Surbiton.
Milbourne Lodge School is a co-ed prep school in a gorgeous location between Claygate and Esher. Claremont Fan Court is an independent all-through co-ed school situated in the historic Claremont House.
Local state secondary schools such as Hinchley Wood School and Esher Sixth Form College are both Ofsted rated ‘Outstanding’. Hinchley Wood Primary and Esher Church School are rated ‘Good’.
BEST KEPT SECRET
Claygate may have gained its name from the clay pits in the village that provided bricks for manor houses in much of the surrounding area, including most of Hampton Court Palace, but its origins go all the way back to the Domesday Book in 1086. In the 1820s, the Claygate Pearmain apple was discovered here by John Braddick growing in a hedge.
COMMUTE
You’re in prime commuter territory here, and there are plenty of options. Trains from Claygate Station direct to London Waterloo take about 35mins. Trains from Esher Station, two miles away, take 25mins to London Vauxhall.
