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The history of Thornton Heath, in south London, England, merits study as an exceptional model of suburban development. In the 50-year period 1861–1911, it saw a complete transformation from isolated rural outpost to integrated metropolitan suburb. In its infancy, a new railway station sited in the eastern farmlands enabled that immediate area to evolve around a central point. In the late 19th century, the western part of Thornton Heath, which lay directly on the main London-Sussex road, demonstrated a classic form of suburban ribbon development. In the process, it became the final piece in an urban chain linking two major centres, London and Croydon, completing the greatest metropolitan expansion in the world at that time. Meanwhile, within the district itself, the initial aspiring middle-class enclave was switching to host a working-class population. So Thornton Heath combined elements of growth that have been defined as typically singular by the eminent suburbanologist H. J. Dyos (Victorian Suburb: 1966): railway development ''alongside'' ribbon development, a dependency on ''two'' urban centres, and working-class enclaves developing ''alongside'' middle-class enclaves. There are also other unusual aspects regarding location and space that don't quite fit the generic mould of suburban development. Research into the embryonic history of a suburban area has become more important as studies have progressed. Dyos led with a whole chapter dedicated to pre-Victorian Camberwell, examining how it was established on an existing infrastructure. Another foremost social-geographer, Emre Jones (London Journal, 1980), maintained that studies required "more focus on the historical processes and geographical circumstances to build a kind of three-dimensional model." More recently, McManus and Ethington (Urban History, 2007) suggested a new approach in the study of suburban development: "embeddedness", the "inscription of history on landscape", which "needs to be taken more seriously". Combined with the fact that there are no published written histories on Thornton Heath, this article starts with a brief look at its pre-suburban past. ==Pre-Roman, Roman, and Saxon history== Signs of a Neolithic settlement, including flint axe-heads, were discovered and recorded in the area now known as Thornton Heath Pond during 19th century excavations to build a tram terminus for the developing suburb. The London to Sussex road was originally a Roman construction which passed via Thornton Heath to Croydon along a section still called Roman Way. Parts of the original structure were said to have been visible close to the Thornton Heath area as late as 1800. Another Roman road, from a settlement two miles (3 km) to the west joined at the horse-pond in west Thornton Heath, and this became a junction around which the early hamlet grew. When Thornton Heath High Street was being laid in the 19th century, to the east of the Pond area, hoards of coins were found spanning the Roman occupation of the area from 69 to 138 AD. There is no other record of human habitation in the Roman period. An ancient matrix for suburban growth can be found in Thornton Heath's old byways. The four lanes that crisscrossed the valley in Saxon times survived to form principal routes of ribbon development in the 19th century, their names surviving the passage of time: Green Lane, Whitehorse Lane, Colliers Water Lane, and Bensham Lane. A hoard of Saxon, Frankish and oriental coins was found by navvies cutting the railway in the 1860s. Perhaps this was an indication of early commerce… or crime. These discoveries demonstrate how urban development can reflect a continuing cycle of settlement. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Thornton Heath」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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