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The district of Tandridge, the easternmost of 11 local government districts in the English county of Surrey, has more than 70 current and former places of worship. Religious buildings dating from every age between the Norman era and the present are found across the area, which is characterised by small towns and ancient hamlets. A range of architectural styles and materials are represented: from "Surrey's only Perpendicular Gothic church of any size or pretension" (at Lingfield) to small weatherboarded buildings, tin tabernacles and modern brick chapels. As of , 61 places of worship are in use in the district and a further 11 former churches and chapels no longer hold religious services but survive in alternative uses. Christianity is the majority religion in Tandridge, and the Church of England—the country's Established Church—is represented by the largest number of churches. Several congregations of Roman Catholics, Methodists, Baptists and the United Reformed Church also meet at their own buildings in the main towns and elsewhere; and various other Protestant Nonconformist denominations are accommodated in chapels and meeting rooms of different styles and ages. Jehovah's Witnesses and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints both have large places of worship of regional importance in the district. English Heritage has awarded listed status to 28 places of worship in the district of Tandridge. A building is defined as "listed" when it is placed on a statutory register of buildings of "special architectural or historic interest" in accordance with the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, a Government department, is responsible for this; English Heritage, a non-departmental public body, acts as an agency of the department to administer the process and advise the department on relevant issues. There are three grades of listing status. Grade I, the highest, is defined as being of "exceptional interest"; Grade II * is used for "particularly important buildings of more than special interest"; and Grade II, the lowest, is used for buildings of "special interest". As of February 2001, there were 20 Grade I-listed buildings, 52 with Grade II * status and 519 Grade II-listed buildings in the district. ==Overview of the district== Tandridge is the easternmost of the 11 districts in Surrey, an inland county in southeast England immediately south of London. It covers and had a population of 82,998 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2011. Clockwise from the north, it shares borders with the London boroughs of Croydon and Bromley, the district of Sevenoaks in Kent, the Wealden district in East Sussex, the Mid Sussex district and the borough of Crawley of West Sussex, and the Surrey district of Reigate and Banstead. The district is largely rural. Caterham is the largest town with 31,000 people, Oxted (which is part of a larger urban area with neighbouring Hurst Green and Limpsfield) has 11,000, and more than half the population lives in the suburbanised northern part of the district which includes these towns and nearby Warlingham, Whyteleafe and Woldingham. This area is adjacent to the London Borough of Croydon and is part of the Greater London Urban Area. Elsewhere, there are many small villages〔 with ancient origins—many have their own parish church, sometimes supplemented with other places of worship. Anglican churches with 12th-century or older origins include those at Bletchingley,〔 Burstow,〔 Chelsham,〔 Horne〔 and Nutfield;〔 many have been rebuilt and restored to some extent, but the survival of ancient fabric is common. Caterham's church of St Lawrence, dating from about 1100 and featuring a "truly remarkable" original window, has been supplemented by two 19th-century churches but remains open for services.〔 Other Anglican churches were built in the Victorian era and the 20th century as villages and suburbs expanded: examples include St Luke's at Whyteleafe,〔 the second church (St Christopher's) at Warlingham,〔 and the centrally located and much larger St Paul's at Woldingham (1933)—superseding the isolated single-room St Agatha's Church, called "Surrey's meanest chapel" by Pevsner.〔 Elsewhere, a former school was converted into a church in South Godstone,〔 and at Smallfield a church hall doubles as an Anglican chapel of ease.〔 Protestant Nonconformity has a long history in the district. Baptist worship has taken place at Dormansland since 1792, and the church (which occupies a building dating from 1817) helped to found several others in the area—such as those at Lingfield and Smallfield (both now closed). The isolated Pains Hill Chapel near Limpsfield has existed since 1823, and since World War II Evangelical congregations have developed in Hurst Green〔 and Smallfield.〔 Meanwhile, the village of Newchapel was chosen as the site of England's first Latter-day Saints' Temple, named the London England Temple. The main towns have places of worship serving a wider variety of denominations: the Congregational Federation can be found in Caterham,〔 Oxted has an Open Brethren Gospel Hall,〔 a Quaker meeting house〔 and a Christian Science church,〔 and both places support Roman Catholic, Methodist and United Reformed congregations. Oxted's Catholic and United Reformed churches are both Grade II-listed: the former, a "quite exceptional building" of the early 20th century, combines the Perpendicular Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts styles,〔 while the Church of the Peace of God (the United Reformed church) is a 1930s interpretation of the Byzantine style.〔 Elsewhere, the Plymouth Brethren have a meeting room in the former goods yard next to Upper Warlingham railway station in Whyteleafe.〔 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「List of places of worship in Tandridge (district)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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