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Caterham is the second largest conurbation in East Surrey with a population of some 14,500. The Town is situated on the side of the North Down and extends into the valley to the south and along the top of the Downs to the North. The town developed in the mid 19th century, when a branch railway line was given Royal assent in June 1854 for a line to run from Caterham to a junction with the Brighton Line - a distance of some 4 3/8 miles. The opening of this line in 1856 triggered one of the great railway disputes between the London Brighton and South Central Railway and the South Eastern Railway which prevented regular services being run until 1862.

The Valley Ward contains the main shopping and commercial area within Caterham. It occupies the Valley floor along the old Eastbourne Road and offers an array of shops and restaurants. The East Surrey Museum, which is owned and looked after by Tandridge District Council and supported by an active group of friends, is near the station and takes up the ground floor of a brick and flint house that was once a dentist's surgery. The museum chronicles the development of East Surrey through its geological displays, clothes and other domestic items, natural history exhibits, extensive archive material and bookstall. Children are made welcome.

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