Salvation Data 0800 075 0720

Sunbury-on-Thames
Sunbury-on-Thames  Sunbury-on-Thames shown within Surrey
Population	27,415 (2001)
OS grid reference	TQ105695
District	Spelthorne
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SUNBURY-ON-THAMES
Postcode district	TW16
Dialling code	01932
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Spelthorne
List of places: UK • England • Surrey

Sunbury-on-Thames

The earliest evidence of occupation in Sunbury is provided by the discovery of Bronze Age funerary urns dating from the 10th century BC. It is mentioned in the Sunbury Charter in AD 962. Many years later the arrival of Huguenot refugees gave the name to French Street.

Sunbury was in the Middlesex Domesday map in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Suneberie. Its Domesday assets were: 7 hides. It had 5 ploughs, meadow for 6 ploughs, cattle pasture. It rendered £6.^[3]

The riverside St Mary's Anglican Church and the Ferry House nearby are mentioned in the book Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Other literary references include the difficulty of rowing up Sunbury backwater in "Three men in a boat" by Jerome K. Jerome, and Sunbury Cross under a pall of smoke during "The War of the Worlds" by H.G.Wells.

Sunbury was once the residence of Admiral Hawke who blockaded Rochefort in 1757 and in 1758 he directed the blockade of Brest for six months.

In 1889 a group of music hall stars met in the Magpie hotel in Lower Sunbury to form the Grand Order of Water Rats. The pub itself was named after the horse that one of the entertainers owned, whilst the Grand Order was named because the Magpie (a trotting pony) had been described as a drowned water rat. The Three Fishes in Green Street is one of the oldest pubs in Surrey, thought to date back to the 16th Century^{[citation needed]}

Sunbury-on-Thames was historically part of Middlesex, forming the Sunbury-on-Thames Urban District from 1894.^[4] In 1965, the majority of Middlesex was absorbed into Greater London. However, the Sunbury-on-Thames Urban District was instead transferred to Surrey.^[4] The Royal Mail did not adopt the change in 1965 and the postal county remained Middlesex; although postal counties are no longer officially in use.^[5] In 1974 the urban district was abolished and it has since formed part of the borough of Spelthorne.^[6]

Sunbury has two areas divided by the M3. Lower Sunbury, colloquially known as a Sunbury Village borders the river Thames and makes up the southern portion of the town. This area is largely residential suburban and includes the majority of Sunbury's schools and open parkland. The northern section is Sunbury Common closer to Feltham in London and houses many of Sunbury's businesses including Chubb and BP. The M3 and the large roundabout Sunbury Cross divides to the two sections and has a small shopping arcade.

Marking the western border of Sunbury is the Queen Mary Reservoir which was constructed in 1925. This is also home to a sailing club and is regularly used by local schools and youth organisations to teach water sports skills. Lower Sunbury has become increasingly popular with young first time buyers looking to start families. The mixture of Victorian terraces and 1930s semi detached houses in the leafy village offers a favourable and more affordable alternative to London. A conservation area within Sunbury village has been recognised to cover Thames Street and this reflects its historic buildings, many pubs, restaurants and a beautiful stretch of river bank leading up to the Church.

Sunbury is a largely suburban town with a number of high-rise office buildings and industrial estates clustered around the M3 and the A308 (Staines Road West) and A316 (Country Way) trunk roads. Sunbury was previously the home of BP's Engineering and Research Centre, located to the north of Sunbury on the site of Meadhurst House, formerly owned by the Cadbury family. The site is now BP's international centre for business and technology and is home to a large number of BP's business units. A number of other companies, including Chubb, also have a presence.

The town has been the home to London Irish Rugby Club since 1932 although since 2001 its premiership team has played at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, Berkshire. However hundreds of minis, youngsters and adults turn out for the club each weekend in Sunbury during the rugby season. A few hundred metres to the east of Sunbury Cross is Kempton Park Racecourse.

Sunbury Court, in Lower Sunbury, is the home of the High Council of the Salvation Army.

Lower Sunbury is the home of the Sunbury Millennium Embroidery. [1] The embroidery was conceived and designed in the 1990s and completed in 2000. Since July 2006 its permanent home is the purpose built Sunbury Millennium Embroidery Gallery, within the well-tended Walled Garden adjoining Sunbury Park. With the opening of a café within the gallery building, which architecturally resembles a boat, this has rapidly become a popular spot for locals and tourists alike, just across the road from a picturesque stretch of the Thames. The Walled Garden also hosts annual concerts and plays in the summer months. In July of each year, Lower Sunbury is the start of the colourful traditional ceremony of Swan Upping, where two livery companies carry out marking of the swans on the upper reaches of the River Thames. In August, the traditional Sunbury Amateur Regatta takes place on the stretch of the river around Rivermead Island.

The town is also home to the Millennium Embroidery, a large commissioned artwork that commemorates Sunbury's ascension to the new millennium. It was designed by John Stamp and David Brown to be a large patchwork of Sunbury landmarks, including St.Mary's Church, Tha Admiral Hawke and the river. The finished piece is actually composed of several embroideries, the largest of which measures 9ft by 3ft. It took four years to complete and enlisted the help of over 140 volunteers and artists. Queen Elizabeth II visited the Embroidery in 2001 and a dedicated gallery for it was built in 2006.

The town has four primary schools, Chennestone Primary School, St Ignatius RC Primary School,Springfield Primary School and kenyngton manor.

St. Paul's Catholic College, Volunatary aided

Sunbury Manor School, Community school specializing in specific learning difficulties

The Bishop Wand Church of England Secondary School, Voluntary aided

London Irish Rugby Club — Although the senior side now play home matches at Madejski Stadium in Reading, the club still has its headquarters and training facilities in Sunbury, and its youth and senior academy teams play at Sunbury.

Sunbury Hockey Club

Kempton Park Racecourse

Kempton Park Steam Engines at the Kempton Park waterworks

River Thames Boat Trips

The Riverside Arts Centre.

862 (Sunbury) Air Training Corps

West Surrey Racing - BTCC competitors^[7]

Virgin Active Health Club

Diana Dors - actress

Mal Evans - Beatles roadie

Adam Faith - singer and actor

John Glen - film editor, and director of five James Bond movies

Joe Gormley - trade union leader

Admiral Edward 1st Baron Hawke - died in Sunbury

Gordon Hill - Manchester United and England footballer

Kerry Norton - Bad Girls, actress and singer

James Robert Smith^{[citation needed]} - writer

Nick Thorpe - bassist for Curiosity Killed the Cat

Dickie Valentine - singer

Hampton

Hanworth

Feltham

Shepperton

Walton-on-Thames

Ashford, Middlesex

Staines

Teddington

Twickenham

Heathrow

A316, becomes the start of the M3 motorway.

A308, directions towards Staines and Kingston-upon-Thames.

A244, directions towards Hounslow and Walton-on-Thames.

Sunbury

Kempton Park

London Heathrow Airport is 5 miles away.

Surrey Police (it was within the boundary of the Metropolitan Police district until 2000.)

South East Coast Ambulance Service as of 1 July 2006, formed from the former Surrey Ambulance Service, Sussex, and Kent Ambulance services.

Surrey Fire & Rescue Service.