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Weybridge

Weybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name. It is a suburb in the London commuter belt, and some of the housing is expensive: as of 2008, six of the ten most expensive streets in South East England (defined as the official government region, which excludes Greater London) were in Weybridge.^[1]

Weybridge is made up of a number of distinct areas: town centre shopping area, Monument Hill / Queens Road shopping area, St George's Hill, Brooklands and Oatlands Village.

History

Weybridge lay within the Saxon administrative district of Elmbridge hundred.

Weybridge appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Webrige and Webruge. It was held partly by Chertsey Abbey; partly by an Englishman from the abbey; and partly by Herfrid from the Bishop of Bayeux. Its domesday assets were: 6 hides; 1½ ploughs, 32 acres (130,000 m²) of meadow, wood worth 9 hogs. It rendered £4.^[2]

The early history of Weybridge was simply as a river crossing. In 1537 it became the location of Oatlands Palace built by Henry VIII, which was where he married his 5th wife Katherine Howard. When it was demolished in 1650, bricks from its walls helped to line the then new Wey Navigation canal. Part of the original site of the Palace is now occupied by Oatlands Park Hotel. St. George's Hill was the site of the Diggers Commune in the 1640s.

At the bottom of Monument Hill, close to the town centre is a monument to the Duchess of York, erected by public subscription in 1820 from the remains of the original Seven Dials Monument that stood in St.Martin's Lane London until 1773. The Duchess is buried in St. James's Churchyard.

The entomologist, Horace Donisthorpe, visited Weybridge Heath to investigate the ant colony.

The world's first leisure campsite was set up near Weybridge in 1901 and was part of the early history of the camping and caravanning cub.

Railway

Weybridge railway station was opened by the London and Southampton Railway in 1838. After the station was opened, development of what was up until then only a village began. Large houses were built on St George's Hill; and gradually Weybridge became a town.

Plant Life

Near "Firfields"

In Weybridge heath, many rare species of insects (particularly ants), rare birds and insectivorous plant formerly occurred. The heath was allowed to become vastly overgrown in recent years, but recently Surrey Wildlife Trust invoked a scrub clearance plan in an attempt to restore this valuable habitat.

Industry

Weybridge is the British headquarters of Sony Corporation, Procter & Gamble, and JTI (formerly Gallaher) and also Toshiba Information Systems headquarters is very close by.

Eurotax Glass, owners and publishers of Glass's Guide, pricing bible to the motor industry are based in Weybridge.

In H. G. Wells' book The War of the Worlds, Weybridge was the location of a battle in which a Martian fighting machine was destroyed. The title of chapter 12 the book is: "What I saw of the destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton".

Education

Two schools for 11-18-year-olds serve Weybridge, Heathside School and 6th Form Centre in the town itself and St George's College in nearby Addlestone. There is also Brooklands College, for sixth form students in further education focussing particularly in BTech's. Also, there are many primary schools to serve 4-11 year olds.

Sport

At the top of Monument Hill, adjacent to the cricket green is a World War I war memorial.

Weybridge also has a variety of sports clubs including the Weybridge Vandals Rugby club, Elmbridge Canoe Club, Weybridge Bowls Club, Weybridge Rowing Club and Weybridge Cricket Club, all serving the area for many years. Addlestone & Weybridge Town F.C. was the main football club in Weybridge until becoming defunct in 1985. However, there are several amateur teams in the local area.

Notable Residents

Joseph 'Mutt' Summers, Vickers' chief test pilot at Brooklands, lived at Tythe Barn in St George Avenue in the mid 1930s

Brian Trubshaw, BAC chief test pilot at Brooklands, lived in Egerton Road in the 1960s.

John Lennon lived in Weybridge in the mid to late 1960s. He and McCartney penned plenty of songs here including most of the tracks of the Beatles for Sale and Help! albums in the mansion on St George's Hill.

Ringo Starr lived in Weybridge in the late 1960s

Tom Jones lived in Weybridge in the late 1960s

Nina Bawden lived in Weybridge in the 1960s and 70s - her famous book Carrie's War was written at her house in Hanger Hill - now demolished along with the private school 'Wallop School'

E.M. Forster wrote his most famed book, Howards End, in Weybridge between 1908 and 1910.

Michael Aspel - Journalist and television presenter. Michael is the Patron of the Weybridge Society. He was awarded the Freedom of Elmbridge in recognition of his many campaigns and charities in the Borough.

You Me At Six - Rising pop-punk band

Mikel John Obi – Nigerian footballer playing for Chelsea FC

Didier Drogba - Ivorian footballer for Chelsea FC

Petr Čech - Czech footballer for Chelsea FC

Peter Crouch - English footballer for Tottenham Hotspur FC

John Terry - English footballer for Chelsea FC

Cameron Styler - English World Champion Goldfish Breeder

Eamonn Holmes & Ruth Langsford, Broadcasters.

Lucy O'Donnell - the "Lucy" of the 1967 Beatles song "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds."

Kelvin McKenzie - Journalist.

Theo Paphitis - Star of Dragons Den and Entrepreneur

Cliff Richard is Weybridge's best known inhabitant nowadays.

Nicola Roberts - Girls Aloud band member

Nearest Places

Walton-on-Thames

Addlestone

Byfleet

New Haw

Shepperton can be seen the other side of the Thames

Brooklands race circuit

The famous former Brooklands Aerodrome and Motor Circuit is located between Weybridge and Byfleet and is now the location of the Brooklands Museum. The brainchild of Hugh Locke King, Brooklands was opened on 17 June 1907 and was the first purpose-built motor racing circuit in the world. Its unique kidney-shaped layout was designed by Colonel Holden of the Royal Engineers and featured two steep and distinctive banked sections at opposite ends. Soon after it opened, the sheltered private location attracted early aviators and aeroplane designers such as Roe and Sopwith and the centre of the track soon became one of Britain's first aerodromes and later played a major part in aviation worldwide during much of the 20th century, most notably with the British Aerospace, British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker, Sopwith and Vickers aircraft companies.

Wikisource Link

What I Saw of the Destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton ("The War of the Worlds", Chapter 12)

External links

History of Weybridge

The York Column Monument and Monument Green History

The River Wey and Wey Navigations Community Site

Aerial photographs of Weybridge

Weybridge News & Mail