Addlestone Baptist Church was formed in 1828, however local people had been worshiping at Baptist “cottage meetings” since 1790. The first pastor of the church was Reverend R. Grace, who stayed eight years and established a Sunday school. The congregation…
Almners Priory is situated on Almners Lane, Lyne. It dates back to the period of King Alfred the Great, who granted the wattle and daub house which previously stood on the same site, to Reginald Wapshott (871 – 901), his…
Anningsley Park is situated in the south eastern part of the parish of Ottershaw. Spelling of Anningsley Park has changed with time. During the reign of Richard I it was usually spelt as Annynggleagh, meaning ‘a woodland clearing of the…
The early history of Botleys Park is sketchy and confused. In 1319 the manor belonged to John de Butteley, son of Gilbert de Butteley. Later sources state that it was later owned by John Manory of Chertsey, and his…
Chaworth House, Ottershaw, was built for the Earl and Countess of Meath around 1910. It was located on part of 20 acres of land between the Guildford and Brox Roads. From the time of the Enclosure Act in the early…
Before 1410 travellers crossed the Thames at Chertsey by ferry at a point close to the current crossing. In that year King Henry IV granted a license for the building of a bridge which was to be maintained by the…
The first regular cinemas shows were started c. 1905 in the Constitutional Hall by Clifford Spain. About the same time a cinema opened at 41 Guildford Street, which was variously called the Picture Palace Cinema, the Electric Palace, the Electric…
Chertsey gaol was built in the early 18th century behind the Long, Humphries & Co.’s (previously Herrings’) foundry in Foundry Lane. The foundry itself was built by William Herring in the 1960s on the site of the old police station.…
Anchor 124 Guildford Street: In existence 1599 but ceased business soon after Angel 33 Windsor Street: (on the site of The Cedars) Flourished from at least 16th century to near the end of the 17th century. Angel 9-15 Windsor Street – See King’s Head, Chertsey Bell…
When the parishes from Walton-on-Thames to Windlesham and including Chobham and Horsell were joined under the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, the building of new workhouses was encouraged. When the new Chertsey Workhouse opened in Ottershaw in 1837, it was…
Sir Thomas Edward Colebrook, Fourth Baronet and Member of Parliament, moved to Ottershaw in 1859 and gave land and a bequest to the public to build a church. The church was designed by Victorian architect Sir Gilbert Scott and was…
A bridge over the River Bourne at Ottershaw has been at the existing site from at least as early as the mid 1500s. It lay on the boundaries between the Manors of Walton Leigh and Pyrford, and as such suffered…
The first mill in the area was built in 1783 by Sir Thomas Sewell of Ottershaw Park estate. It was situated about ¼ mile upstream from Durnford Bridge (now called Dunford Bridge) on a piece of copyhold land on the…
It is likely that the first horse race in the Borough took place in Englefield Green in 1729, listed in the Racing Calendar of that year, as a ‘horse match’. This horse match took place over a number of heats…
Erkenwald founded Chertsey Abbey in A.D.666, and became it’s first Benedictine Abbot. He spread the name and influence of the Abbey increasing it’s property and wealth. Only 9 years after the Abbey’s foundation, Erkenwald gained further lands for the Abbey,…
Fan Court started out as a keeper’s lodge in Windsor Forest. By 1770, there is evidence that a family by the name of Troy had been living there for more than 100 years as drivers of the deer on Fangrove…
A belvedere (a small pavilion or tower on top of a building) was first built on Shrubbs Hill, Windsor Great Park, in 1750. It was intended as a viewpoint from which to observe the picturesque landscaped gardens and lake. During…
The area known today as Foxhills was, up until the early 19th century, part of the Botleys estate. It was named Fox Hill or Fox’s Hill at the time when Botleys was owned by Sir Joseph Mawbey, a close friend…
The site of Great Fosters was originally within Windsor Forest, and there is evidence that the area has been occupied since the early Saxon period. A ‘U’ shaped moat, still a feature of the garden, has been dated to 500AD.…
Hardwick Court Farm is situated on Hardwick Lane, Lyne. It is a modest structure, but has a long and illustrious history. The earliest records of this house date back to 1430, but it is likely that a house occupied the…
Thomas Holloway became interested in the prospect of building a sanatorium after attending a public meeting at which Lord Shaftsbury attempted to raise £5000 for a ‘middle-class’ asylum. Thomas Holloway was ‘a champion of progressive mental health care……’ and in…
John Cree was an important gardener and nurseryman of his day, and founded a successful nursery business in Addlestone. He was trained by Mr Aiton, the head gardener at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, who worked under Sir Joseph Banks…
Manor Farm is situated on Manor Farm Lane in Egham. It is a very ancient building with substantial sections dating back to the late 16th century, and the site of some remarkable examples of decorated plasterwork. It is a two-storey…
As one of three estates created under the tenancy to Chertsey Abbey, Milton Park was held by the Milton, or de Middleton, family from the year 1068 who continued to live there for over 450 years. The house has stood…
The Old Town Hall is situated on London Street next to the Crown Hotel. Designed by the architect George Briand, it was built in 1851 – 52, and stands on the site of the second Chertsey Market House. It is…
Ongar Hill, as the house was originally known, stood in the general vicinity of the junction of Avon Close and Milton Road, Addlestone. For many generations the 50 acre farm belonged to the Crockford family, with references to them as…
Until the mid 19th century, the term Ottershaw only referred to the Ottershaw Park area. From then onwards it was used to describe the area made up by the hamlets of Chertsey Lane End, Brox and Spratts. The first mention…
The former sports ground known as Petters Sports Field is to the north-east of Egham town centre, in the area now bisected by the M25 motorway. Between August 1976 and September 1977 there were two digs on the site which…
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, no provision at all was made for looking after the daughters of women prisoners. Two ladies, Mrs. Meredith and Miss Cavendish, conceived the idea of building cottages in a village as a home…
Sayes Court was a mansion, one of the largest houses in the parish of Chertsey. It was probably named after Edmund Say who owned it in the 15th century. In 1650 it was described as “a very faire timber house…
Silverlands is located in Lyne, South West of Chertsey, close to Holloway Hill road, and adjacent to Foxhills and Botleys Park. It is not known precisely when Silverlands was built. At the time of the Chertsey/Beomond Enclosure map of 1814,…
St Ann’s Hill has always been a prominent feature on the landscape of Chertsey, and historical evidence shows that it has been used by humans since prehistoric times. There have been little discovered in the way of objects from St.…
St Mary’s Church in Thorpe is said to be the oldest surviving place of religious worship in Runneymede. The nave columns have been erected on Roman brick bases, and local legend has it that the church is built on the…
St Peter’s Shared Church in Chertsey is steeped in history that stems from the Chertsey Abbey, and the lower parts of the bell tower and the chancel of St Peter’s Shared Church survive from circa 1300, when the church was…
Building work for a new church in Addlestone began in 1836, and the church was consecrated two years later. Prior to the opening of this 600 seater church, residents of Addlestone had to walk to Chertsey every Sunday. Nearly 20…
In 1885 the railway system became more developed in the Egham Hythe area, resulting in a massive expansion in agriculture, industry and housing. As a result, after the First World War, it was decided that a church was needed for…
St Peter’s Hospital is situated on the Chertsey / Lyne border. It has its origins in the Botley’s Park estate, which, by 1934, was a “colony for mental defectives”, with a group of ‘villas’ built to house patients. By 1939,…
Since 1554 at least 24 families have owned or occupied the Cedars until it became the Museum in 1972. The present building was constructed in 1815, with the annexe (Little Cedars) built during the late 1840s. The first mention of…
This memorial was erected to commemorate the 20,455 Second World War airmen who were lost during the during operations from bases in the United Kingdom and North West Europe and who have no known grave. It is situated on Cooper’s…
The Crouch Oak tree is one of the oldest trees in the Borough. The tree is now hollow, after years of decay and in 2001 removed part of an upper branch for safety reasons. This section was given to the…
This memorial is situated in three acres of meadow and woodland, opposite Magna Carta Island, Runnymede, Egham. It was erected to honour the memory of President John F. Kennedy who was assassinated in 1963. Designed by the architect G.A. Jellicoe…
This memorial is to commemorate the sealing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede meadows, Egham on the 15th June 1215. The Magna Carta is seen by many to have been the corner stone of the Common Law of England, and…
Chertsey was granted permission to have a market from at least as early as the 13th century, and this was reiterated by Elizabeth I in 1599, with the Chertsey Market Charter. It stated that a market should be held on…
The Meath Home was a voluntary-run orphanage set up by the Ministering Children’s League, founded by Lady Meath, an Ottershaw resident, in 1885. The Meath Home was built on the east side of Brox Road on land which was previously…
The School of Handicrafts in Eastworth Road, Chertsey, was founded in 1885 by Dr Thomas Hawksley, an East London doctor. It was established as a school for needy boys and its primary purpose was to give the boys a trade.…
Virginia Water lake is a large man-made expanse of water in the south-western part of Windsor Great Park. It was dug in the early 1750s by damming the river Bourne (also known as the Virginia River). There is some evidence…
Philip Southcote created the first Ferme Ornée (or ornamental farm) of its kind at Woburn Farm (then known as Wooburn Farm) in Addlestone. He and his wife, the Dowager Duchess of Cleveland, purchased the 116 acre farm in 1735, and…
Black Horse 86 New Haw Road: In existence 1785 Black Prince 300 Woodham Lane: Built 1937 Victoria Woodham Lane: Rumoured to have been opened during the building of the railway between 1837 and 1941. It suffered a fire in 1939. White Hart 08 New Haw Road: Founded in 1789,…
