Addlestone ( or ) is a town in Surrey,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is located approximately southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the

Borough of Runnymede The Borough of Runnymede is a local government district with borough status in the English county of Surrey. It is a very prosperous part of the London commuter belt, with some of the most expensive housing in the United Kingdom outside cent ...

, of which it is the largest settlement.

History

The town is recorded as ''Attelsdene'' in 1241 and its name is probably derived from that of a

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

landowner. Previously part of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of neighbouring

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in ...

, it began to grow as significant settlement in its own right from the mid-18th century. The Civic Centre, which houses the offices of

Runnymede Borough Council Runnymede is a water-meadow alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, and just over west of central London. It is notable for its association with the sealing of Magna Carta, and as a consequence is, with its adjoining hil ...

, Addlestone

Police Station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...

and the local library, opened in 2008.

Geography

Addlestone is approximately northeast of

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

and southwest of London. Narrow green buffers separate the town with

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...

and

Ottershaw Ottershaw is a village in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. The village developed in the mid-19th century from a number of separate hamlets and became a parish in its own right in 1871. Th ...

. There is no precisely defined southern boundary with

New Haw New Haw is a village which is part of the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England. It is located approximately south of Addlestone and southwest by west of London. Geography New Haw borders Byfleet, Addlestone, Weybridge, Ottershaw, West Byf ...

. Addlestone is home to the ancient Crouch Oak tree, under which it is said Queen Elizabeth I picnicked. It also marked the edge of

Windsor Forest Windsor may refer to: Places Australia *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area *Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Win ...

before it was largely cut down for fields and settlements.

Demography

At the 2001 census, Addlestone was recorded as having a population of 16,657, making it the largest settlement in the Borough of Runnymede.Surrey County Council collated census statistics, major settlements
The four wards in Addlestone have their own semi-permanent (land use) profiles: Addlestone Bourneside has the greatest proportion of privately rented homes, Addlestone North of socially rented homes. Housing in Chertsey South and Row Town which is mostly Row Town was, in 2011, 86% owner-occupied with or without a loan, the third highest proportion in Runnymede. Offices and factories are below the local averages for areas within the M25 – the most common land use being parks, playing fields, flood meadows/woodland, farms and golf courses in the form of Green Belt buffer land mentioned. The

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

accounts for the relatively large proportion of land devoted to roads for the density of population and housing.

History

The name Addlestone probably means "Attel's Denu": the valley belonging to a Saxon named Attel. Addlestone, historically called Atlesdon or Atlesford, was a part of Chertsey

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

, the basic unit of civil administration. In 1241 the place was listed as "Attelsdene" and by 1610

John Speed John Speed (1551 or 1552 – 28 July 1629) was an English cartographer, chronologer and historian of Cheshire origins.S. Bendall, 'Speed, John (1551/2–1629), historian and cartographer', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (OUP 2004/2 ...

's map shows "Adleston", halfway between named hills St. Annhill and St. Georg Hill, just south of the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

. The ''Crouch Oak'', an oak tree believed to have originated in the 11th Century, is an important symbol of the town. It used to mark the boundary of

Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for ma ...

. Legend says that

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

stopped by it and had a picnic. The tree is one of the main historic features of the town, and consequently several local businesses use its name in their title. It survived an arson attack in September 2007. Ongar Hill, in the 18th century a country house and farm now smaller homes and motorway, belonged to Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker the elder (d. 1782) instrumental in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754– ...

against Spanish interests in India and the Philippines and in the American War of Independence involved with action containing French forces based in

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and an Overseas department and region, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of ...

. Sayes Court, Addlestone, now a junior school and residential estate before demolition was a country house of a family named Moore from the 17th to the end of the 18th century. In 1823 it became the property of Sir Charles Wetherell,

Recorder (judge) A recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales and some other common law jurisdictions. England and Wales In the courts of England and Wales, the term ''recorder'' has two distinct meanings. The senior circuit judge of a borough or city i ...

of Bristol, who had it rebuilt or at least considerably altered, Deniz anneni sikeyim

Chertsey Beomond Manor/Woburn Park

Addlestone, including St George's College's grounds of Woburn Park and the remaining farms and water meadows designated

Green Belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenway (lan ...

were the western strip of Chertsey Manor or Chertsey Beomond Manor (to distinguish it from others), possessed by

Chertsey Abbey Chertsey Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, was a Benedictine monastery located at Chertsey in the England, English county of Surrey. It was founded in 666 AD by Saint Erkenwald who was the first abbot, and from 675 AD the Bishop of London. At the s ...

from the grant of land by

Frithwald Frithwald ( Old English: ''Friþuweald''ASC MS D
, s.a. 762. or ''Friðewald''; d. 762 × 764) was an

Surrey, at a date between the years 666 and 675 CE until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Adam de Woburn lived at Woburn Park in 1260 Only thirteen years after 1537 the Crown was content to lease the land rather than continue with a

steward (office) A steward is an official who is appointed by the legal ruling monarch to represent them in a country and who may have a mandate to govern it in their name; in the latter case, it is synonymous with the position of regent, vicegerent, viceroy, king ...

so Sir William Fitz William (later his widow) held the whole Chertsey Beomond manor from 1550 to 1574; later Sir

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

held it for the infant

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

who granted it specifically for his Queen, Henrietta Maria (of France). During the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and e ...

, the government sold the manor to William Aspinall who sold 292 trees of Birch Wood there for the Navy; however taken back by the Crown at the

Restoration of the monarchy Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration *Restoration ecology ...

and the first of many leases was granted; the first lease was to the first Lord Holles. For example, from 1779 to 1803 the

Duke of Bridgwater Earl of Bridgewater was a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, once for the Daubeny family (1538) and once for the Egerton family (1617). From 1720 to 1803, the Earls of Bridgewater also held the title of Duke of Bridgewa ...

held it and from an unknown date until 1827 the British Commander-in-Chief

Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (Frederick Augustus; 16 August 1763 – 5 January 1827) was the second son of George III, King of the United Kingdom and Hanover, and his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. A soldier by profes ...

, famed for the nursery rhyme and the

Duke of York Column The Duke of York Column is a monument in London, England, to Prince Frederick, Duke of York, the second eldest son of King George III. The designer was Benjamin Dean Wyatt. It is sited where Regent Street meets The Mall, a purposefully wide ...

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Alt ...

and Carlton Terrace was tenant of the lands. In the 1740s, the famed gardener,

Philip Southcote Capt. Philip Southcote (1698–1758) created an early example of the English landscape garden at Woburn (sometimes Wooburn) Farm, near Addlestone, Surrey. It was the original ''ferme ornée'' ("decorative farm"), a term invented by Stephen Switz ...

, chose to construct a two-storey house. Now a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

, it was also named Woburn Park, with an original ornamented farm (''

ferme ornée The term ''ferme ornée'' as used in English garden history derives from Stephen Switzer's term for 'ornamental farm'. It describes a country estate laid out partly according to aesthetic principles and partly for farming. During the eighteenth cen ...

'') on Woburn Hill with fields for cattle or crops, decorated with statues, grotto, vases, temples, archways and other features, much of which survives as part of St George's College. The subsequent owners of Woburn Park were: * 1783

Lord Petre Baron Petre (), of Writtle, in the County of Essex, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1603 for Sir John Petre. His family has since been associated with the county of Essex. He represented Essex in parliament and served ...

* 1816 Vice Admiral Charles Stirling, listed in deeds as Admiral Stirling but Vice-Admiral * 1834 Lord and Lady King, later Lord (Earl of and Countess of) Lovelace * 1862 Lord (2nd Earl of) Kilmorey

Since 1800

Chertsey poor law union's

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...

was in Addlestone and was built in 1836–8. Addlestone chapel was added in 1868. The Village Hall was built in 1887 by the Addlestone Village Hall Company. The Princess Mary Village Homes at Addlestone were established by the organisation and patronage of the Duchess of Teck (Princess Mary of Cambridge) in 1871: certified industrial schools for female children of prisoners, or children otherwise in a destitute or dangerous position. They were conducted on the separate homes system, and are supported by voluntary contributions, with a Treasury allowance for children committed under the Industrial Schools Act. Addlestone's schools were mostly founded in this period: St. Paul's Primary School, built 1841, enlarged 1851 and 1885, initially for girls and infants. Chertsey Urban District took over all roles of the parish and of the "

Godley Hundred Godley was a hundred in what is now Surrey, England. Egham, Thorpe, Chertsey and Chobham, Surrey, Chobham are all mentioned in the Chertsey Abbey charter of 673 AD due to a donation by Frithuwold of Surrey, Frithuwold. Chobham, Surrey, Chobham ...

" under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level u ...

. A boys' school was added in 1901. New Ham School was built in 1874. St. Augustine's School (Church) for infants was built in 1882, and Chapel Park (a church-sponsored School) in 1896. A Baptist chapel was built in Addlestone in 1872, and a Wesleyan chapel in 1898. Another ecclesiastical district of Addlestone, though today separated now by the residential development of

, called Woodham and closer to the major town of

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

was formed in 1902 on what were the boundaries of Chertsey parish and Horsell parish. By 1911 the ecclesiastical district and

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

Addlestone could be considered to have outstripped the original centre of the parish, Chertsey, in importance. According to the Victoria County History published in that year:

This ward contains the largest number of people of the three wards hertsey, Addlestone, and Outer Wardinto which the Chertsey Urban District was divided, and the number of new houses shows the growing character of the neighbourhood.

On Station Road, a large

Blériot Blériot may refer to: * Louis Blériot, a French aviation pioneer * Blériot Aéronautique, an aircraft manufacturer founded by Louis Blériot * Blériot-Whippet, a car * Bleriot (moonlet), a propeller moonlet in Saturn's A Ring * 11248 Blériot, a ...

aircraft factory was built in 1917; its several hundred aeroplanes were taken by road to

Brooklands Brooklands was a Auto racing, motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's fir ...

for final assembly and test flying. In the 1950s the site was taken over by Weymann to build buses and coaches who built the prototype of the

AEC Routemaster The AEC Routemaster is a front-engined double-decker bus that was designed by London Transport and built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles. The first prototype was completed in September 1954 and the last one ...

bus ceasing trade in the mid-1960s. Caddy's acquired part of the site to manufacture

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

s followed in 1967 by

Plessey The Plessey Company plc was a British electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after World War II by acquisition of companies and formed overseas compan ...

which moved from

Chessington Chessington is an area in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames within Greater London. Historically part of Surrey, today it is the largest salient of Greater London into that county. At the 2011 census it had a population of 18,973. Th ...

. In 1990, the site was used by Marconi. These companies were important local employers. By 2000 the site was derelict. The site was redeveloped in the early 2010s as a business park: Aviator Park.

Elevation, soil and geology

Elevations range between and . The maximum is on Row Hill recreation ground, Row Town, Addlestone; a ridge that continues to the northwest of Row Town where it is known as Ongar/Spinney Hill, where Great Grove Farm in its centre also reaches this height; the minimum is by the Thames and along the Woburn Park Stream which is the main

distributary A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distribut ...

of ''The Bourne'' the main waterway of the village, a stream rising as the ''

Windle Brook Windle may refer to: Companies * Windle (sidecar) Places * Windle, St Helens, Merseyside, England People * Bertram Windle (1858–1929), British scientist * Bob Windle (born 1944), Australian swimmer * Janice Woods Windle (born 1938), American a ...

'' in

Windlesham Windlesham is a village in the Surrey Heath borough of Surrey, England, approximately south west of central London. Its name derives from the Windle Brook, which runs south of the village into Chobham, and the common suffix 'ham', the Old Engli ...

cutting a shallow ravine, flowing past the

McLaren Technology Centre The McLaren Technology Centre is the headquarters of the McLaren Group and its subsidiaries, located on a 500,000 m2 (50-hectare) site in Woking, Surrey, England. The complex consists of two buildings: the original McLaren Technology Centre, wh ...

and Woodham then passing to the east of the village.Map
created by

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...

, courtesy of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

Eminences of the Bagshot Sand stand out above the river most notably the western hills mentioned and Woburn Hill which is AOD compared to St Ann's Hill, Chertsey's , however, is part of the landscape critical to Woburn Park and the private gardens of Woburn Hill. Major climate changes in Britain causing sea level changes in the last 2.58 million years, with mini

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

s, the ice sheets did not extend to Surrey but sand and gravel deposits swept towards the fledgling

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

were spread in all lower parts. Gravel terraces at various heights on the valley sides are the remnants of successive floodplains, the highest terrace being the oldest and the lowest the youngest. The most prominent terraces mark the former levels of the Thames in north Surrey. Along tributary slopes, a deposit,

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may no ...

, forms the main sediment of latest age. Head comprises angular pieces of rock and soil derived locally from the extensive frost-shattering of rocks and the subsequent movement of this material down valley slopes. Soil is predominantly "

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand ( particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

y soil with naturally high groundwater". Woburn Hill has "slowly permeable seasonally wet slightly acid but base-rich loamy and clayey soil".

, the southern part of the Addlestone

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

and historically a part has "freely draining slightly acid loamy soils"; so does Great Grove Farm. West of the M25 as far as the centre of

is a belt of "slightly acid loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage" soil.

Education

There are two secondary schools in Addlestone:

Jubilee High School Jubilee High School is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Addlestone, Surrey, England. The school holds Artsmark Gold Award and International School status. History The school was formed in September 1985 by ...

, state-funded and St George's College, independently funded which relocated from

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extens ...

to Woburn Park in 1884. All non-junior parts of the school occupy Woburn Park, Addlestone described above. There is also St Paul's CofE - a state school located next to Jubilee high sharing the same field next to the m25. Regular football matches are played on this field by the local football team, Hythe Hornets A range of primary and infant schools are in Addlestone which include St Paul's C of E Primary School, Ongar Place, Sayes Court, The Holy Family Catholic Primary School and Darley Dene Infant school. A few nurseries also serve the wider-area community.

Landmarks

The George Inn

Heading north from the town, towards the Addlestonemoor five-way, two-lane roundabout is a Grade II

at the renaming Brighton Road to Chertsey Road, the George Inn,The George Inn This Inn is a

Tudor Period The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began with t ...

building with 18th century and later alterations and has three

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...

s facing the road. It is now boarded up. Almost opposite is another

split into two hous