Weston Green is a small suburban village and a

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 pris ...

in the Elmbridge borough of

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. This area was, until 1901, a part of

Thames Ditton Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred south-west of Charing Cross in central London. Thame ...

with which it remains contiguous and associated. Weston Green is also contiguous with

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in the borough of Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London, close to the London–Surrey border; with Esher Commons at its ...

, which provides the village's closest railway station. The village forms a rough triangle of land along the west side of the midsection of the Hampton Court Branch Line next to

Thames Ditton railway station Thames Ditton railway station serves Thames Ditton in the Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge district of Surrey, England. It is the only intermediate station on the Hampton Court Branch Line, Hampton Court branch line, down the line from . It is ...

and down to

Esher railway station Esher railway station is a station on the South West Main Line operated by South Western Railway (train operating company), South Western Railway in Surrey, England. The station adjoins the north of Esher with two footpaths skirting Sandown Par ...

(which is on the

South West Main Line The South West Main Line (SWML) is a 143-mile (230 km) major railway line between Waterloo station in central London and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many commuter areas including south wes ...

), with the split between the two being the part dual-carriageway, the A309.

History

Farm and manors

The name is derived from Westun, a farmstead covering land in the west of Thames Ditton. Weston Green appears in

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as ''Westone'' held by

Barking Abbey The Abbey of St Mary and St Ethelburga, founded in the 7th-century and commonly known as Barking Abbey, is a former Roman Catholic, royal monastery located in Barking, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It has been described as havi ...

nunnery A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Comm ...

). Its domesday assets were: 3

plough A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden ...

s. It rendered £2 per year to its

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring socie ...

overlords. The village occupies part of the lands of two manors of medieval Thames Ditton: *the manor of Weston which remained with its ecclesiastical owners (as at 1086) until shortly before the Dissolution, when

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

bought it to add to the honour (set of manors) of

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

*the manor of Immeworth (or Imworth), which belonged to Ralphe de Imworth in the reign of Henry III. According to the Chancery Rolls of 1212, King John was entertained at a residence of some size in Ditton belonging to Geoffrey Fitz Pierre, the Chief Justice, during a royal journey from

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, southwest of central London. It grew up around Chertsey Abbey, founded in AD 666 by Earconwald, St Erkenwald, and gained a municipal charter, market charter from Henry I of Engla ...

to London. It was likely the house of one of these two manors. A curious reminder of the ancient lordship of Weston is given by a notice board, which used to stand on the common, headed'' 'Manor of Weston otherwise Barking'. '' The alternative name of Barking Manor appears in surveys before the 20th century of Imber Court. The manor of Weston was annexed by Act of Parliament in 1539 and leased in the following year to John Baker. In later times, the Crown usually demised it upon lease to the owner of Imber Court. In the great Onslow sale of Imber Court in 1778, William Speer (who had acquired property in Westminster and Fulham on marrying heiress Katherine Wilson) bought the largest parcel of land, Manor Farm. In 1801 his son William bought the remains of the manor of Weston from the Crown. This comprised waste (infertile land) that was

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

and also came with the Lordship of the Manor of Weston "alias Barking". William passed on the title of Lord of the Manor of Weston to his son Wilfred Speer, and later it was inherited by Wilfred's son Wilfred Dakins Speer and then Hannibal son of Cecilia Speer and Hannibal Sandys, who took the name of Speer to conform with William's will. At about the same time that Speer bought the manor of Weston, he bought extensive 'wastes' or common lands belonging to the manors of Claygate and Imber Court, which has since been treated as part of the manor of Weston. The barn of Weston Manor Farm, built to

's order, was said to be a 'huge and splendid building'. During the reign of his younger daughter

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

the farm belonged to

Thomas Fanshawe Sir Thomas Fanshawe KB (1580 – 17 December 1631) was an English government official and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1601 and 1629. Biography Fanshawe was the second son of Thomas Fanshawe and first son by his seco ...

. It was demolished in 1962. Towards the end of the 18th century, an amateur police force of about 80 men was formed at Weston Green. In 1792, a group of

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

s was formed and based at the Harrow Inn. Their backers included William Speer of Weston Grange, Thomas Bracey and William Chauncey. From 1901 until 1939 a plain, red brick, chapel of ease here existed to the church of

. Weston Green was the

birthplace The place of birth (POB) or birthplace is the place where a person was born. This place is often used in legal documents, together with name and date of birth, to uniquely identify a person. Practice regarding whether this place should be a cou ...

of Felicia Browne (1904–1936).

Amenities

A green buffer, including the Esher and Thames Ditton Golf Course, separates Weston Green from the Littleworth Common part of

Claygate Claygate is an affluent suburban village in Surrey, England, southwest of central London. It is the only civil parishes in England, civil parish in the borough of Elmbridge. Adjoining Esher and Hinchley Wood to the west and north respectively, ...

that was also once a manor of Thames Ditton.

East Molesey East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

's part of the Imber Court and

Sandown Park Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse racin ...

neighbourhoods directly adjoin. Its relatively small green is adjoined by the larger Old Cranleighan (Sports) Club, see

Cranleigh School Cranleigh School is a Private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. History It was opened on 29 September 1865 as a boys' school 'to provide a sound and plain education, on the principle ...

. Weston Green has an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church, All Saints, built in 1939 having been designed by

Edward Maufe Sir Edward Brantwood Maufe, RA, FRIBA (12 December 1882 – 12 December 1974) was an English architect and designer. He built private homes as well as commercial and institutional buildings, and is remembered chiefly for his work on place ...

who designed

Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral in Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow, Earl Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral ...

. and an unusually rounded

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Hampton Court Way was built 1928–32. It bisects the village and became the division between the

and

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

s. *

Demography and housing

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%. The proportion of households in the settlement who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).

Local government

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Surrey, England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1974 the Conservative Party has held the majority. The leader ...

, one of the 81 representatives represents the area, that for ''The Dittons'' division. At the two tiers levels of local government, to date representatives have been from the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

more often lately a usually allied to the other
Thames Ditton & Weston Green Residents' Association
but sometimes acting independently from the other residents associations, as currently professed at the county level by Nick Darby.Electoral Divisions
Surrey County Council. Retrieved 6 November 2013 At

Elmbridge Borough Council Elmbridge may refer to these places in England: ;Current uses *Borough of Elmbridge, a district in northwest Surrey * Elmbridge, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, a suburb and electoral ward *Elmbridge, Worcestershire, a small village and civil parish ...

the ward is a smaller one than its average and elects two councillors.Your local councillors

. Retrieved 14 December 2013

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Surrey Borough of Elmbridge