Riverside west of the Tower South (east) bank - Kingston Portsmouth Road

July 29, 2016, 1:20 am

≫ Next: The London/Surrey boundary - Thames Ditton

≪ Previous: Riverside south of the river and west of the Tower. Canbury Gardens

$

0

0

Riverside west of the Tower South (in this case it's - east) bank - Kingston Portsmouth Road

Post to the north Kingston
Post to the east Kingston
Post to the south Seething Wells

Anglesey Road
Built by developer Woods on the site of the grounds of Surbiton Hall, which was to the east of this square

East Lane
Archaeological investigations here show economic activity over a very long period but which may be associated with buildings in surrounding streets.

High Street
In the 18th it was called West by Thames.
25-29 The Malt House Office block,
39-41 these are all now chain restaurants but were a series of timber framed houses from the 16th.
52 Picton House. Built 1730 with a brick front and weatherboarded back. In the 1740s the entrance was moved to the side and a wing added. Inside are garlanded ceilings from the 1740s. It was converted to offices in 1979 following neglect and threatened demolition by Peter Jones. There is a plaque to Cesar Picton born in 1755 in Senegal. He was brought to England as a slave and became a coal merchant in Kingston
Kingston Pier. This is Turks Pier, upriver of Kingston Bridge.
58-62 Kingston Mill pub
River House. This has been in use by Kingston University since 1994. It was previously offices for the Inland Revenue.
63 The Anglers. These flats are on the site of the Anglers Pub, which was licensed from the 1860s
66 Forge House. Site of Stephen Harris’s forge. They made iron work for many local buildings and works.
Town End Wharf. Public wharf for commercial users until the 1960s. It was turned into a park and landscaped in 1964.
River based Swimming bath was moored here. This was a floating platform in the river, plus some screening, which was towed here from near Kingston Bridge in 1882 and was subject to a dispute between the local authority and the Conservators. It closed in the early 1890s.
68 Town End Pier. This is owned and operated by Turk Launches. Turks date from before 1710. Town End Pier is the company’s office base with a floating office, Aphrodite
Kingston Ferry. This ran to Town End and is apparently an ancient crossing. It was still extant in the 1930s.

Kingston Hall Road
Kingston Hall was a mansion on the site of what is now the junction with St James Road to the north and west of this square.
Kingston College. This is the main site of the College. This originated in 1899, when the Borough of Kingston upon Thames built Science and Art Schools and a Technical Institute on the present site in what is said to be the tallest building in Kingston. It is a College of Further, Higher and Adult Education having been split from what is now Kingston University in 1962.

Palace Road
So called because it is in a direct line with Hampton Court. Built by developer Woods on the site of the grounds of Surbiton Hall.

Portsmouth Road
This was part of the turnpike road between London and Portsmouth. In the 18th it was lined with trees and started at the junction with today’s High Street. The Surbiton end was for 'hired pleasure'
Queen’s Promenade had been set up by the mid-19th. In 1838 it was still a swampy area used for gravel extraction and the earth slips on the foreshore had weakened the main road. There were many accidents so Brunel was asked to do it but his scheme was too expensive. Developer William Woods had intended to build a causeway to the houses he was building and following a deal with the Kingston Board a promenade was built for public use. This was made of earth from Chelsea Water Works filter beds which were being built upstream and there was also support of expertise from the City of London. The old public landing called Rampier's Wharf was moved to Town Wharf. So the new embankment was opened by Queen Victoria; but following a later collapse was rebuilt using stone from old Blackfriars Bridge. The area had been called Towns End, then Queen's Parade, then Queen's Road. A Bandstand was built to commemorate Alderman Marsh,
1 Hermes Hotel. 17th house facing the river
19 Army Centre. Drill Hall used by the 4th Battalion The Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment. Since then used as headquarters of a Field Ambulance’. This is on the site of a house once occupied by the family of the artist Millais who tried to bring culture to Kingston.
St.Raphael Roman Catholic Church built 1846/7. It faces the Thames and was built by Mr.Raphael, MP, as thanks for recovery from illness. It was designed by architect Charles Parker in an Italianate style, with early Christian and Renaissance influences. The cost was met by Alexander Raphael, a Catholic Armenian whose family came from India. He was the first Roman Catholic to be elected Sheriff of London. The Church was built as a family chapel but in 1850, Raphael died. His nephew, Edward, inherited it and opened it to the public. It remained with the family until it was sold to the Diocese of Southwark after the Second World War.
28 Angelsea Lodge/The Limes. Home of engineer John Dixon who brought Cleopatra’s Needle to London. Built in the 1870s.

South Lane
1 Scouts. The building belongs to the 3rd Kingston Scout Group which was founded in 1913, followed by a Cub group in 1919. Their original meeting place was at the All Saints' Mission Hall in Wood Street. They fund raised for their own building which opened in 1928. This site was compulsorily purchased in 1966 to allow for the building of the Crown Court. The current building was provided by McAlpine's and opened by Rowan Bentall in 1973. The Group first admitted girls in 1992.
Wilcox Automobiles Workshops and MOT Centre. Archaeological work here uncovered remains from periods from the Bronze Age onwards but particularly late medieval settlement remains. The site is thought to have been the yard of a butchers shop.
Mineral water factory. This was the earliest such factory set up by Thomas Raynsford in the 1850s. The business later expanded and moved to Ashdown Road
Maltings. A malthouse is shown on 19th maps at the south end of the road.

Surbiton Road
Malthouses are shown on both sides of the road at the end nearest the river in hr 1860s
3 The Elms. Built in the 1770s by George Wadbrook
Clock House. This house stood near the river and there are said to be remains in the gardens on the corner of Woodbines Avenue. It dated from 1793

The Bittoms
The name might refer to a low lying meadow. It is said to have been an area of malthouses in the 19th.
Kingston Pure Ice and Storage Co. This stood east of the junction with South Lane – across the road from the current Scouts building. It was extant pre Second World War

Uxbridge Road
33-35 Kingston & Surbiton District Synagogue. There were many Jews in Kingston in the 19th and early 20th centuries. During the 1920s, services and a cheder were held at a house in Catherine Road. After the Second World War three ladies were instrumental in sitting up Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services at the local Assembly Rooms. By the early 1950s the community owned a site and became affiliated to the United Synagogue. In June 1954 the foundation stone of the present synagogue was laid.

Woodbines Avenue
Name from Woodbines Estate which derived from the Clock House on the corner of Surbiton Road

Sources
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Greater London Council, Thames Guidelines
Hawkins. Archaeological investigations at East Lane and South Lane
Kingston & Surbiton District Synagogue. Web site
London Borough of Kingston. Web site, 
London Transport, Country Walks
Pevsner and Cherry .South London
Pevsner. Surrey
Sampson. All Change
Shepherd and Laws. The Bittoms
St. Raphael. Web site
Surrey Archaeological Collections. Web site
13th Kingston Scouts. Web site
Tucker. Ferries of the Lower Thames
Turk Bros. Web site

---

The London/Surrey boundary - Thames Ditton

July 29, 2016, 8:36 am

≫ Next: The London/Surrey Border - East Moseley

≪ Previous: Riverside west of the Tower South (east) bank - Kingston Portsmouth Road

$

0

0

The London/Surrey boundary - Thames Ditton

The London/Surrey boundary goes along the middle of the river, passing on the north side of Thames Ditton Island.

This post shows only sites south of the river on this square. North is Hampton Court Park

Post to the west Thames Ditton and Hampton Court Park
Post to the east Seething Wells

South Bank - sites in London, Richmond

Boyle Farm Road
Home of Compassion. This was originally was Boyle Farm, probably Georgian and facing the river. 19th stables and chapel built in 1925. Closed. The house was built on the site of Forde's Farm by Charlotte Boyle Walsingham in the late 18th century. Some farm buildings and outhouses remain. There were many alterations done by later owners and much of the grounds were sold for building. In 1906 it was bought by an Anglican religious order and used as a nursing home. There is said to be a tunnel under the road going to the Home Farm.

Church Walk
St. Nicholas Church. A church has been here since the 12th but has had many alterations; it is now wider than it is long. It did not become a parish church until 1769 and had previously been part of Kingston parish. The squat 13th tower has a 15th supporting arch and a timber-boarded bell-chamber with a spire – an important example of Surrey woodwork. There is a Norman font with crude carvings, including one of a goat, upside down – this may be zodiacal or Gnostical signs from local Templars. On a roof beam are panels showing part of a painting of the Day of Judgement. There is an Easter Sepulchre, in the form of a six poster bed with crenulations. Above it a small, and very old window. A mausoleum for the Hatton family was built in 1676 but has been used as a vestry since 1781. Monuments: Erasmus Forde’s canopied tomb of 1533 is older than that date and may have been a chantry tomb or confessional from a destroyed church. There are also 16th brasses and monuments to Sidney Godolphin, Robert Smythe, and John Cheke...
Churchyard: Cast bronze scroll on gravestones to the foreman moulder in the foundry. Cast iron grave marker with lead lettering inserts Church used by Lamb. Poet in the gravestones.
War memorial. Made of bronze.
National School here from 1840 and rebuilt in 1860...

Ferry Road
Long Ditton Ferry.
The Ferry – now a gastro pub

High Street
The old Slaughter House. Timber building listed Grade II, used as a picture gallery. This is a late 16th barn which was used in the 19th by Richard Porter, who kept a herd of deer in local fields.
Swan Inn. Overlooking the river - was called 'Swan of the Thames’. Originating in a row of cottages it has been a pub since 16th. Claims to have been approved of by Henry VIII. Has its own jetty.
George and Dragon. Retains a village local atmosphere
Church Cottage. On the site of a Tudor House
Horse trough and drinking fountain. Presented in 1870 by the Lord of the Manor and erected on the site of the parish stocks, but now the roundabout at the junction with St. Leonard’s Road.
56 Picton House. Cesar Picton was an 18th Senegalese slave who become a wealthy businessman based in Kingston, but bought this house in 1816 for £4000.
Ferry Works. Built 1880 by Willans and Robinson to make high speed engines for launches. It had been rebuilt after a fire in 1888. They moved to Rugby in 1890 and eventually became part of GEC. The factory had the earliest known example of a saw tooth north light roof in 1911.
AC Motors – Autocarriers Ltd. – moved to Ferry Works in 1907. The company made the AC Tricar, a three wheeler, and had been started by John Weller in Norwood. Throughout the First World War the factory made shells, and a four wheeled car was brought out in 1918. In 1919 the produced an engine, which remained in production until 1963. The firm had a relationship with the Brooklands Race Track, breaking many records. On the wall of the factory was painted ‘Amazing Cars’. An AC was the first British car to run in a Monte Carlo Rally in 1925. The company was restructured several times and by 1930 Ferry Works was closed and the production continued in the High Street. New cars were brought out and the slogan was ‘the Saville Row of Motordom’. In the Second World War the works again went over to wartime motor and aircraft production but cars were being made again by 1947. They also made invalid carriages, the trains which ran on Southend Pier and diesel railcars for BR. In 1954 they launched the AC Ace which won many prizes as a racing car and other racing models followed. The company had major financial problems through the 1970s and left Thames Ditton.
Rola Celestion at Ferry Works where they made the 'Ditton' Range of loudspeakers.

Portsmouth Road
Filter beds – built by the Lambeth Water Company and an extension of the water works north east of here.
City Arms Pub

Thames Ditton
The village is first mentioned in a charter of 983. In Saxon times it was part of Kingston Hundred and is in the Domesday Book as Ditone and Ditune. After the Conquest, it was owned by Merton Priory.

The Rythe
The Rythe is the boundary between Kingston and Thames Ditton. The river rises near Oxshott and follows the Portsmouth Road in its final stretches.

Riverside path
Houses with private gardens to the rivers edge

St Leonard Road,
On Kingston Zodiac this, obviously, is on the Lion.

Summer Road
An old water tower on the wall of a private house opposite The Swan
Thames Ditton statue foundry... Demolished. The hand operated travelling gantry crane for all major lifting work, was an integral part of the building it was rescued and stored. The foundry was founded in 1874 by Cox and Sons, to cast statues in bronze, and produced many major castings. It became Drew and Co in 1880, then Moore and Co in 1883, and then A B Burton in 1902. In 1933. The business was closed and sold the foundry in 1939 and was used by London Metal Warehouses for industrial castings, and then as a metal warehouse and demolished in 1976. Eros was cast here as well as the Quadriga on the Wellington Arch, and much else.
Thames Ditton Ferry. The ferry was still operational in the 1950s.


Sites in the River Thames

Boyle Farm Island
This is in Surrey and has one house on it.

Swan Island
The only building was a watchman’s hut.

Thames Ditton Island,
Suspension bridge to it from the shore, 1939.
Flat, with bungalows

This page, like others, has been compiled over many years and from many sources. I would however like to particularly mention The Industrial Archaeology of Elmbridge, and other works by the Surrey Industrial History Group and also Gordon Knowles’s book on the Motor in Surrey.

The London/Surrey Border - East Moseley

July 29, 2016, 9:20 am

≫ Next: The London/Surrey border - Hampton Court riverside path

≪ Previous: The London/Surrey boundary - Thames Ditton

$

0

0

The London/Surrey Border - East Moseley/Hampton Court

The boundary between Surrey/London goes on up the middle of the river
The River Mole joins the River Ember and they flow into the Thames

Posh houses - many with great pedigrees clustered round the grandeur of Hampton Court - but there is, or was, some riverside industry here.

This post includes sites south of the river only. North of the river is Hampton Court

Post to the west East Molesey
Post to the south Thames Ditton

South of the River - sites in Surrey, Elmbridge

Bridge Road
23 Prince of Wales pub. Was The Railway Hotel but originally ‘The Prince of Wales and Railway Hotel’ 1853. Gothic. Hampton Court bridge was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1933.
45 old bank with a carved front.
Cloud Nine was the Caernarvon Castle 1867. also called Ferryboat Inn
Tagg’s (or Thames) Hotel 1887. In other use and has lost part of its roof. In 1887, Harry Tagg, a member of the family of watermen, had a house in Bridge Road which backed onto his riverside boat works, which he used as refreshment rooms. He later built a magnificent hotel on the corner, called Thames Hotel.
62 A purpose built cinema, opened in 1912 as the "East Molesey and Hampton Court Picture Hall", it was purchased by one of the cinema chains in 1932, modernised and re-named "The Court Cinema". It closed in 1937 and the premises were taken over as a printing works.
Castle Inn. Ancient inn demolished when the bridge was built.Site under the current roundabout.
Horse trough . At the junction with Wolsey Road. Part of a marble drinking fountain erected for the Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

Hampton Court Parade.
Built 1930s.

Cigarette Island
It is now no longer really an island, - it is the space on which the station stands and the public open space behind it. The area was formerly for the growing osiers for the manufacture of baskets. In 1926, old East and West Molesey UDC wanted to turn the areas into a public park, to curb the 'ever-increasing nuisance of caravan dwellers and occupiers of sheds'. But it was not until 1935 that the Office of Works, agreed to buy it and the freehold transferred to Esher UDC.
Until the 19th Cigarette Island was called 'The Sterte', and is recorded as that as early as 1306. This comes from the Old English word 'Steart', a tail of land - a description of its site between the two rivers. By 1843 it was called 'Davis's Ait' after the owners of the Castle Inn. The present name comes from a houseboat called ‘Cigarette’ which belonged to Sir Henry Foreman, Member of Parliament and Mayor of Hammersmith.
Avenue of chestnuts along the southern edge
Jolly Boatman. Gone.

Creek Road
This end of the Mole was known as the Creek until the 1930s when it was diverted.

Ember Reach

Feltham Avenue
Substation. A corrugated iron building which is now used as an electricity substation and workshop, was originally the Trinity Church at New Malden. It was purchased, dismantled, re-erected here, and opened as a public hall in 1882 and later transferred to its present use.

Hampton Court Green
Mitre Hotel. An inn from 1666. Built by the King's Sergeant. John Burns pawned his wedding ring so that he could eat his wedding breakfast there. It has an early 19th front and is at pains to advertise its modern facilities.
The Green the Keeper's House – the other half is Palace Gate House rebuilt in 1716, divided in two in 1734. Listed
Palace Gate House, the Keeper's House – the other half is The Green, rebuilt in 1716, divided in two in 1734. Listed
Old Court House. Originally built in 1536 as the house for the Surveyor of Works. In 1808 it was joined to the house on the right, then in 1960 detached again. In 1708 it was leased to Christopher Wren who may have made alterations to it. There is a tulip tree in the garden. Listed
Paper House, was the Royal Gardener's house. Front rebuilt 1713. Listed. It has a network of vine and creeper over the façade.
Faraday House with a central bay, originally one with Cardinal's House, as the Masons' New Lodge, rebuilt in 1713- 15 by Wren.. For 300 years the Master Mason's lodging. Listed. Named after Michael Faraday who lived there as a grace and favour dwelling for the last 19 years of his life. It was late the home of Sophia Duleep Singh a suffragette. 16th outbuildings
Cardinal's House. Has a Masonic window. 1713-15 Listed
Rotary Court. The New Toy Inn of 1839, an unsuccessful venture converted to three houses in 1856. It is the largest house on this side of the Green with eleven bays. Later a hospital, since the 1970s flats for the elderly and more recently refurbished as flats.
Prestbury House. Early 18th
White House. 1751.
Chetwynd House c. 1790,
Craven House. Built soon after 1784, altered in 1869 and now let out as flats.
Faraday Cottage & Kings Store Cottage listed
Old Office House. Listed
Court Cottage. The Master Carpenters Lodge 1703. It has an early c 18 front of five bays. Listed
Priestly House, 1743, Priestly never lived there

Hampton Court Way
Built in the early 1930s to form an approach to the new bridge.
Hampton Court Station. 1849. Terminus of line from Thames Ditton on South Western Rail .The station was built on an artificial island between the mouths of the Mole and Ember, which had originally been created by a creek serving a watermill and connecting the two rivers. Built deliberately to pick up the tourist trade it is in Jacobean red brick in keeping with the palace. Possible that the first trains swore horse drawn. Locomotive shed with steep pitched roof and buttresses. In 1869 it was renamed ‘Hampton Court and East Moulsey’. Much done up in the 1930s – including a proposed cinema –and a fancy wall built along the length of the station.
Ember Bridge. Was the only major engineering works on the line.
Locomotive shed built 1895 south of the Ember Bridge. Later in use as a plastics factory.
Goods yard. Closed 1965
Greyhound
Our Lady of Lourdes. 1965 segmented shell concrete dome. Sculpture

Queen’s Reach
Built as a gated community early 1990s

Riverbank
Harry Tagg boat works along built in the 1870s. still stands on the corner of Feltham Avenue

River Mole
In the 1930s the Mole was diverted into the River Ember above East Molesey Mill and the Creek was filled in following road and bridge building.
East Molesey Lower Mill, also known as Sterte Mill. An old timber structure was replaced by a brick building in the 1820's which can still be seen. This was the mill for the manor of Molesey Prior and it was about three hundred yards from the junction of the Mole and the Thames. There are records of work there in the early 13th . Under Henry VIII the mill was Crown property and let separately from the manor but continued to grind corn. Under the Commonwealth it was taken over by a gunpowder manufacturer called John Samine He enlarged the mill and erected others probably making at least two mills at each site. He also had a dwelling house here, most likely standing near to the upper mills, which in 1664 was the largest house in East Molesey. In 1666 local people petitioned the king " to order that the said mills may be taken away or removed to such distance from the said Towne that your petitioners may quietly enjoy their habitation and not be left in such perpetual fear and terror". In due course Sterte Mill, reverted to grinding corn., at least part of the premises were used at one time for milling lead, and as late as 1819 a portion was described as " formerly a Lead Mill" . in 1822, it was demolished and a brick-built mill was erected. This rebuilding is commemorated on a stone plaque still to be seen in the present building. By 1846 besides the milling of flour there was sawing of timber and the supply of slates and a building was constructed on the east side of the mill which is shown on a print of 1849. The flour mill had fifteen pairs of stones.. A house was built on land belonging to the mill, fronting onto Creek Road, named "Creek House". In the 1914 Zenith Motor Company who manufactured motor cycles in Weybridge moved to the mill and remained until they were bankrupted in 1930. the mill was sold to C. Nielson and Son, as a factory for the production of sails and tents and the firm developed into what was at one time one of the largest tenting contractors in the country. in 1938 a part of the mill premises were taken over by Messrs Gays (Hampton) Ltd., toolmakers and precision engineers. for the manufacture of parts for Bristol "Blenheim" bomber aircraft. The company was the first to manufacture bomb carriers for eight thousand pound "block busters".

River Thames
Hampton Court Bridge, built in 1933 by Sir Edwin Lutyens, across the Thames and designed for road traffic. It has a single concrete arch with red facing bricks and a central shield. The site of the crossing had had a ferry since the middle ages. The first bridge was built in 1752–53, and was privately owned bridge by a James Clarke. It had seven wooden arches, and was built in the design of the Willow pattern brdge. It was replaced by a more sturdy wooden structure in 1778. By 1840 it was dilapidatted and the City Corporation had created Molesey Lock and Weir making navigation through the bridge dangerous. Another bridge was built in 1866, , designed by E. T. Murray with wrought iron lattice girders resting on four columns with battlemented brick walls - one of which remains on the south bank. The modern bridge is thus fourth on the site. It is Grade II listed.
Molsey Lock. built by the City Corporation in 1815 and is the second longest on the river. Beside the lock there are rollers for the transfer of small boats. It was rebuilt in the mid 1800s and again in 1905/6 and yet again in 1964/5 when the original wooden beams were removed and a new hydraulic system


Sources
Stidder.Watermills of Surrey
Penguin Book of Surrey,
Haselfoot, Batsford Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of South East England.
Pev Surrey
London Transport Country Walks
Stevenson. Middlesex
Walford. Village London,
London Encyclopedia
Middlexsex County Council. History of  Middlesex
Pevsner and Cherry. South London,
Headley and Meulenkamp, Follies
The Kingston Zodiac
Clunn. The Face of London
London Night and Day,
Greater London Council. Thames Guidelines,
London Transport. Wren
Middlesex Churches,
Gunpowder Mills Gazette

The London/Surrey border - Hampton Court riverside path

July 29, 2016, 9:36 am

≫ Next: London Surrey border Hurst Park

≪ Previous: The London/Surrey Border - East Moseley

$

0

0

The London/Surrey border - Thames Ditton

A square by square look at London


This square includes only sites to the north of the river. To the south is Thames Ditton

The London/Surrey boundary goes straight up the middle of the river

The river Ember flows north east

Post to the west Molesey
Post to the north Hampton Court
Post to the east Hampton Court Park and Thames Ditton to the south

North Side - London, Richmond

Pavilion Terrace

This work has been compiled over many years and from many different sources

London Surrey border Hurst Park

July 29, 2016, 11:35 am

≫ Next: The London/Surrey border - West Molesey and Platts Eyot

≪ Previous: The London/Surrey border - Hampton Court riverside path

$

0

0

v
The Surrey/London Boundary carries on up the middle of the river

Post to the west Hampton and West Molesey and Platt's Eyot
Post to the south East Molesey

This post covers only sites south of the river. North of the river is Hampton
Hampton

South Bank - Surrey, Elmbridge

Hurst Park
Hurst Park Racecourse
boxing previously. Now a housing estate. Wates 1962 onwards. Hurst Park Racecourse at one time was provided with electricity from the Immisch charging plant on the Island.
Old People’s Homes 1967
Hurst Park Primary School. 1965 neat
Hurst Park Open Space.

River Thames

Taggs Island
Used by gypsies 1907
Karsino - used by Fred Karno
Small colonies of bungalows and houseboats Thames Guidelines. Bridge to it from the shore, flat, small scale colourful. Was Walnut Tree Island, no evidence Tagg moved there from Platt’s Eyot.
Motor factory for AC

Garrick’s Ait

This work has been compiled over many years and from many sources - clearly The Buildings of England has been very helpful for the posher houses of this section.

The London/Surrey border - West Molesey and Platts Eyot

July 29, 2016, 11:52 am

≫ Next: Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Walton Apps Court

≪ Previous: London Surrey border Hurst Park

$

0

0

The London/Surrey border - West Molesey and Platts Eyot

The London/Surrey boundary carries on up the middle of the river.  North of the river is Hampton

This post covers only sites south of the River

Post to the east Hampton and Hurst Park
Post to the south West Molesey
Post to the west Kempton Park

South of the River - Surrey, Elmbridge

West Molesey
Wharf was a busy cargo wharf, pick up place for ferries, Hurst Park was next to it.
Lambeth Waterworks intake in 1872 and Chelsea Waterworks Intake in 1875. Both had pumping stations and concrete wharves on the bank. Chelsea abandoned in 1924, engine house foundations there, very overgrown. Lambeth also abandoned then and foundations and front steps of Engine House still there.
West Molesey wharf, until early this .century it was very active with cargoes generally carried in sailing barges) of coal, timber, building materials. The-wharf was also used as a pick up point for Platt’s Eyot the works ferryman for- staff who lived on that side of the river.


River Thames

Platt’s Eyot
Islands on the Thames are invariably referred to by the ancient name of 'ayot' pronounced "eight" prefixed with the name of a previous and well known owner. In this particular case it was a resident of Molesey by the name of Platt who used the Eyot for the growing of withies.
Bridge to it from the shore, rabbits got over it and caused trouble. 'Gateway' to London. It rises 'significantly' out of the water.
Osiers. used for the making of eel bucks, fish traps, and numerous other items. varieties used were Salix viminalis and Salix purpurea. last used for osiers in 1884 by E.Clark of Sunbury Ferry and Tom Tagg of Molesey.
Spoil from reservoirs Excavation of the filter beds began in 1900 and spoil was disposed dumped on Platt's Eyot. The result being was barren tumulus in 1901. because of the weight the water-company installed camp shedding at strategic points.
Pipes. In 1888 a channel was driven through the island, which took water from the river on the Middlesex side leaving a and wet dock which became part of the boatyard. Water from this channel percolated down to earthenware pipes laid with open joint. Water flowed through a tunnel under the river to the engine house. The remains of two large cast iron valves are still on the south side of the island. There is also the remains of a brick shaft with iron rungs down to another valve.
Tom Tagg boatyard. A Dutchman by the name of Taag came to Hampton Court in the18th Tom Tagg started boat building on Platt's c.1860. He built house boats, one of which was Satsuma a double storey craft for Hewett of Hampton. Tagg's business was called "The Island Works” and in 1864 his house and offices had a water tower. Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company agreed that Taggs would keep a quarter of the island, the company bought the rest
Immisch built electric launches and a charging station. Inmisch undertook Thornycroft contracts using the old Tagg boatbuilding sheds and workshops. Moritz Immisch was interned at the outbreak of war in 1914.
Thornycroft's need larger premises than their works at Chiswick. they movedthe building of small craft here and the yard became Hampton Launch Works Ltd.in the First World War was fantastic they built C.M.B's (Coastal Motor Boats); powered by a Thornycroft V12 engine and carried a single torpedo fired from the stern. In peace time they built luxury yachts craft for foreign navies, passenger boats tugs. In the 1960s taken over by Vospers and The Hampton yard was taken over by of Port Hampton Ltd.,
Slip 1 1916 by A.A.H.Scott for Thorneycroft for building fast torpedo carrying launches for the Admiralty. Slipway timber framed with zinc sheeting. Industrial glass in fixed casement.
Slip 2 . With Belfast Truss roof.
3. as 1 & 2
4. As 1 & 2 Curved slipway and thus curved unusual roof.
Offices. 1864 but really 1890 brief might have been built by Tagg or they might be Thorneycroft's rebuilt sheds from Chiswick.
Shed over the wet dock 1913.

Material for this work has been collected over many years and from many source. Clearly The Buildings of England has been useful for some of the posher housing and material from members of GLIAS for both the water works and Platts Eyot

Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Walton Apps Court

July 30, 2016, 3:18 am

≫ Next: Riverside.south of the Thames and west of the Tower. Walton at Sunbury Lock

≪ Previous: The London/Surrey border - West Molesey and Platts Eyot

$

0

0

Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Walton Apps Court

Post to the east West Molesey
Post to the west Walton Sunbury Lock

Hurst Road
Apps Court Farm. Apps Court Farm is now a multipurpose 82 acre park comprising grassland with woods and fishing lakes. There are also many activities such as car boot sales and the like. The farm is the only remaining part of the Apps Court Estate which lay on both sides of Hurst Road and was purchased by the Metropolitan Water Board in 1899.  The main part of the manor now lies under the Bessborough and Knight reservoirs. When the water board bought the site they also bought a duty of customary tenure which had existed since the time of Edward II. This meant that ale and bread had to be given to the poor on All Saints Day. The board intended to ignore this but was eventually forced to transfer annuities to the Charity Commission.
Old tower site– this is shown on maps of the 1890s alongside the water works buildings. There is also said to be the fragment of a Homestead moat.
Reservoirs. On the north side of the road - the four reservoirs to the east (see square to the east) are now out of use for water storage and used for gravel extraction. Two storage reservoirs had been planned by the Southwark and Vauxhall Company when it was taken over by the Metropolitan Water Board,
Southwark and Vauxhall Water Co had planned a works here in 1898. This was to include an intake from the River Thames, filter beds and a pumping station near here. The scheme was taken over by the Metropolitan Water Board.
Hurst Road Pumping and Filtration Station.  After the Metropolitan Water Board had been set up the existing plans by the various private companies were reviewed and it was decided to concentrate all pumping requirements in one station here. Charles E. Hearson, Chairman of the Works and Stores Committee of the Metropolitan Water Board, laid the foundation stone in 1908. The red brick building was designed by James Restler then Deputy Chief Engineer to the Metropolitan Water Board.  It was opened when the engines were started in 1911 by John Burns, the President of the Local Government Board. There were originally four inverted vertical triple-expansion steam engines by Thames Ironworks Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Each driving a double stage centrifugal pump lifting 114 million litres of water per day. There were 10 boilers by Babcock & Wilcox, Renfrew supplied with coal from a wharf, which remains. . An overhead ropeway ran from the boiler house to the wharf. Water leaving the reservoirs flows by gravity to the filter beds at Hampton.  An extension was built which was opened in 1926 by Neville Chamberlain, Minister of Health updating the engines and allowing for a scheme to pump water to Honor Oak. . In 1964.The steam engines were replaced by electric power. It remains operational though now run by Thames Water since privatisation in 1989. One of the original steam engines remains though it is no longer operational.
Main to Honor Oak . This was laid from 1917 with work undertaken by Mowlem. It was completed in 1925
Intake.  This was built by the Metropolitan Water Board as part of their scheme opened in 1911. It is an open channel 439m long and 6.7m wide, which brings water to the pumping station for distribution to either the Walton Reservoirs or the Island Barn Reservoir
Filter beds. Additional beds were opened in 1950 on the west side of the pumping station
Ring Main Shaft.  The new London water ring main passes under this site at about 45 metres underground. It was a Construction site with an access shaft. The ring main connects to these shafts at a depth of 40m
Walton Advanced Water Treatment Works. This was built on a 45 acre site alongside the existing plant. It was completed in 1995. The site has three blocks to accommodate new treatment techniques and a fourth block houses the washwater treatment process. The buildings and grounds are landscaped as to minimise the visual impact. Walton feeds the Ring Main with about 50 Ml/d of treated water per day. The Water Supply Regulations Act of 1989 was introduced to tackle pesticides which find their way into water sources. Here were developed processes using Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) and Ozone. Counter Current- 3 Dissolved Air Floatation and Filtration is unique to Walton and further aids particle removal.
Bessborough– see square to the east
Knight Reservoir. This square covers the north eastern part of the reservoir. It was built by the Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company, from 1898 and designed by their engineer, J.W.Restler. The reservoir opened in 1907 with a capacity of 480 gallons. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It was named for Sir Henry Knight Chair of the Southwark and Vauxhall Company.
Coal Tax marker post. This is said to be in the grounds of the Advanced Treatment works


Riverside
Coal post on the south bank of the Thames 800 yards east of Sunbury Lock

Sources
Apps Court Farm .Web site
Elmbridge Council. Web site
Engineering Time Lines. Web site
Greater London Council. Thames Guidelines,
Industrial Archaeology of Elmbridge
Industrial Archaeology of Surrey
Metropolitan Water Board. London’s Water Supply
Pastscape.Web site
Thames Water. Web site
Walford. Village London

Riverside.south of the Thames and west of the Tower. Walton at Sunbury Lock

July 30, 2016, 2:41 pm

≫ Next: Riverside - south of the river and west of the Tower. Walton Waterside

≪ Previous: Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Walton Apps Court

$

0

0

Riverside.south of the Thames and west of the Tower. Walton at Sunbury Lock

This post consists of sites south of the Thames for this square only

Post to the east Walton Apps Court
Post to the west Wheatley's Ait and Walton Waterside

Sunbury Lock Ait

Sunbury Lock Ait. This island has no residential accommodation and is accessible by a footbridge over the lock as well as walkways on the lock gates. There is a bridge to Wheatley's Ait across the weir, but this is not open to the public.  The island predates the deepening of the navigation and was previously known as "Sunbury Church Ait". It was bought by the City of London Corporation from about six proprietors for the site of the lock, which was predated by a flash weir. The footbridge and old lock house are on the site of the original lock

Coal post in the grounds of the Yacht Club, north side of Sunbury Lock Ait.

Middle Thames Yacht club. Founded in 1956.

Wilson’s Boat Yard

Riverside

Sunbury Lock. This is on the south bank at Sunbury.  There are a series of locks and two in current use. These are downstream of the original lock which was built in 1812 having been planned in 1805 and was built with the lock cut was created out of an existing channel beside the island and a lock house. By 1852 major water extraction from this section of the river led to a rebuilding. The lock was relocated to its present site with a new lock house.  There are two locks - One is hand-operated and was built in 1856. A second lock was opened in 1927 by Lord Desborough, then Chair of Thames Conservancy, and includes a slide for small boats.

Sunbury Weir. The earliest weir was built in 1789 to divert water and make a deeper channel for navigation. The main weir is between Sunbury Lock Ait and Wheatley's Ait. There is another weir at the upstream end of Wheatley's Ait.

Old Sunbury Lock House

Waterside Drive

“Sunbury Lock Gas Works” This is actually a tank farm owned by BPA, the British Pipeline Agency Ltd.  Here aviation fuel is received by pipeline and pumped to Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

Weir Hotel. This riverside pub and hotel dates from the late 1870s.

Sources

Industrial Archaeology of Elmbridge

Middle Thames Yacht Club. Web site

Pub History. Web site

Sunbury Matters. Web site

Sweet Thames Run Smoothly. Web site

Wikipedia. Web site. As appropriate

---

Riverside - south of the river and west of the Tower. Walton Waterside

August 1, 2016, 2:47 am

≫ Next: Riverside south of the river and west of the Tower. Walton Bridge

≪ Previous: Riverside.south of the Thames and west of the Tower. Walton at Sunbury Lock

$

0

0

Riverside - south of the river and west of the Tower. Walton Waterside

Post to the west Lower Halliford
Post to the north Walton at Sunbury Lock

This post covers sites to the south (well in this case, east, but you know what I mean) of the river only. The post for the north bank is Sunbury Wheatley's Ait

Cambridge Road
Was New Road built 1890s
1 Toad Hall Nursery’ 
Cambridge House. Eurotech. Information Management Company working for the oil and gas industry since the early 1990’s
45 site of warehouse and industrial unit. Now replaced by housing it wad latterly a drinks warehouse.


Dudley Road
Thames Valley Skiff Club. This is a skiff and punting club, founded in 1923.  Skiffs are traditional wooden boats which are sculled with a pair of blades. Punting is carried out competitively at regattas. The club organises a club regatta and hosts Walton Reach Regatta. The Club house is at the end of Dudley Road and faces the river. They originally used Rosewell's Boathouse, then Clark's boathouse in Sunbury.   After 1945 they used the Anglers pub in Walton, before taking over the old Council bathing place for their club house.
Bathing Pavilion. This belonged to Walton Council and consisted of a wooden shed like building with two wings plus a jetty into the river and a stone river wall. It was on the riverside at the end of Dudley Road.  It was extended by the council 1912. It does not appear to have survived the Second World War.


Felix Road
Walton Plastics Ltd. Works extant here in the 1950s-60s. The site is now housing
Felix Road Recreation Ground also called Thamesmead Recreation Ground
1st Walton Viking Sea Scouts. Scouting was started in 1907 and the 1st Walton was registered then with Scout Headquarters as ‘Boy Scouts’. It was not until 1910 that Sea Scouts were formed. The present HQ was built as a boys club and stood alone surrounded by fields with access from Sunbury Lane called Accommodation Road. In 2012 the Group hope to move to the river end of the recreation ground.


Franklyn Road
7 Walton Comrades Club. Club with music and bar founded in 1923
Hawks End Farm
Pumping Station. This is shown on maps at the very end of the path which extend from Franklyn Road to what would be a junction with Sunnyside through Rivernook Farm (in square to the south). This is conjecturally the remains of Walton Vestry sewage works set up at Apps Court in the 1890s. Sewage here was just poured onto the land.  In 1950 it was closed down and pumped to Esher
Pumping house – second one to the west 1890s


Sunbury Lane
Walton Rowing Club. This was set up in 1927 with input from other local river based organisations. The club stopped operating during the Second World War and a clubhouse and boat house were set up at Sunbury Lane in 1953.


Terrace Road
42 site of John of Gaunt Pub. This was later renamed The Walton and later still demolished. It dated from the early 20th
44 Walton Business Centre. This is an industrial unit previously known as Enterprise House. It appears to have originally been a factory dating from soon after the Second World War.
68-70 The Grove. This pub was previously called The Magpie
Allotments. These belong to Walton Charity. This originated before 1212 when land grants included a contribution for the local poor.  These charities were consolidated in 1984.
Grovelands Primary School. The school was originally built by Surrey County Council in 1908
143 Thamesfield Farm. This has been owned by Surrey County Council since 1911. Alongside the farm house is a large and important looking black barn


Thamesmead
The site previously was a field where horses were grazed by Gridley Miskin, timber merchants. They were used to bring timber from barges moored at the wharf at the end of Felix Road.
Local authority flats and houses

Waterside Drive
Gravel workings - inland of the road was a quarry and landfill site. Gravel working here was undertaken by Thames River Grit Co Ltd during the late 1940's and 1950's. It was then land filled with waste.
Elmbridge Leisure Centre. The Elmbridge Xcel Leisure Centre was set up around 2006 bad includes two swimming pools, a gym, indoor courts and a climbing wall. There is an associated car park, and artificial football pitch, which comprises a changing
BP Oil Storage depot with a series of underground tanks, storing aviation fuel. Set up on the previous gravel pit area.
Government Oil Pipeline from Fawley. This crosses the areas
Walton Casuals F.C. This football club   plays at the Franklyn Road Sports adjacent to the new Elmbridge Xcel Leisure Centre. They are nicknamed The Stags. Their site includes Little Tots Play Cafe

Sources
Elmbridge Council. Web site
Elmbridge Excel Leisure Centre. Web site
1st Walton Viking Sea Scouts. Web site
Pub History. Web site
Thames Valley Skiff Club. Web site
Walton Comrades Club. Web site
Walton Rowing Club. Web site
Wikipedia web site, as appropriate

Riverside south of the river and west of the Tower. Walton Bridge

August 3, 2016, 1:28 pm

≫ Next: Riverside north of the river and west of the Tower. Desborough Island

≪ Previous: Riverside - south of the river and west of the Tower. Walton Waterside

$

0

0

Riverside south of the river and west of the Tower. Walton Bridge

Post to the north Lower Halliford

Ashley Park Avenue
The area and its name relate to Ashley Park, which would have been in the square to the east. It was built in 1602-7 and the estate occupied the land west of the High Street. In 1923 the house and estate were sold for development. This road is a gated private road for most of its length
Wardens Lodge
197 Ashley Park Pavilion, Walton Cricket Club. This was established in 1898 and based at Ashley Park.
Ashley Park. Green space to the west of the Cricket Club


Berkeley Gardens
Private gated close off Manor Road. The road is named for Lady Jane Berkeley for whom Ashley Park was built in 1602.


Bishops Hill
Bradshaw House. Local authority sheltered housing

Bridge Street
There have been recent changes to the road layout following construction of the new Walton Bridge in 2013
30 The Bear Inn. This has been trading since at least 1729 and was rebuilt form around 1915
34 Park House. 18th house now used as offices
45 The Old Cottage. 17th house and shop
124 George Inn. This is a Shepheard Neame Pub. There is signage outside saying it was built in 1888 when the brewers were Lascalles, Tickner & Co. Entire.
Bridge House. Two office blocks. IBM Recovery Centre
The Croft. This is said to have been a 19th house which was used as a convent. It was bought by Hepworth and used as studio offices. It stood on the bend in Bridge Street – to the side of what is now Orchard Court.
HWM Jeep. Art deco garage owned by sports car dealership. Hersham and Walton Motors was founded in 1948 by racing drivers, George Abecassis and John Heath. The company built the Alta-engined sports car, known as the HW Alta, followed by an open-wheeler which could be raced. In 1950, Heath founded a team that could make money from races on the Continent. They had a team of drivers including twenty-year-old Stirling Moss.
Mount Felix Gate Posts.  The 1870 gate posts for the original driveway to the estate remain.  They bear the coat-of-arms of the Ingram family who bought the estate in 1868. 
The Duke’s Head was built around 1790 (now demolished) possibly on the site of an earlier inn. This pub was established by 1792. It closed in 1966 and was demolished in 1970. A replacement as built at Hepworth Way, and this in turn closed in 2005 and was demolished soon after.
Coal post. This is south east of the river on the north east side of the bridge. It is Cast iron post with the City of London shield marking the area in which the coal and wine dues could be levied.


Bridge Close
Gated housing area off Bridge Street

Cowey Sale
This was a riverside marshy area, now landscaped as a park and for parking. The county boundary here follows the Engine River rather than the Thames and thus this area was in Shepperton and in Middlesex. In the 17th Elias Ashmole associated the cutting off of Cowey from Middlesex with the destruction of 'a church', presumably that of Shepperton, which he told John Aubrey had been swallowed by the waves.
A pipeline that runs the length of Cowey Sale was moved as part of the programme for the new bridge.
Cowey Sale viaduct built 1864. This resulted from the rebuilding of Walton Bridge in 1864. A replacement brick arched viaduct was constructed across the Cowey Sale at about the same time, responsibility for maintenance led to the County boundary being amended so that Surrey maintained the Cowey Sale viaduct while maintained the bridge. Later Local Government re-organisation led to all the crossing being in Surrey.
Walton Bridge - The sixth bridge opened in 2013.  Work included installation of accommodation bridges in the Cowey Sale
Cafe and toilets – provided as part of the bridge scheme. Cheaply built with lots of problems, long time before they opened.


Engine River
This may be an earlier channel of the Thames and the old county boundary follows it rather than the actual river.  It runs partly from Broad Water and from another source to the north west. It is parallel to the Thames and flows into what was the Back Water, now a marina run by Tingdene Marinas Ltd.

Hepworth Way
Named for Cecil Hepworth who built the film studios.
This road was built in the in the 1960s across the site of the Nettlefold Film Studios. These had previously been the Hepworth Film Studios
The Hepworth Film Studios. Cecil Hepworth rented a small house in Hurst Grove in 1899 and made films in the garden.  He built the first studio later on the corner of Bridge Street and Hurst Grove.  The studios were purchased by Archibald Nettlefold Productions in the 1920s and films and television programmes were made here until 1961. When Vickers-Armstrong aircraft factory at Kingston was bombed part of their operations moved here. They built two new hangars which were used for filming after the war.
Waitrose. This shop is described as ‘Duke’s Head’ and presumably relates to the Duke’s Head pub which was relocated here from Bridge Street in the early 1970s and closed in 2005


Hillrise
A group of three 1970s flat blocks set within a landscaped communal garden which sits between Manor Road and the River Thames

Hurst Grove
Cecil Hepworth Playhouse. This was built as a studio in 1920 by film director Cecil Hepworth. It originally formed part of the Hepworth Film Studios and was turned into a theatre in 1924 after the studios closed.  Hepworth bequeathed it to local dramatic societies.


Manor Road
50 Swan Hotel. This pub was established by 1767 and was rebuilt around 1879. It is a Young’s house.
113 The Old Manor Inn. This pub was established by 1767 and was rebuilt around 1879.
Old Manor House. This is a 15th/16th timber-framed building close to the site of what was a ferry over the River. It was the manor house of Walton Leigh and eventually became a farmhouse.
New Farm. This farm appears to have fronted onto Manor Road roughly at the current site of the Toad Hall Nursery
Manor Road. Toad Hall Day Nursery
Barn Community Arts Studio. This opened in 1993. It was an a former threshing barn which formed part of New Farm , which had fallen into disrepair and used by Elmbridge Council as a store for parks maintenance equipment. In 1985, a group of local residents set up the Walton-on-Thames Community Trust to manage the process, of acquire the building, as a small arts theatre.


Mayo Road
This was previously Vicarage Walk

Mount Felix
Mount Felix. Was really Walton House demolished 1967.  1740 remodelled by Barry for the Earl of Tankerville. The mansion occupied the area of high ground on side of Walton Bridge.  It began as a house built around 1715 as the home of Samuel Dicker, who financed the first Walton Bridge. The house was rebuilt on a monumental scale in 1837-40 for the Earl of Tankerville as a large Italianate villa in extensive grounds. It had a large reception hall, dining and drawing rooms, and morning, writing and billiard rooms.  There were 29 bed and dressing rooms and 6 bathrooms.  The out-buildings included consisted of a laundry, a dairy farm, a gardener's house, a coach house, a garage and stabling for 21 horses.  It had two carriage drives with three lodges.  It was later bought by a syndicate for conversion into a club but was taken over by the Government at the start of the Great War and used as a hospital. In 1965 the estate, which was owned by the council, was sold for housing development.  A fire in 1966 badly damaged the house and it had to be demolished. The only surviving estate buildings are the clock tower, the brew house and laundry, which later became a coach house, and the stables, which had been converted into six houses in 1929. 
No. 2 New Zealand General Hospital. At the start of the Great War the New Zealand High Commissioner in London was instrumental in the formation of the New Zealand War Contingent Association. Following the Gallipoli campaign, it was thought advisable to establish a hospital for New Zealand casualties. The War Office had requisitioned the Mount Felix estate to house troops in 1914 and 1,200 soldiers were billeted there. In 1915, the War Office offered the estate to the New Zealand Association as a military hospital.  Lady Islington undertook its conversion into a 350-bedded hospital plus a large operating theatre. The Hospital was opened in 1915 by the High Commissioner and within two days the first patients arrived from Gallipoli.  The King and Queen, with the Prince of Wales, visited and the first death was of a soldier who was buried in Walton cemetery with full military honours.   In 1916 five large timber and asbestos huts were named Anzac Mount and built between Oatlands Drive and the River Thames and linked to the main buildings by a covered walkway and a footbridge.  Following the Battle of the Somme in 1916 more huts were built giving 500 extra beds, and a hotel at Oatlands Park was used where Workshops and educational classes were established for amputees. The number of patients gradually decreased and the Hospital closed in 1920
Clock House.  Wacker Chemicals bought the clock tower and coach house in 1979 for use as a local base.  A replacement bell was cast at the original foundry and rehung in the tower.
Old house. There is a surviving old house at the east end of Mount Felix
A footpath from the foreshore river may be include some of the original wall of the estate

New Zealand Avenue
This road was developed as a bypass across the northern part of the Ashley Park Estate after it had been sold for development in the 1920s. It is named for the New Zealand Military Hospital which was a Mount Felix during the Great War.
Homebase. This is the site of Walton Town Hall which was built in 1963 of concrete construction.  A plaque in commemoration of the New Zealanders was rescued from the Mount Felix and placed in the Town Hall when it was new.  It read: "This tablet is erected AD 1921 by the inhabitants of Walton-upon-Thames to commemorate their 27,000 fellow subjects from the Dominion of New Zealand who wounded or disabled in the Great War 1915-1918 were cared for in the military hospitals at Mount Felix and Oatlands Park.  Seventeen of these men lie buried in Walton cemetery.  Their bodies are buried in peace but their name liveth for evermore".  When the Town Hall was demolished, the plaque was donated to Elmbridge Museum.

River Mount
Gated housing

Riverside
The straight section of the river known as the ‘Walton Mile’ was used from 1862 until the First World War for the annual boating regatta. In its heyday this event was supposed to have rivalled Henley
Wharf, this was near the present site of the Swan Inn from at least 1485.  In the early 20th barges loaded and unloaded coal here; for the gas works.
Ferry. The Walton-Halliford Ferry ran between 1700-1750 from the Wharf near Manor Road
Anglers Hotel. 19th riverside pub. The Broadway composer Jerome Kern married the landlord's daughter, Eva Leale. Outside the pub to the west are cast concrete markers for the oil pipe line
Back water. This was a stretch of water into which the Engine River ran. It is now a marina.
Walton Marine Chandlery Fence. Thames Conservatory boundary marker
Walton Bridge. The current bridge dates from 2013. The first bridge was near the ancient ford when in 1747 Samuel Dicker a local landowner built a wooden toll bridge here. This followed a petition in 1747. Dicker built this at his own expense having obtained a Parliamentary act despite objections from the ferry owners. It was, designed by William Etheridge and built by White of Weybridge as a ‘mathematical bridge’ "timbers tangent to a circle of 100 feet diameter" and was built so that a single timber could be extracted and repaired without disturbing the rest of the bridge. In 1778 it was badly decayed and was demolished in 1783. The second bridge was in stone and internally of brick. It was designed by James Paine and opened in 1788. This partly collapsed in 1859 and the ferry was reopened until 1864. The third bridge was an iron girder lattice bridge on stone piers with a brick viaduct was constructed over the flood plain to the south. It was freed of tolls in about 1870. It was damaged during the Second World War and a fourth temporary bridge was built for the heavy traffic. It was demolished in 1985. The fourth bridge was built in 1953 downstream of the old bridge, using a construction called a Callender Hamilton bridge and keeping the old third bridge for cyclists and pedestrians.  Another temporary bridge was built in 1999 a fifth bridge, on the site of the original bridges and this quickly developed problems. The sixth bridge was opened in 2013. It has no piers in the river, thus improving navigation. It is a tied arch bridge and it is the first single-span bridge heading up the Thames.
Walton Slipway. Down river of the bridge. Now used by JGF Passenger Boats
Military Hospital.  In 1916 timber huts, asbestos huts and a cook-house were constructed on land south of Bridge Street, between Oatlands Drive and the River Thames to provide additional wards
Cowey Stakes. Mysterious stakes found in the river they were probably not defence against Julius Caesar and the Romans. It is thought they war fish weirs or something

Sullivan’s Reach
The Walton & Weybridge Gas Company. The works was established in 1869 with access from the end of Annett Road (in the square to the east).  When the gas industry was nationalised in 1949 the production plant here was dismantled, but the gas holders and stores survived until the early 1970s.  The Company was one of the largest users of the ancient wharf in Manor Road whose coal supplies were unloaded here. Much of their site would have been included in what is now Sullivan’s Reach
Riverhouse gardens. This is a riverside park.
River house. This was built around 1860 and was at times the focus for regattas on the river .It was the home of the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan for four years.

Thames Street
Thames Cottage. 17th house which is thought to have been the base for the Walton-Halliford Ferry which operated between 1700 and 1750 when the first Walton Bridge was opened

Walton Lane
Coal post. This one is said to be, missing. It is supposed to be 500 yards west of Walton Bridge

Sources
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Elmbridge Councl. Web site
HWM Web site.
Industrial Archaeology of Elmbridge
Kingston Zodiac
Lost Hospitals of London. Web site
Parker, North Surrey,
Pevsner, Surrey
Pub History. Web site
Stevenson. Surrey
Surrey County Archaeological Unit. Web site
Surrey County Council. Web site
Victoria County History of Surrey
Walford. Village London
Where Thames Smooth Waters Glide. Web site

Riverside north of the river and west of the Tower. Desborough Island

August 4, 2016, 12:57 pm

≫ Next: Riverside west of the Tower, south bank - Weybridge, Palace and Navigation

≪ Previous: Riverside south of the river and west of the Tower. Walton Bridge

$

0

0

Riverside north of the river and west of the Tower. Desborough Island

Post to the east Walton Bridge
Post to the north Shepperton

Desborough Channel
Desborough Channel,  This is an artificial cut which was dug in 1930-35 to improve flow and ease navigation. It provides a straight course between Walton and Weybridge for ¾ mile. It also helped prevent flooding in Shepperton. It thus creates the only stretch on the river where there are two alternative main navigation channels. There are navigating markers alongside the cut to enable speed checks. It was opened in 1935 by Lord Desborough who the cut was named after. He was chairman of the Thames Conservators 1904-1937.


Desborough Island
Created between 1930 and 1935, when Desborough Cut was dug. The effect was to isolate a large chunk of land, part of which is used by water authorities, the rest of which is playing fields and meadows.
Weybridge Rifle and Pistol Club. Set up by Sir Philip Pilditch. Who thought everyone should 'learn the use of a rifle' if needed to protect his country. Hugh Locke-King offered a piece of ground and a public meeting in Weybridge Hall was supportive. The inaugural meeting was held in 1913, with Locke King as President and Pilditch as Captain. The Club celebrated its centenary in 2013 with a dinner at Brooklands with the Duke of Edinburgh. Here they have an indoor 25yd and outdoor 100yd ranges
Weybridge Vandals. In the earl 1930s Frederick Monkhouse, and John Scurr, both in the London School of Economics first team, invited ‘rugger men’ from London University to help set up a team for past students". It was to be "London University Vandals R.F.C'. And they played at the University's grounds at Motspur Park. The site called Brownacres at Desborough Island was identified with space for changing rooms, three pitches and a house doe a bar, tea and club room plus a flat for the groundsman. New changing rooms were opened in 1970. In 2003 the name of the club was changed to 'Weybridge Vandals RFC'
The Vandals site is marked as ‘Riverside Farm” before the Second World War. The Vandals say that it was a private zoo when they bought it.
Coal Post. This is on the riverside. It dates from around 1860 and there is the City of London Shield cast on the front. It indicated the boundary at which duty was payable.
Desborough Water Works and reservoirs.  These were originally built in the 1850s as West Surrey Water Works – and to the west in Walton Lane. The first high-duty Worthington pumping engine constructed in England was installed at these works.

Walton Lane
Walton Lane is essentially two roads – one of which loops away from the other northwards and then runs parallel to it, on the Island.
Coal post in a field SW quarter mile of Walton Bridge
Bridges at each end to carry road and water mains over the Desborough Cut


Sources
Grace’s Guide. Web site
Pastscape. Web site
Pevsner. Surrey
Surrey Industrial Archaeology
The Elmbridge Hundred. Web site
Weybridge Pistol and Rifle Club Facebook page
Weybridge Vandals. Web site
Wikipedia. As appropriate

Riverside west of the Tower, south bank - Weybridge, Palace and Navigation

August 7, 2016, 8:43 am

≫ Next: Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Hamm Court

≪ Previous: Riverside north of the river and west of the Tower. Desborough Island

$

0

0

Riverside west of the Tower, south bank - Weybridge, Palace and Navigation

Post to the west Hamm Court


Beales Lane
An Engineering works is marked at the junction with Thames Street pre 1900s
St  Catherine’s. Housing for the elderly by Elmbridge Housing Trust.


Church Walk
Leads to a public footpath which has its own bridge over the river. This leads to and ends at Thames Lock
Bridge. Built 1868 - 1898, it carries a footpath over the Wey to Whitter's Ait. It is made of cast and wrought iron with a g a segmental arch with twelve wrought iron latticed panels, each capped with iron balls. There are cast iron bollards at each end. This is the right of way to the lock.
Riverside Studios. This is the old Weybridge Generating Station. It was built in 1889 to supply 119 street lights. By 1890 some of it has been converted to housing and it later became a furniture depository


Desborough Channel,
The Desborough Channel (see square to the east) meets the Thames here, shortly to the west of the Walton Lane bridge.


Dorney Gardens
Weybridge Sailing Club, Walton Lane Clubhouse. In the 1960s employees of the construction company, J L Kier set up a Social Club and took over premises at Weybridge in 1960-61.  This was the Kier Sailing and Tennis Club. In 1962  land was were purchased by Walton Urban District Council – some of it went to the Keir Club – but Walton wanted the name changed and it became the Weybridge Lawn Tennis Club and Weybridge Sailing Club were created although Keir retained an interest – but withdrew when the firm moved from London to Bedfordshire. The Tennis club is now completely separate. The Sailing Club has had a succession of separate clubhouse buildings nut membership declined in the 1980s – and the club began to diversity.
Weybridge Lawn Tennis Club. This was part of the Keir social club but separated from the Sailing Club. They have 5 courts and a small clubhouse with balcony and no bar.
Elmbridge Canoe Club. 


D'Oyley Carte Island
Named after the light opera impresario who lived there in the late 19th - Before 1890 the island was known as Folly Eyot.
Bridge single span with a high arch.  1964 On the right wall of the bridge is a plaque commemorating the opening of the cut by Lord Desborough. It replaced a chain ferry.
Eyot House – built by Richard D’Oyly.  Carte built and lived in the main structure of the island, although he intended it as an annexe to the Savoy Hotel but was unable to get a licence. After his death is was later used as a hotel.
Marina providing mooring foe small boats


Elmgrove Lane
There were a group of small works at the south end of road on the east side.
Grand Works. In the 1960s this was D.M. Industrial Plastics (Extrusions) Ltd., Grand Works,
Grove Works.  Precision Engineered Parts for Precision Instruments. This company and its associates on this site made parts for gramophones in the 1960s.


Engine River
This stream (see post to the east) partly rises in the area to the east of St. George’s Primary School and follows the Thames running parallel to Walton


Foot Ferry
Ferry.  With the exception of a twenty year gap until 1986, there has been a ferry between Shepperton and Weybridge for around 500 years. There is a bell for would be passengers to ring if the ferry is not waiting. It is said to have run in the 14th and at that time to land in the area which is now Desborough Island. Later a ferry services was operated by the lock keepers of Shepperton Lock.


Greenside Road
Grotto Road
Named for the Grotto which stood in the grounds of Oatlands House until 1948 when it was demolished. It stood slightly to the east of this square north of Grotto Road.
The east side was built up in 1935 with no investigations on the possible site of Oatlands Palace
Entrance to underground passage

Hamhaugh Island
This island was once called Stadbury with the tapered end being called Hamhaugh Point and owned by Lord Portmore of Weybridge. It was created from a mainland peninsula in order to aid navigation and help deal with flooding.  Along with Shepperton Lock Island it was formed, when Shepperton Lock was built in 1813 across a narrow neck of land spanning a loop of the Thames. The river often breached and flooded though this neck, which was called ‘Stonor’s Gut’.  In 1898 the lock was rebuilt, and a new weir channel was created which split Hamhaugh Island off from the Lock Island. It was then owed by the Dunton family, and from 1900 they let plots for camping to be replaced by houses. The water supply came from the river and there was one communal lavatory on the central green for everyone. Electricity came in 1948, and mains water in 1959 It is accessed only by boat or by foot across the weir. It is covered in housing with a central green


Jessamy Road
Bridge to Whittier’s Ait


Monument Green
Ship Hotel. The hotel claims to be 400 years old. It is said to have been a pub on the last staging post between Portsmouth and London. From 1729 the Manorial Courts of Weybridge and Byfleet were held and in the early 18th it was an army Recruiting Office.  In the 1960s it was part of the Thistle Hotel Group and is now Best Western
Monument. This monument was originally erected in Seven Dials in central London but was demolished inn In 1773. In 1820 the Duchess of York who had lived in Weybridge for 30 years died, and local people wanted to erect a memorial to her. The ‘duchess lived at Oatlands house following an unhappy marriage and devoted herself to numerous pet dogs. The Monument was being stored in the gardens of a local architect, James Paine in Addlestone and a collection was organised by the landlord of the nearby Ship Inn to buy it to commemorate the duchess. The original Pillar was topped by six sundial faces, the seventh 'dyle' being the column itself but for Weybridge these were replaced by coronets.  A committee from Camden in the 1980s tried to get the column returned but Weybridge has refused to do this.


Oatlands Palace
The site of the Palace is in an area bounded by Grotto Road and Old Palace Road, Weybridge. After 1922 the whole area was developed for housing
Oatlands Palace replaced the old manor house using stone which came from Chertsey Abbey.  Henry VIII took the house over in 1538 and rebuilt it for Anne of Cleves. Various subsequent monarchs lived there. During the Commonwealth it was sold and demolished. Oatlands House – to the east – later became the principal residence

.
Old Palace Road
Girl Guide HQ –hall and open space
Brick vaulted culvert, with vaulted chambers at either end, which runs below the Girl Guides' Association property. This remains from the Palace.


Palace Gardens
Tudor gateway. The principal visible remains of the Tudor Palace are two brick carriage gateways, with heavily moulded brick four-centred arches, set in an ancient brick wall on the northern boundary of the Council property


Portmore Estate
Between the river and the main road the Duke of Norfolk bought land and built a large house. When he died in 1684 it passed to James II, who gave it to his mistress Catherine Sedley. In 1688 she married David Colyear, and he became the first Earl Portmore in 1703. In 1861 the land was sold and in 1887 roads were laid out for building plots.


Portmore Way
Christ the Prince of Peace.  Catholics in Weybridge had had churches on a number of sites and in converted buildings. In 1988, it was decided that a new Parish Centre should be built. The first mass in the new church was celebrated in 1989.
St Charles Borromeo Catholic Primary School
St Martin de Porres. Repository


Shepperton Lock
The first lock here was built in 1813   by the City Corporation and it was a pound lock on a cut along an existing watercourse, Stoner’s Gut, to create Lock Island. It had been suggested in 1805 but there was opposition. A wooden lock was however installed in 1813 and a stone lock was built in 1899
Stonors Gut - This channel not really used for navigation. It is believed that there was a little wooden church built on piles over the river which was washed away by constant floods. The gut was thus dammed.
Weir – this is between Lock Island and Hamhaugh Island.
Weir – this is the larger weir of the two and it is between Hamhaugh Island and the south bank.


Shepperton Lock Island
The island was created by the construction by the City Corporation of a lock in 1813. It is connected to Shepperton Lock and also to Hamhaugh Island via a walkway over the weir
Thames River Police station 
Weybridge Mariners' Boat Club. This is a club for motor boat enthusiasts and dates from 1960.  Their first club house was a barge called Greywell moored at Harmsworth’s Wharf. When this was condemned by the public health they took over the old Thames Conservancy building at Shepperton Lock doing all the work themselves. Then it was burnt down so they built another one themselves.


Thames Lock
Thames Lock. This is the lock between the Wey Navigation and the Thames. It is also sometimes called Ham Haw The lock was opened in 1653 and built of timber. It was rebuilt in 1863 with an early use of concrete on the Thames.
Lock cottage. This dated from 1765 lock cottage but was rebuilt in 1975 by the National Trust with the same appearance. Lock keeper had to collect and record transit fees paid by the barge owners
Housing. There is modern housing around the lock – and it is a gated estate.
The Pound. This was not an original feature of the Navigation. Towards the end of the 18th 'pound' locks began to be built but they required a dam and when Sunbury Lock Thames was rebuilt in the 19th the level of water in the Thames became lower.  At Thames Lock loaded barges could not then get over the cill. So the gap between the island and the lock was filled and a wooden dam with a single gate in it was installed as a pound lock between the Thames Lock and the Thames. This extended the island and created a channel which boats had to navigate. This is called the Pound. The level of water in the Thames Lock can be changed by opening or closing the gates in the other lock.
Ham Haw Mills stood on the island created by the overflow stream. It dates from at least 1693. It was also called Ham Mill, and was used for making paper but from 1720 was an iron mill. In 1817 was out of use but by 1840 it was an oil mill crushing seed and a second waterwheel was added. This was owned by Walter Flockton in 1841.  The Flocktons had tar works in Bermondsey and elsewhere in this period. The mill was demolished in 1963 following a fire. Housing here dates from 1989.
Weirs. There is a large weir by the site of the mill. It was built in the 1930s as part of the River Wey improvement scheme. It is controlled by National Trust Staff.
Harmsworth's Wharf. This was once the name of this wharf. Harmsworth’s were barge masters on the Basingstoke Canal which they eventually owned the canal which they bought in 1923. There was a rail line on the wharf with a crane
Butler’s Boat Yard, This was built in the 1880s just up from Bulldogs Weir. It is a long building close to the river edge where punts and skiffs could be hired.  It is still there but converted to housing
Weybridge Rowing Club. Established 1880. They operate on the extension to the island created by the building of the Gate Lock. The area is open only to rowing club members. The Weyfarers Club is their branch for leisure rowers.


Thames Street
104 The Minnow Pub. This was previously the Lincoln Arms from at least the 1830s and maybe in the 18th was the Anchor.  It was named for the Earl of Lincoln who is said to have had a Tudor hunting lodge here. It was renamed the Minnow in 2000
87 Weybridge Marine. Lincoln Arms Boathouse
83 Old Crown pub. The building dates from the 17th. Until 1832 this was called The Crown but later it was the The Old Crown. It was tied to Hodgson's Brewery in 19th but was later taken over by Courage after the Second World War. It is now a Free House owned by the same family since 1959
St George’s Junior School. This is part of St. George’s College – a large private Roman Catholic school based in Addlestone. St George's College was founded by the Josephites as a boys' boarding School. It absorbed St Maurs, a girls' school and the former St Maurs campus houses the junior school.
Dorney House . This was Crown property which was leased by Elizabeth I to John Woulde who died in 1598. It was sited slightly north of what is now the Minnow. It had a number of distinguished residents and appears to have been demolished in the mid-20th.
St. Maur’s Convent. The first St Maur’s school in England opened in Camberwell in 1897, and the sisters moved to Weybridge in 1898. The order was founded in Rouen in 1666 as the Charitable Mistresses of the Holy Infant Jesus to educate the daughters of the poor. They were based in the rue de Saint Maur, in Paris. In Weybridge, they relied on the Josephites to minister the sacraments. In the 1960s some of the Sixth form girls took A level courses with the St. George’s boys.  In 1999 St Maur’s became part of St. George’s and the premises in Weybridge became the Junior School.
Clinton House. This was once known as Colomb House and the named changed for Hon. George Clinton, the inventor of the naval semaphore. It was also the home of Mary Ann Clarke, mistress of the Duke of York. It is now part of the St. George’s School complex
Pillars .All that now remains of the 18th and 19th century Portmore Estate is at the end of Portmore Park Road – two . Thick gate piers with trophies which once marked the Thames Street entrance to the estate.
33 Kings Arms. This pub was known as The Farnell Arms at time of closure in 1997. Now demolished. Site of Farnell Mews
41 Crest House. This was the head office of construction firm Crest Nicholson. It may relate to the Upholstery Works - this very large works is shown on maps from the 1960s at the rear of the Kings Arms. This is the site of Lincoln Grove.


The Bull Dogs
This is another island for which there are apparently plans for a nature reserve.


Walton Lane
Pumping station. Walton and Weybridge sewage works. A pump house remains on site.


The Wey and its Navigation
The Navigation is not a canal – it is the river made navigable
Town Lock – and the island between the navigation and the Thames. See above. Whittiets Ait– between the navigation and the Wey – see below.
The River Wey Navigation forms a continuous waterway between Weybridge via Guildford to Godalming. It is owned by the National Trust. The Wey was the second river in England to be turned to a navigable waterway. The Navigation opened in 1653. Through the efforts of Sir Richard Weston an enabling Act was passed in 1651 and, despite Weston’s death, work was completed in 1653. It was for transporting barge loads of heavy goods to London – timber, corn, flour, wood and gunpowder. The coming of the railways from the 1840s marked its decline mad the start of decline for many canals. Members of the Stevens took over the running of it 1930. In the 1960, the navigation was no longer viable and Stevens gave it to the National Trust in 1964.
Bulldogs Weir. This was built sac cross the natural river in order to divert water into Ham Haw Cut. It was rebuilt in the 1850s.
Coulson’s Bay Weir. This is at the upstream end of Ham Haw cut and is called Coulson’s Bay. Water overflows into a channel which winds back to the Thames.


Whittets Ait
Island between the river and the Navigation with a park and homes.

Sources
Closed Pubs. Web site
Elmbridge Canoe Club. Web site
Historic England. Web site
Looneyatomns. Web site
Nauticalia. Web site
Old Crown. Web site
Parker. North Surrey 
Penguin. Surrey, 
Pevsner. Surrey
Pub History. Web site
Surrey Archaeological Records. Web site
Weyriverco. Web site
St. George’s College. Web site
Village Matters. Web site
Wardle. The Wey Navigations
Weybridge Sailing Club. Web site
Weybridge Society. Web site
Weybridge Tennis Club. Web site
Wheatley and Meulenkamp. Follies
Wikipedia. As appropriate

Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Hamm Court

August 8, 2016, 3:22 am

≫ Next: Riverside - south bank West of the Tower. Chertsey Meads

≪ Previous: Riverside west of the Tower, south bank - Weybridge, Palace and Navigation

$

0

0

Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Hamm Court

Post to the east Weybridge Palace and Navigation
Post to the north Chertsey Meads 

Ham Court
Hamm Court. The manor was held by the dean and canons of Windsor since the late 15th and was thereafter leased to up market individuals.  In 1614 it was home to Dr. Henry Hammond, the king's physician, in the 17th it was the home of Admiral Sir George Askew and later to Dr Thomas Willis. It was sold in 1731 and bought by the Earl of Portmore. A that time it had a dove house, avenues of trees a decoy and a warren. It was Demolished in the early 19th leaving the remains as a farm
The first earl of Portmore added this land on the west of the Wey to his Weybridge estate by taking a lease of Ham Court Manor from the Dean and Chapter of St George's Chapel Windsor.
There are some 17th links with Gerald Winstanley and the Digger movement.
Wharf .The Hamm Court estate included an important Thames side wharf at Ham just west of the junction of the Wey and the Thames the owners of which objected to the building of the Navigation.  The wharf was still extant in 1732.
Up market housing area.   Following the sale of the lands of Ham Court Manor in 1860 houses on the banks of the river and of the navigation


Hamm Court Farm
Farm which was included in the Portmore's estate. Portmore’s main manor house moved to the east bank before the 17th, leaving this moated site to function as a home farm. It is said to be a 1829s conversion of the stables of Hamm Court. The farm has recently functioned as a deer park, and home to a number of businesses.  It was sold in 2015
Homestead Moat. Dry but frequently water filled after prolonged rain. There is a low inner bank along the north and south east sides but the north west arm next to the farm buildings has been filled in. This is thought to be demesne centre of the sub-manor of Ham.
16th dovecote, in vermilion brick lime-washed. Inside are pigeon ledges and nests. It is at the north-west corner of the farmyard,
Hamm Court Deer Park. The farm bred deer. There were three sorts - - Scottish Red Deer, Chinese Spotted Deer and the     very large Elk.  They Deer lived in fields surrounded by three metre high fences with an electric fence about two metres high and half a metre inside the large one. Ear tags identified the deer and they were quite tame because they were hand-fed.

Meadowlands Park
Area with two or three streets as a ‘landscaped park’ for mobile homes

Pharaohs Ait
 Island in the Thames upstream of Shepperton. It was earlier known as Dog Ait.  Two channels which lead to weirs diverge off after the island to its southeast. The island is only accessible by boat. It is said to have been given to Nelson after the Battle of the Nile. There are a number of houses on the island all with Egyptian names


The Bourne
The Bourne is a small river flowing from the south and flowing through Woburn Park at the park’s northern boundary it meets another stream from the west. It then takes a right angled turn to flow into the Thames at Ham Haugh Point.  Through Woburn Park it is paralleled by the Woburn Park Stream to the east, which eventually flows into it.

Wey Navigation
The navigation follows the course of the river for nearly half a mile upstream of Bulldogs Weir.

Woburn Park
This is a large and complex site of which only a small fraction of the eastern part of the park appears in this square. This part of the site is taken up by sports facilities for St., George’s College which occupies buildings to the west (in the square to the west). Woburn Farm is an Arcadian landscaped ferme ornee which was laid out from 1735 by Philip Southcote who also commissioned William Kent in 1848 to design a new house.
A cricket pavilion with a swimming pool to the rear, built between 1885 and 1896 stood west of the stream. There are now modern facilitates for sports in this area
Southcote’s circuit. Near the north-east corner of the site the stream is crossed by a brick bridge - making up part of Southcote's circuit around the farm. There are also remains of bridges and artificial stonework along the banks of the steam


Sources
Brayley and Britain. Topographical History of Surrey
British History Online. Web site
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Currie. Historical and Archaeological Assessment of the Wey and Godalming Navigations
Historic England. Web site
Kingston Zodiac, 
Parker, North Surrey
Pastscape. Web site
Pevsner. Surrey
St. George’s College. Web site

Riverside - south bank West of the Tower. Chertsey Meads

August 8, 2016, 5:48 am

≫ Next: Riverside -south of the river west of the Tower - Chertsey Bridge

≪ Previous: Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Hamm Court

$

0

0

Riverside - south bank West of the Tower. Chertsey Meads


Post to the south Hamm Court

Chertsey Meads
This square covers the eastern portion of this large open space. It borders on the Thames to the east and north. There is some riverside housing.  Chertsey Meads is an open area of remnant floodplain meadow on the banks of the River. Now owned by the Local Authority it consists of 170 acres of riverside land which is a habitat for a variety of birds and wildlife


Sources
Runneymede Council. Web site
Chertsey Museum Web site

Riverside -south of the river west of the Tower - Chertsey Bridge

August 11, 2016, 8:42 am

≫ Next: Riverside -- south bank west of the Tower. Chertsey Abbey Chase

≪ Previous: Riverside - south bank West of the Tower. Chertsey Meads

$

0

0

Riverside -south of the river west of the Tower - Chertsey Bridge

Post to the east Chertsey Meads
Post to the north Chertsey Abbey Chase


Bridge Road
65-67 Weir Lodge Garage. This was a private company which built the garage.  They specialised in supplying tax-free cars to HM Forces and they were agents for Volkswagen. The company moved to a site at Walton and continued in Chertsey until 1973. The site is now Mitsubishi Motors
65-67 Weir Lodge. Camping and caravanning club
Bridge Hotel. The hotel was built in 1996 but dates from the 1890s and is referred to before that in the early, 19th as ‘The Bridge House Hotel. The Boathouse pub and restaurant are attached.
Bridge Wharf. The area around the hotel was once called Bridge Wharf. The hotel sits on an inlet off the Thames which appears to be artificial and to connect to a sluice which returns upstream to the Thames. This results in an island which is shown on 1890s maps at ‘Crane Ait’.  Bridge Wharf was used by Tom Taylor’s boat building business in the 1880s which here included a punt store, tea room and restaurant.
Cricketers. This pub was on the east side of the road and closed in 1990s. It is now demolished. It dates from the 1850s.
Statue in bronze of local heroine Blanche Heriot striking the bell by Sheila Mitchell. Thus is on a small island in the road outside Bridge House.


Bridge Wharf
Bridge House and gardens stood on the corner with Bridge Road.
Road running parallel to the river lined with new housing by Laing and Wimpey. It was earlier the site of a series of small factories.
Bates Wharf and Marina. The Bates family had started building wooden commercial vessels in the 1850s. They appear to have become independent of Taylor in 1934 and established a small boatyard immediately to the south. In the Second World War they built air and sea rescue vehicles and seaplane tenders. They also built Bates Star Craft until 1975, expanding southwards until 1965.
Following the split-up of the Taylor Bates partnership shortly after the war, Taylors sold their half of the site to the coachbuilders Whittingham and Mitchell and moved to new premises at Shoreham, where they could build larger boats than was possible on the Thames.
Tom and James Taylor yacht, skiff hiuse boat and barge building business in the late 19th. During the Great War what was by then Taylor and Bates built Thorneycroft coastal motor boats and pinnaces for the Admiralty. In the 1920s, they made river launches and a houseboat for an Indian rajah. They moved to Shoreham after the Second World War and sold the site to Whittitngham and Mitchell.
Whittingham and Mitchell. The company began in Fulham as motor coach and body builders. During the Second World War they made light alloy components and later moved to Byfleet to male alloy marine equipment. Later they moved into structural reinforced plastics and came to new premises here. In 1964 they were taken over by GEC.
Evershed Power Optics in the late 1960s/early 1970s, used the Taylor site. They made digital control equipment for television cameras and related equipment.
Radamec (Radar Mechanicals) were here in 1981 on the old Taylor site. They made optical control systems for the defence and television markets and marine and environmental control systems. They sold their office here in 2003.
Carden-Loyd Tractors, these were on the inland side of the wharf from 1923 making tracked armoured vehicles, in association with amphibious and light armoured vehicles under Vickers-Armstrong. The 1928 Carden-Loyd Mk IV developed and built at the site and from it evolved the Carden-Loyd carrier and the Vickers-Armstrong Bren-Gun the most numerous armoured fighting vehicle ever built. Carden-Lloyd tankettes were also made
Book binding warehouse and stationery

Chertsey Bridge
Ferry. A ferry was here in 1299 when there is a record of the king being carried over the river by a ferry-woman called Sibille. It is said to have been preceded by a ford – this part of the river once had many shallows called Laleham Gulls
Chertsey Bridge. The first bridge here was built after 1299.   A bridge here was recorded in 1530 when it was repaired and may have dated from 1410. This was a timber bridge which had devolved to the Crown following the closure of Chertsey Abbey. It is said to have been slanted upwards from Middlesex to Surrey and said to be a danger to navigation. It was replaced from 1783 with James Paine as architect and Kenton Couse as surveyor and was slightly upstream of its predecessor. It has seven stone arches – five wet and two dry. There are also a masonry brick arches over the riverside paths and two buried arches under the approaches. It is said that the original specified number of arches did not meet the banks and required extra payment to get it connected. Semi circular recesses were attached to the piers by brackets but were removed in 1806. Cast iron grilles, which have been inserted over the piers in the 1820s, were repositioned during major repairs in the 1990s.
Chertsey Lock. The lock was first built by the Corporation of the City of London in 1813. It is connected to Chertsey Weir by a strip of land. In 1805 it was intended to build a cut along this stretch of the river with a pound lock at either end. However a lock here was eventually authorised. It was lengthened in 1893 and 1913. The centre gates have now been removed
Chertsey Weir. Built along with the lock as part of a flood prevention programme after 1809 by the City Corporation

Mead Lane
Long old lane winding down into the Meads.
Car parks for Mead users

The Bourne
Also called the Windle Brook and Hale Bourne

Sources
Bridge Hotel. Web site
Closed Pubs. Web site
Industrial Archaeology of Elmbridge
Kingston Zodiac
Parker. North Surrey
Penguin. Surrey
Pevsner.  Surrey
Pub History. Web site
Surrey Archaeological Collections. Web site
Surrey Industrial Archaeology
Visit Thames. Web site
Walford, Village London
Walton Lodge Garage. Web site
Wikipedia. As appropriate

---

Riverside -- south bank west of the Tower. Chertsey Abbey Chase

August 12, 2016, 1:35 am

≫ Next: Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Chertsey Abbey

≪ Previous: Riverside -south of the river west of the Tower - Chertsey Bridge

$

0

0

Riverside -- south bank west of the Tower. Chertsey Abbey Chase

Post to the south Chertsey Bridge
Post to the west Chertsey Abbey


Bridge Road
Abbey Chase. This is now a Care Home.  The house was built in the 1920s on the site of the Miller’s House at Abbey Mills. It was a five-bedroom bungalow owned by Col. Claire and called Benham Park.  It was bought by the care home owners in 1989. The stables were sold off for housing and the main building had a new floor added to become a nursing home.


Abbey Stream
This is a backwater of the Thames. It enters the Thames north of Chertsey Bridge having flowed down from its entrance at Penton Hook. It was cut for medieval Chertsey Abbey to power a mill near the Abbey. It was thus also known as Oxley, Oxlake or Oaklake Mill River.  The mill itself survived the dissolution and in 1809 it was considered as the main Thames navigation channel as part of a flood prevention programme.  Chertsey Weir was built instead.
Abbey Mills. Bridge and remains of what was part of a water mill owned by medieval Chertsey Abbey. It is a bridge with three arches which may have been widened at some time since. Some masonry was added by the 20th landscape architect, Percy Cane.  Water is discharged under the bridge into the lower millpond and overflow from the upper pool discharges through a channel in the north bank.   This mill is shown on a map of 1735 which also indicates that it was present in the 16th when the Abbey was dissolved. It is also shown in 19th photographs. It was latterly a flour mill.


Burway Ditch
This runs parallel to the Abbey River and is also part of water management measures undertaken by Chertsey Abbey in the early medieval period or earlier.


M3 Motorway
Bridge over the Thames. The bridge is 3 upstream of Chertsey lock and bridge. Built in the early 1970s, it was first used in 1974, when the Sunbury - Bracknell section of the motorway opened.


Sources
Abbey Chase. Web site
British Listed Buildings. Web site
SABRE. Web site
Surrey Archaeological collections. Web site
Wikipedia. Web site. As appropriate

Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Chertsey Abbey

August 13, 2016, 1:28 am

≫ Next: Riverside south bank, west of the Tower. Laleham Burway

≪ Previous: Riverside -- south bank west of the Tower. Chertsey Abbey Chase

$

0

0

Post to the east Chertsey Abbey Chase
Post to the north Laleham Burway



Abbey Chase
Abbey Chase Farm, also called Home Farm. This was at one time a listed building but seems to have suffered from neglect. A recent sales document notes only a barn and stables.
Abbey Chase Farm cottage. Probably 19th


Abbey Gardens
Abbey remains– some paving is said to remain here and north of this are remains of the Transepts and the Lady Chapel.  This area is now covered by housing.


Abbey Green
Abbey Barn. It seems to be mainly 17th and/or later.  It is a long building of brown brick probably built to house workers dismantling the Abbey. The west and south walls are medieval, made of conglomerate and sarsen blocks to form a chequer-board effect.  It was later probably used as royal stabling as part of Beomond Manor Farm and by 1900 it was a builder’s yard. In 1935 it was bought up to stop it being developed as houses and became home to the Abbey Barn Youth Club until 1970 when the Club closed. The Barn remained empty and following lobbying by members of the Runnymede Association of Arts In 1978, Surrey County Council sold it to the Acorn Children’s Theatre Trust who used it until 1986. In 1987 the building was put up for auction.  Despite local attempts to purchase it for the community it was sold and has been used since as offices.
Abbey Barn Cottage. This was sold by the Acorn Theatre In 1981.
Cloister Garth (Music School) 17th house


Abbey River
This is an artificial Leat off the Thames built to power the Abbey’s mills of Abbey.


Burley Orchard
Bridge with ornamental iron balustrades and iron lamp standard
The Orchard Centre
Burley Orchard. Built 1874-5 by William A Herring, the Chertsey iron founder.  There are many iron-work features, including an ornamental conservatory – everything possible is in iron.
2 Lamp posts in the drive and by then approach


Burway Ditch
Artificial waterway built as part of the monastery water management system.


Chertsey Abbey,
Benedictine Abbey. The abbey, dedicated to St. Peter, was originally founded by St. Erkenwald in 666 AD and he was the first abbot. It is said to have been on an island – and it is supposed that this first building was relatively small.  As the first religious hues in Surrey most of north-west Surrey was granted to them King Frithuwald and Saint Beocca was buried there in 870.  In the 9th it was sacked by the Danes and the minks killed. It was refounded by King Edgar in 964 and again in the 12th. It is this set of buildings of which traces remain today, Under John de Rutherwyk there were lots of improvements - mills, bridges – he died in 1347 and became an extremely wealthy institution. Henry VI died and was first buried there in 1471. The abbey was dissolved in 1537, and the community moved briefly to Bisham. The site was then given to Sir William Fitzwilliam and was later sold. There are however many reminders and remains of the abbey here and elsewhere.  Stone from the abbey can be found in Hampton Court, in Oatlands and in the Wey Navigation. In the mid-19th century the site of the abbey was excavated and an account of the investigations with a ground plan, was published in 1862.
Moats. The abbey was inside a series of moats or ditches defining the inner and outer precincts.
Inner precinct. This held the church and main buildings.To the north. East and south the inner precinct is surrounded by a seasonally water filled moat. To the west, east and south west this has been completely infilled but.
Outer Precinct.  To the west is an outer precinct bounded to the south and west by a moat and to the north by the river. It includes the malt- house and bake house, some sections of precinct wall, dividing the inner and outer courts survive. It is built of stones forming a chequer-board effect.
Second Outer Precinct. This is to the east of the inner precinct am dos bordered to the south and east by a moat. It includes fishponds which survived as rectangular earthworks
Ridge and Furrow. This runs parallel with the river in the northern part of the area and represents the remains of medieval cultivation.
Whiting's Plot or Burial Ground. This is to the north of Abbey River and believed to be an additional cemetery area,
Moated island – this is to the north of the outer precinct. It contains six fishponds, three of which are visible as earthwork. The other three have become infilled and are buried. The surrounding moat, is partially infilled


Colonels Lane
This developed as a customary right of way through the former precinct and beyond. In l735 the occupant of Abbey House put up gates, which were torn down by the local people
Abbey House. In about 1700 the abbey precinct was in the possession of Sir Nicholas Wayte who built Abbey House which fronted on to what is now Colonel's Lane. It was demolished in 1821
The Abbey. This was built in the site of Abbey House.
Abbey Lodge. This was built between 1855 and 1861
Abbey House. This was a 19th building west of the lane which was bunt down in 1964.
1 Long brick 18th building with a warehouse type door near the centre of the 1st floor. Now housing. it faces the Green
Dovecote. This came from the farmyard of Abbey Bridge Farm
and has been rebuilt here having previously been in the garden at Burley Orchard. It dates from around 1800 and is in cast iron and wood. There are four tiers of entrance holes with
landing ledges. Along the top are projecting metal flowers.
Garden of Abbey House – there is a medieval doorway in the garden wall and remains of monastic ovens
Part of the Abbey precinct wall in the open ground to the west of the lane once in the grounds of Abbey House, The wall now forms part of the Freda Atkins Memorial Garden- she was Chair of the Chertsey Society from 1979.


Ferry Lane
This lane led north from Chertsey to the ferry at Laleham.
Abbey Kilns – some evidence of them found west of the lane. Tiles from the abbey – which could have come from the kiln – have been found and are now in the British Museum. Some show the legend of Tristan and Iseult. Individual letter tiles dating to the second half of the 13th have been found here – they could have been assembled to form texts on the floor.
Abbey precinct wall –some fragments remain  in this area.
Gateway to the Recreation Ground. Stone pillars.
The Old Coachworks. Motor works in old farm buildings,
Abbey Bridge Farm Barn,  Medieval tythe barn with Stone and brick walls, Massive tie-beams remain. This is now used as part of the Old Coachworks motor business.
Abbey Bridge. Over the Abbey River.
The Burway Ditch runs in a culvert under the lane
Chertsey Water Treatment Works. The works was originally constructed in 1900 by the Woking Water and Gas Co. and was extended and upgraded during the 1970s and 1990s . In 2003 it had a new submerged membrane plant added.  It treats water pumped from two sources Abbeymeads, a gravel well water source and River Thames water fed from the Northern Burway reservoir.


Laleham Burway
Golf Course. The Golf Course covers most of Laleham Burway which they bought from Lord Lucan – this is mainly in the square to the north,


M3
London to Southampton Motorway. This part opened in 1974, as part of the Sunbury - Bracknell section of the motorway opened.


Monks Walk
A path said to have been used by the monks from the abbey from around AD666 going from St Mary's Church in Thorpe to Chertsey Abbey. In the mid-20th it was disrupted by the motorway but most of the original walk still exists and is now a public footpath.


St Anne’s Road
John Ryder Training Centre – Construction Industry Training Centre. According to a plaque on the building this is the old parochial infant and Sunday school opened in 1899.  It appears later to have been used as a parish hall by St. Peter’s Church.


Staines Lane:
Abbeyfields Recreation Ground. A moat runs along the southern edge.


Windsor Street
Abbey Moat, the length along the street here has been filled in
12 Curfew House. Built in 1725 and dated on the keystone, as a school.  This was the master’s house. There is a plaque ‘Founded by Sir Wm PERKINS Knt For Fifty Children clothed and taught
Go and do likewise " Pevsner thinks it is ‘Ordnance Vanburgh’ and that it looks like some of the buildings on the Arsenal site in Woolwich.
24 this early 18th building was once the Sun Inn.
33 The Cedars. This has been Chertsey Museum since 1972. The building dates from 1815. In 1554 it was the Angel Inn, and the house replaced it 1815. There is a q9th extension to the rear. In the 18th the garden contained two large Cedar trees, and a grotto. Most of the garden was sold off in 1958 for housing and the two cedars were felled.   In the early 1970s, the Olive Matthews Trust (who own the Olive Matthews Collection of Costume) bought the building and opened it as a museum with Chertsey Urban District Council,
The Old Swan. 18th pub building with fancy iron work on the outside


Sources
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Chertsey Museum. Web site
Chertsey Society. Web site
Domesday Reloaded. Web site
Historic England. Web site
Kingston Zodiac, 
London Transport. Country 
Parker. North Surrey 
Penguin. Surrey 
Pevsner. Surrey
Surrey Industrial Archaeology
Water Projects On Line. Web site
Wikipedia. Web site as appropriate
Woking History. Web site

Riverside south bank, west of the Tower. Laleham Burway

August 13, 2016, 1:00 pm

≫ Next: Riverside. south bank west of the Tower. Penton Hook Marina

≪ Previous: Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Chertsey Abbey

$

0

0

Riverside south bank, west of the Tower. Laleham Burway

Post to the south Chertsey Abbey
Post to the north Penton Hook and Penton Hook Marina


Abbey River
This river was a leat cut by the monks of Chertsey Abbey to provide power for their mills. It leaves the Thames here at Penton Hook, flowing down to just above what is now Chertsey Bridge.

Custom Meads
This is an area of the Abbey Mead which is used to define boundaries.

Laleham Ferry
Ferry. This is an ancient ferry site which was probably preceded by a ford.  It was owned by Chertsey Abbey. In the 16th it was used for cattle and herdsmen had separate rights from the passenger ferry.   In the early 19th it was sold to and operated by a Richard Trotter.  There were a number of people he was required to tale for free – including Lord Lucan and his family and staff.  In 1888 Lord Lucan transferred it, and the ruinous ferry cottage, to a Mr. Harris. The ferry began to be run as part of a leisure area and ferried cricketers and golfers over the river. The ferry house was on the Surrey side and burnt down in 1990.  The ferry no longer operates,


Ferry Lane
Pathway which accesses the ferry from Chertsey Abbey.

Laleham Reach
Ferry House
Michael Dennett. Boat builders and restorers. In business since 1950 and using traditional methods of boat building and joinery. Michael began at the age of 15 at Horace Clarke's Boatyard in Sunbury and then undertook an apprenticeship at Walton Yacht works producing motor torpedo boats for the Royal Navy. He then moved to George Wilson’s yard in Sunbury. He began business himself at the age of 22 working out of the back of a van. He later launched his own yard in 1988 with his son Stephen

Laleham Burway
This is a triangular area of land on the Surrey side. It is part of an island divided from the Abbey Mead by the Burway Ditch, and another stream from Mixnams on the north. It is part of Chertsey parish but belongs to Laleham Manor. It is called Island of Burgh in the endowment of Chertsey Abbey in the 7th. The pasture was divided into 300 parts called 'farrens,' with tenants some of who got the feed of a horse, others food for a cow and a half. The area was excluded from local enclosure acts but was enclosed in 1813 by the Earl of Lucan.
Earthwork – this is a rectangular enclosure thought to be medieval.
Cricket ground. A Chertsey Club played matches games against both Croydon and London in 1736. Chertsey v Croydon was at the Laleham Burway ground – and this is the first important match known to have been played here. A game played in 1771 led to changes in the Laws of Cricket following the use of a bat wider than the wicket. The last top-class match was Chertsey v. Berkshire in 1783. Chertsey Cricket Club had "ceased to exist" by 1856
Golf Club. In 1903 a group of Chertsey gentlemen decided to build a golf course and rented land from the Earl of Lucan. The area had been drained by the monks at Chertsey Abbey and the area of the course tends to remain dry. Jack White, Open Champion in 1904, designed the course and The Earl of Lucan was invited to be the Club President in 2008 the club was sold to Thorney Park Golf Ltd, and it was relaunched as Laleham Pay and Play Golf Course.


Mixnams Lane
Penton Park. This is part of a large area of retirement homes covering a network of roads which fan out from in a network of reads. These are all small bungalows, mobile homes.
Penton Hook Marina and camp site.
Mixnams Ponds. Commercial fishing venue
Mixnams Gravel Pit. Where significant prehistoric finds were made. A Viking sword was also discovered in 1981 by an employee of A.J.Bull during the machine extraction of gravel.

Sources
Laleham Golf Club. Web site
Berkeley Parks. Web site
Michael Dennett. Web site
Surrey Archaeological collections. Web site
Tucker. Ferries of the Lower Thames
Wikipedia. Web site. As appropriate

Riverside. south bank west of the Tower. Penton Hook Marina

August 13, 2016, 1:41 pm

≫ Next: Riverside south bank west of the Tower. Truss's Island

≪ Previous: Riverside south bank, west of the Tower. Laleham Burway

$

0

0

Riverside. south bank west of the Tower. Penton Hook Marina

This posting relates to sites south of the river only. North of the river is Penton Hook

Post to the south Laleham Burway
Post to the north Staines
Post to the west Truss Island


 Penton Hook south of the river

This is effectively two small riverside areas, both of them with riverside housing along private roads. The area to the west of the Hook is partly covered by Penton Hook Marina, based in old gravel workings.

Riverside
Laleham Reach

Riverside south bank west of the Tower. Truss's Island

August 14, 2016, 9:33 am

≫ Next: 'Riverside west of the 'Tower, south bank,. Thorpe Hay Meadow

≪ Previous: Riverside. south bank west of the Tower. Penton Hook Marina

$

0

0

Riverside  south bank west of the Tower. Truss's Island

Post to the east Penton Hook Marina and Penton Hook
Post to the north Thorpe Hay Meadow

Chertsey Lane
Car park for Truss’s island
Savory's Weir – marked on maps its location is unclear


Temple Gardens
Private gated road leading to a large area of riverside housing

Truss Island
Tiny island named after Charles Truss who was Clerk of Works to the Worshipful Committee of Navigation to the Corporation of the City of London in 1774 with the task of improving navigation on the river. A memorial stone gives the date of 1774 with the name of the Lord Mayor, Fred Bull. There is a slipway and fishing areas.

Sources
Mort's Riverwatch. Web site