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Weybridge

Borough of ElmbridgePopulated places on the River ThamesTowns in SurreyUse British English from May 2021Weybridge, Surrey
Old Bridge over River Wey Weybridge, Surrey
Old Bridge over River Wey Weybridge, Surrey

Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around 17 mi (27 km) southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as Waigebrugge and Weibrugge in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the River Wey, which flows into the River Thames to the north of the town centre. The earliest evidence of human activity is from the Bronze Age. During the Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods, Weybridge was held by Chertsey Abbey. In the 1530s, Henry VIII constructed Oatlands Palace to the north of the town centre, which he intended to be the residence of his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. He married Catherine Howard there in July 1540 and the palace remained a royal residence until the Civil War. The buildings were demolished in the early 1650s and a new mansion, Oatlands House, was constructed to the east of Weybridge later the same century. Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany owned the mansion in the 18th century. The town began to expand beyond its medieval footprint in the early 19th century, catalysed by the initial breakup of the Oatlands House estate, the enclosure of Weybridge Heath and the opening of the railway station in 1838. The developer, W. G. Tarrant, was responsible for the construction of housing on St George's Hill in the first half of the 20th century. The world's first purpose-built racing circuit was constructed at Brooklands in 1907. The track hosted the first British Grand Prix in 1926 and was used by Malcolm Campbell to develop his final land speed record car, Campbell-Railton Blue Bird. Throughout the 20th century, Brooklands was an important location for the aerospace industry and aircraft developed and tested there included the Sopwith Camel, the Wellington bomber and the Hurricane fighter. Vickers established a factory at the circuit in 1915 and aircraft manufacturing continued at the site until 1988.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Weybridge (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Weybridge
Firfields, Elmbridge

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Wikipedia: WeybridgeContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.362 ° E -0.453 °
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Address

The Heath (Weybridge Heath)

Firfields
KT13 0UD Elmbridge
England, United Kingdom
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Old Bridge over River Wey Weybridge, Surrey
Old Bridge over River Wey Weybridge, Surrey
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Weybridge Heath
Weybridge Heath

Weybridge Heath is a part of Weybridge common, in South East England. The Heath comprises 47 acres (190,200 square metres) of lowland heathland that runs from the deep cutting of the South West Main Line railway eastwards to Cobbetts Hill. To the west of the railway line, much of the original heathland is now occupied by Heathside School and Brooklands College. During the 1970s and 1980s the heathland fell into a poor state of repair because the surrounding brush was ill-maintained and coppicing, which is essential for the maintenance of small heaths, had ceased. Gradually, the area became more and more overgrown with newly grown brush composed of the saplings of deciduous trees, and became to resemble more of a young wood. Because the area used to contain many species of ants, rare birds and insectivorous plants, Surrey County Council embarked in 1989 upon a project to renew the heathland and encourage the return of the area to its original habitat type. The project consisted of the removal of many taller trees from a central portion of the site, and the clearing of brush from this area. The council hoped that the area would be returned to something approaching its former glory within a decade. Evidence of the re-growth of heathland is not great as of 2003, and some local residents are sceptical about the apparent defacement of the area, dubbing the cleared area "the bomb site". It was on the original heath in this location that British myrmecologist Horace Donisthorpe collected many of the ants from which he produced so many observations and deductions.

Weybridge United Reformed Church
Weybridge United Reformed Church

The Weybridge United Reformed Church (formerly Weybridge Congregational Church) situate at Queen's Road (the A 317 Road), Weybridge, near to its junction with York Road, is a Victorian Grade II Listed church building (or former church building) that is now no longer used as a place of worship. It was the United Reformed church serving the town of Weybridge in the English county of Surrey, until 2022. In 2022, the Weybridge congregation of the United Reformed Church merged with the Walton-on-Thames congregation of the United Reformed Church (formerly the St Andrew's Presbyterian Church), thereby forming a single United Reformed Church in Walton and Weybride. The merged congregation now worships in the St Andrew's buildings at Hersham Road, Walton-on-Thames, a distance of 2.2 miles from the Weybridge building. The merged congregation has adopted the name St Andrew's United Reformed Church Walton and Weybridge. The Decorated Gothic Revival church at Queen's Road, Weybridge , a cruciform building with a tall spire, was designed in 1864 by John Tarring and opened the following year. Congregational services had commenced in the town in 1860 at the initiative of resident Benjamin Scott; the rapidly rising number of worshippers outgrew the rooms in which meetings were held, and Scott himself bought the land on which the church now stands and helped to finance its construction. The Weybridge Congregational Church and the Walton (St Andrew's) Presbyterian Church both joined the United Reformed Church denomination upon its formation in 1972, but for almost fifty years they remained as two distinct local churches within the wider United Reformed Church, until their merger in 2022. Historic England has listed the Weybridage building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.