place

Chertsey Meads

Local Nature Reserves in Surrey
Chertsey Meads geograph.org.uk 1452215
Chertsey Meads geograph.org.uk 1452215

Chertsey Meads is a 41-hectare (100-acre) Local Nature Reserve east of Chertsey in Surrey. It is owned and managed by Runnymede Borough Council.This is an area of floodplain meadow on the bank of the River Thames. Over 400 plant species have been recorded and 108 bird species, including lesser whitethroat, reed bunting, reed warbler and sedge warbler.There is access from Mead Lane. Henry VIII came to Oatlands on a progress and hunted stags on Chertsey Meads in 1514. The stage were held in pens and released one by one. Sir Philip Draycot described the hunt with greyhounds and horsemen with spears, as "the most princely sport that hath been seen".

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

Chertsey Meads
Mead Lane, Borough of Runnymede

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Chertsey MeadsContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.385 ° E -0.477 °
placeShow on map

Address

Mead Lane

Mead Lane
KT16 8LS Borough of Runnymede
England, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

Chertsey Meads geograph.org.uk 1452215
Chertsey Meads geograph.org.uk 1452215
Share experience

Nearby Places

Chertsey Bridge
Chertsey Bridge

Chertsey Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in England, connecting Chertsey to low-lying riverside meadows in Laleham, Surrey. It is 550 yards (500 m) downstream from the M3 motorway bridge over the Thames and is close to Chertsey Lock on the reach above Shepperton Lock. The bridge is a seven-arch tied arch white stone bridge built 1783–85 and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a weight restriction of 18 tonnes for LGVs. The first bridge on the site was built some time after 1299 as in that year the king and his family were carried over the river by a ferry-woman called Sibille. The earliest written forebear to this bridge is that of 1530: a "goodly Bridg of Timber newly repaird". By 1580 it was dilapidated and the Crown, who had acquired responsibility from Chertsey Abbey, was trying to find someone on whom they could pin the bill for repairs. The documents record the dimensions as "210 feet in length and 15 feet in breadth". In 1632 the bridge, which was slanted upwards from Middlesex to Surrey, was described as like the work of a left-handed man. The slant was more annoying to navigation and passage was reported in 1774 to be very inconvenient and dangerous.The present stone bridge was first considered in 1780 and replacement of the old one began in 1783. There were 184 piles for the old bridge, which were cut off six feet below high-water mark, and the materials of the old bridge fetched £120 at auction in August 1784. The architect of the new bridge was James Paine and the surveyor was Kenton Couse. It was built at a cost of £6813 4s 11d. In an early example of contract dispute, the contractor built the number of arches specified, but as they did not reach the shore, the counties had to pay, at extra expense, for linking the bridge to the banks.On the Middlesex bank, cows graze downstream in Dumsey Meadow, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and upstream is Laleham Park. On the Surrey bank are the outskirts of Chertsey with Abbey Chase house on the river bank. At the south east end of the bridge is a late-19th-century square cast-iron coal-tax post with cornice and capping, and the City of London shield on one face. It is grade II listed.