Weybridge
Weybridge
Elmbridge, in the district of Surrey, is home to the city of Weybridge, which lies on the River Wey. Located at the mouth of the Wey, which gives it its name, the city is bordered to the north by the River Thames. There are seven miles (eleven kilometres) of coastline between Woking and London, as well as 16 miles (26 kilometres) of southwestern distance from central London.
History of Weybridge
According to an ancient tradition, this is where Julius Caesar crossed the Thames in 55BC.
In the Domesday Book, Weybridge appears in the title as Webric and Webrut, held partially by Chertsey Abbey and partly by an Englishman from the Abbey and partly by Herfrid, who was Herfrid’s brother, the Bishop of Bayeux. At the time of the Domesday Survey, its assets were: 6 hides; 112 ploughs, 32 acres (13 hectares) of meadow; and wood worth 9 pigs. During feudal times, it paid its feudal overlords four pounds a year. There were fewer people here than today, and it was about one-fourth the size of neighbouring Walton at the time.
As a reward for his homage and service, Henry III gave William son of Daniel Pincerna two mills on the River Wey: one above the ‘bridge of Wey’ and the other at Feyreford (now defunct) for five silver marks per year.
The main sources of homegrown income for Weybridge were seed milling to make flour, and nurseries up until the 18th century. However, there is no record of tanneries, major coaching houses, shops, markets, forges, or gunpowder works, for example, dating from the medieval period. In 1848, St. James’s Church was reconstructed with a south aisle being added in 1864, and its earliest monuments are 15th-century plaques.
Oatlands Palace, a manor house attached to Weybridge on what was a border between Walton on Thames and Weybridge, was built by Henry VIII in 1537. Catherine Howard was his fifth wife, who was married here. A portion of its bricks were used as the lining for the Wey Navigation canal after its demolition in 1650.
WOKING | GUILDFORD | LEATHERHEAD | ALDERSHOT | FARNBROUGH | BRACKNELL | EPSOM | WEYBRIDGE | SANDHURST | FARNHAM