Windlesham

Windlesham
240px The Arboretum
240px Windlesham House School
Windlesham  Windlesham shown within Surrey
Area	22.4 km2 (8.6 sq mi)
Population	16,775 (Civil Parish)
– density	749/km2 (1,940/sq mi)
OS grid reference	SU930635
Civil parish	Windlesham
District	Surrey Heath
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WINDLESHAM
Postcode district	GU20
Dialling code	01276, some 01344
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Surrey Heath
List of places UK England Surrey

Windlesham is a village in the Surrey Heath borough of Surrey, England and civil parish that covers Bagshot and Lightwater in the same borough. Its name derives from the Windle Brook which runs south of the village into Chobham and the common suffix 'ham', the Old English word for 'homestead'.

Today Windlesham has a main clustered community with various clubs. The main public parkland is linked by footpath across the M3 motorway cutting across the south of the parish, Windlesham Arboretum. Passing through its north is the A30 (London Road), two nearby train stations and Heathrow Airport make the settlement economically largely a commuter village. It has one church, St John the Baptist, the Windlesham Club and Theatre and six public houses.

A few large companies of late-20th-century origin have based themselves in Windlesham, including Rainbow Play Systems and the Linde Group.

History

File:Chertsey Road, Windlesham - geograph.org.uk - 166281.jpg

A typical long line of Victorian houses close to the village centre. The Brickmakers Arms is depicted.

The neighbourhood has yielded bronze implements, now in the Archaeological Society's Museum, Guildford, and a certain number of neolithic flints.

Windlesham was once a small community within Windsor Great Park, built as a remote farming settlement around undulating heath, similar to Sunninghill. At Ribs Down in the north in private Updown Court and adjoining gardens land reaches 99 metres above sea level with a minimum descent (notch/col) of 31 metres, ranking 35th of 36 Surrey hills listed in the national hill-climbing database and the tallest private hill in Surrey.

This corner of the county appears, from absence of notice in Domesday, to have been very sparsely inhabited. Of Windlesham, Malden wrote:

The old road had been the source of great prosperity in Bagshot till it was superseded by the railway. Thirty coaches a day passed through, and there were many inns, since closed. The most interesting history of the place is in connexion with Windsor Forest, and its bailiwick in Surrey. The tenure of Bagshot in the Red Book of the Exchequer is per serjentiam veltrariae, i.e. providing a leash of hounds. The later history is full of the exploits of highwaymen, who found the wild country hereabouts specially favourable for their purposes. The Inclosure Act of 1812 inclosed much of Bagshot Heath, and also inclosed the common fields of Windlesham. (fn. 3) Inclosure had begun before, for in 1768 the lords of the manors and the freeholders gave land inclosed from the waste for charitable purposes.

Windlesham Manor appears among the manors granted to Westminster by Edward the Confessor in his foundation charter. It was apparently transferred to the small local Broomhall Convent at an unknown date.

Newark Priory had a grant of land in Windlesham in 1256, and had the advowson (right to appoint the vicar) of the church. Joan Rawlyns, Prioress of Broomhall, made a voluntary surrender of the property of her house in 1522 before the 1538 Dissolution of the Monasteries. In the next year Windlesham was granted to St. John's College, Cambridge, who still held it in 1911

In 1911 the village was due to the heath, see Surrey Heath, described as almost entirely modern, in much the same way as Wentworth, Surrey's landscape was tamed approximately at the turn of the 20th century, being naturally heather, gorse and fern and ideal for grass and laid out evergreen trees.

Local schools

There are four schools in the Windlesham area, two of which are in the village itself: Windlesham Village Infants School. Woodcote House School is also in the area.

Recreation and social events

Field of remembrance

The village field is home to one of the local recreational parks and includes a play area. Many village events take place on the field, one of the most well known being the Windlesham Fête. The field is also used in the summer months by Windlesham Cricket Club. It also hosts a remembrance day service, where a boy from Woodcote House plays the last post.

Pram race

Windlesham is known for its annual pram race in which teams race around the village stopping at every pub. This usually happens every Boxing Day. The race starts at 10:30am at the old headquarters of The BOC Group now Linde Group. The finish and prize giving is held at the Windlesham Club & Theatre. Funds raised though entry fees and coin collections on the day are distributed to local charities and good causes.

Running club

Windlesham has a thriving running club, Windle Valley Runners, suitable for all standards of runner. The club meets every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday for group training sessions and group runs, which take place in Windlesham and the surrounding areas. Windle Valley Runners compete in the winter Thames Valley Cross Country League. They also organise a monthly 10K race for members.

Windlesham Drama Group

Windlesham Drama Group is based at the Windlesham Club and Theatre. There are usually three shows a year including a pantomime (usually end of January / beginning of February) and two plays. New members are always welcome.

Localities

Valley End

File:St Saviour Wikipedia.jpg

St Saviour, Valley End, Surrey

Valley End is a hamlet and chapelry in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England 0.5 miles (0.80 km) east of Windlesham, so similarly is about 15 minutes drive from the South West Main Line at Woking to the southeast and from Sunningdale on the Waterloo to Reading Line to the north.

Valley End has two churches, St Saviour which was built in 1867 by the English architect George Frederick Bodley and Emmanuel Baptist Church. St Saviour's is built in red and brown brick with stone dressed windows. The interior is a simple mixture of brick and stone. There is a Holy Communion service every Sunday at 9am.

Valley End School was founded in 1859 by the Hon. Julia Bathurst of Hyams Hall, Windlesham.

The Valley End Cricket Club was founded in 1895.

Bagshot

See Bagshot for this developed part of the civil parish. There is the greatest concentration of shops and businesses in Bagshot compared to the other parts of the parish.

Lightwater

See Lightwater for this developed part of the civil parish

The Arboretum and the mansion of Updown Court

Windlesham Arboretum is connected by footpath to the edge of the village centre but on the opposite side of the M3 motorway. In July 2007, the most expensive house in the world, Updown Court, in Windlesham was valued at £75m ($138m (USD)). This 103-room mansion has 58 acres (23 ha) of gardens and landscaped woodlands.

Demography and housing

2011 Census Homes

Output area	Detached	Semi-detached	Terraced	Flats and apartments	Caravans/temporary/mobile homes	shared between households
(Civil Parish)	3,473	1,653	882	872	7	5

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.

2011 Census Key Statistics

Output area	Population	Households	% Owned outright	% Owned with a loan	hectares
(Civil Parish)	16,775	6,892	37.0%	44.4%	2,240

The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).

Notable residents

• Dr Brian May, composer, guitarist and astrophysicist, key to the rock band Queen
• Brian Blessed, actor, adventurer and broadcaster; current resident.
• Glen Hoddle, England football manager
• Nick Faldo, Golfer
• Sarah, Duchess of York
• HM The Queen lived in Windlesham at one time before her coronation.
• Andrew Ridgeley, musician of Wham was born in the nursing home that was along Hatton Hill, Windlesham.
• Edward Baigent was an early emigrant to Nelson, New Zealand and he was later elected to its Parliament.
• Agatha Christie at Ribsden
• Lady Elvey at The Towers
• Sir Joseph Hooker F.R.S., &c., &c. at The Camp

External links

• Population figures (PDF)
• St John the Baptist Church, Windlesham
• Updown Court
• Pram Race
• Windlesham Cricket Club
• Windle Valley Runners