Byfleet is a village in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England. It is located in the far east of the borough of

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

, around east of

West Byfleet West Byfleet is a village in Surrey which grew up around its relatively minor stop on the London & South Western Railway: the station, originally ''Byfleet and Woodham'', opened in 1887. More than from the medieval village of Byfleet, the i ...

, from which it is separated by the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

and the

Wey Navigation The River Wey Navigation and Godalming Navigation together provide a continuous navigable route from the River Thames near Weybridge via Guildford to Godalming (commonly called the Wey Navigation). Both waterways are in Surrey and are owned b ...

. The village is of medieval origin. Its winding main street, High Road, contains old large

public houses A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, a church and several timber-framed houses, as well as other 16th and 17th century houses with

listed status In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The former

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

motor racing circuit is located just to the north, while to the east, across the

River Wey The River Wey is a main tributary of the River Thames in south east England. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey. Once combined the f ...

, is the former

Silvermere Silvermere is an estate in Surrey, England named after its mere – a shallow lake of about ten acres which has a silvery appearance when seen from the surrounding slopes. It was created in the 19th century for the rich architect, William A ...

estate, now a golf club. Byfleet is served by

Byfleet & New Haw railway station Byfleet & New Haw railway station is on the South West Main Line#Services, London to Woking line, operated by South Western Railway (train operating company), South Western Railway. The station is at the northern edge of Byfleet with the village ...

, on the

South West Main Line The South West Main Line (SWML) is a 143-mile (230 km) major railway line between Waterloo station in central London and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many commuter areas including south we ...

. In July 2012, its northern bypass hosted the long-distance cycling road races for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

History

The village was in the Godley

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

, a

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

division for strategic and taxation purposes. Byfleet appears in

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

as ''Byeflete''. It was held by Ulwin (Wulfwin) from

Chertsey Abbey Chertsey Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, was a Benedictine monastery located at Chertsey in the English county of Surrey. It was founded in 666 AD by Saint Erkenwald who was the first abbot, and from 675 AD the Bishop of London. At the same time ...

. Its domesday assets were: cultivated hides; 1 church, 1

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

rendering 5 shillings per year,

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

worth 325

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

s (per year), of

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

worth 10 hogs. It was taxed to render all in all £4 for the year to its overlords.

Industrial history

Byfleet expanded considerably after the opening of the

motor circuit in 1907 and when major aircraft factories opened there during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. A large housing estate for Vickers aircraft workers was built between Chertsey Road and Oyster Lane in World War I and although sold off by the early sixties, these houses still exist today. The

Tarrant Tabor The Tarrant Tabor was a British triplane bomber designed towards the end of the First World War and was briefly the world's largest aircraft. It crashed, with fatalities, on its first flight. Development The Tabor was the first and only aircraft ...

bomber, the largest aeroplane built in Britain during World War I, was constructed in Byfleet by W G Tarrant Ltd but crashed fatally at

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

on 26 May 1919 on its first attempted take-off. Several other aeroplanes were built in Byfleet by Glenny & Henderson Ltd in the late 1920s. The influence of the aircraft industry on the village's development continued between the wars and during World War Two and most of the new aeroplanes built at Brooklands took off over the centre of Byfleet on their first flights – the most spectacular being the first flight of the pioneering

Vickers VC10 The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance route ...

in 1962. The urgent need to supply the

Vickers Valiant The Vickers Valiant was a British high-altitude jet bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons, and in the 1950s and 1960s was part of the Royal Air Force's "V bomber" strategic deterrent force. It was developed by Vickers-Armstrongs in response ...

V-bomber to the RAF led to the removal of the central section of the race track's Byfleet Banking when a new hard runway was built in 1951. Various aircraft crashed in and around Byfleet during the first half of the last century; these include a

Vickers Viking The Vickers Viking was a British single-engine amphibious aircraft designed for military use shortly after World War I. Later versions of the aircraft were known as the Vickers Vulture and Vickers Vanellus. Design and development Researc ...

amphibian (on 13/4/22, flown by record-breaking England-Australia

Vickers Vimy The Vickers Vimy was a British heavy bomber aircraft developed and manufactured by Vickers Limited. Developed during the latter stages of the First World War to equip the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), the Vimy was designed by Reginald Kirshaw "Rex" ...

pilot Sir

Ross Macpherson Smith Sir Ross Macpherson Smith, (4 December 1892 – 13 April 1922) was an Australian aviator. He and his brother, Sir Keith Macpherson Smith, were the first pilots to fly from England to Australia, in 1919. Early life Smith's father migrated ...

and Lt Bennett – both men died when they crashed behind the Byfleet Banking just after take-off), the prototype

Vickers Wibault The Vickers Type 121 Wibault Scout was a British Fighter aircraft, fighter built by Vickers in the 1920s. It was a licensed version of the France, French Wibault 7 aircraft, with 26 being sold to Chile in 1926, where they served until 1934. D ...

(in June 1926, flown by chief test pilot 'Tiny' Scholefield – he baled out and the aeroplane crashed on the Vickers Sports Ground), an RAF Taylorcraft

Auster Auster Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1938 to 1961.Willis, issue 122, p.55 History The company began in 1938 at the Britannia Works, Thurmaston near Leicester, England, as Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited, ma ...

(on 12/3/43, flown by Capt W Whitson who hit a barrage balloon cable on bad visibility and crashed) and an RAF

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team ...

III (on 6/4/44, flown by S/Ldr Szawblowsky who struck a balloon cable and crashed near Oyster Lane). On 2 January 1945 a

Vickers Warwick The Vickers Warwick was a multi-purpose twin-engined British aircraft developed and operated during the Second World War. In line with the naming convention followed by other RAF heavy bombers of the era, it was named after a British city or ...

GRV, s/n PN773, flown by test pilot Bob Handasyde crashed beside Rectory Lane in Three Acre Field close to St Mary's Church and just missed road-sweeper Jack Smith with a wing-tip. Another Vickers employee named Bob Rampling (who lived in nearby Hopfield Avenue) was also on board as an observer and was reputedly sent on another test flight that same day. A single wooden propeller blade recovered from the scene in 1945 survives today in the Brooklands Museum collection.

World War II

Great effects also took place in this part of the county: evacuees, British and Canadian soldiers and German prisoners of war were all accommodated locally and the

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

factory on the east side of Brooklands was bombed with heavy loss of life on 4 September 1940. By 2200hrs the following day, 21 barrage balloons with rope lines and other military defences were deployed locally including along the nearby Seven Hills Road. The

Hawker aircraft Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that was responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history. History Hawker had its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, which resulted in the bank ...

factory on the Byfleet side of the aerodrome was targeted two days later resulting in major damage to certain buildings but with no loss of life nor any serious disruption to

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

production. The importance of Brooklands to the war effort was emphasised by the construction circa 1941 of a large anti-aircraft gun tower just east of the village at Manor Farm, together with two similar structures built on the north side of Brooklands. Gun crews on each of these 'flak' towers manned a 40mm

Bofors AB Bofors ( , , ) is a former Swedish arms manufacturer which today is part of the British arms concern BAE Systems. The name has been associated with the iron industry and artillery manufacturing for more than 350 years. History Located in ...

gun against further enemy air attacks. A fatal accident in the centre of Byfleet on 24 September 1942 saw a military

Bren Gun Carrier The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier and sometimes simply the Bren Carrier from the light machine gun armament, is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and other ...

operated by the Welsh Guards collide with the corner of The Plough pub killing a regular lady customer named Miss Edith Minnie Wyatt. She visited the pub regularly around midday and was co-owner of 'The Old Log Cabin' (a small shop opposite nearby Binfield Road) but sadly she died outside the premises having been pinned against the pub's bay window. This part of the building was then shored up with timber for a considerable period of time afterwards. In 1944 many troops stationed locally departed for France on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

and older residents still recall a column of Canadian tanks and other military vehicles which passed through the village at that time with a long tail-back running for two days along High Road between the War Memorial and The Clockhouse. Byfleet also came under attack from

V-1 V1, V01 or V-1 can refer to version one (for anything) (e.g., see version control) V1, V01 or V-1 may also refer to: In aircraft * V-1 flying bomb, a World War II German weapon * V1 speed, the maximum speed at which an aircraft pilot may abort ...

'Doodlebug' flying bombs – two fell beside Byfleet Road on 21 August and slightly injured two people. That same year a new Vickers flight test airfield opened just South of Byfleet at

Wisley __NOTOC__ Wisley is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England between Cobham and Woking, in the Borough of Guildford. It is the home of the Royal Horticultural Society's Wisley Garden. The River Wey runs through the village and Ockham and ...

Motor racing

Brooklands' record-breaking racing driver

J G Parry-Thomas John Godfrey Parry-Thomas (6 April 1884 – 3 March 1927) was a Welsh engineer and motor-racing driver who at one time held the land speed record. He was the first driver to be killed in pursuit of the land speed record. Early life and ed ...

and Bert Denly, motorcycle racer, lived in Byfleet in the 1920s and the renowned race-tuner

Robin Jackson Robert John Jackson (27 September 1948 – 30 May 1998), also known as The Jackal, was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary and part-time soldier. He was a senior officer in the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) during the period of violen ...

lived at St George's Hill and had an engineering works in Byfleet after World War II. Also post-war, Brooklands' engineer Francis Beart had a small workshop in High Road and specialised in tuning Norton motorcycles. After World War 2, the village became a greater centre for automotive-related businesses, garages, showrooms and workshops and these included post-war racing driver Duncan Hamilton's racing workshop and car showroom in the west end of High Road, the base for his successful C-type Jaguar victory at Le Mans in 1953. The modern 'Cobb House' in Oyster Lane is presumed to have been named in memory of record-breaking racing driver John Cobb who lived in

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up Ar ...

and the modern 'Birkin Court' in Chertsey Road is assumed to commemorate another racing driver,

Tim Birkin Sir Henry Ralph Stanley "Tim" Birkin, 3rd Baronet (26 July 1896 – 22 June 1933) was a British racing driver, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s. Background and family Birkin was born into a wealthy Nottingham family in 1896, the son of S ...

Sporting venues

During July 2012 Byfleet became a host of the

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Olympic Games when the men's, and ladies, road race passed through the village. The races took place on 28th (men's), and 29th (ladies), of July 2012. The route passed west along the A245, Parvis Road, from

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around 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 ...

towards

. The route was lined with London 2012 Olympic banners, making the event a real spectacle as it passed through.

Landmarks

Architectural history

Seven buildings are

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

, its watermill and two of the churchyard tombs. St Mary's Church in the village centre dates back to at least the 14th century, and medieval elements are kept in the structure of

Byfleet Manor Byfleet Manor is a Grade II* listed house in Byfleet, Surrey, England. Byfleet Manor has been used as a filming location in three television series, most notably ''Downton Abbey''. History Byfleet Manor's precursor was a royal hunting lodge gi ...

, built in 1686 – these are listed at Grade I and Grade II* (the top two categories) respectively. In 1895, 20-year-old Hampshire-born

Walter George Tarrant Walter George Tarrant (8 April 1875 – 18 March 1942) was a builder born in Brockhurst in the north of the port town of Gosport, Hampshire, England. He is best known as a Surrey master builder and developer of St Georges Hill and the Wentwor ...

started a new carpentry business, W G Tarrant Ltd, in Byfleet and later expanded into housebuilding. The company built extensively in Pyrford and West Byfleet in the early 1900s. By 1911 the Tarrant Works covered c. and included workshops for joinery, wrought iron and leaded lights, a stonemason's yard and a timber mill with drying sheds. The firm owned nurseries and brickfields elsewhere and was Byfleet's largest employer for many years. In 1898, the village gained an impressive village hall and club, funded by Frederick C Stoop who lived at West Hall between Byfleet and West Byfleet. In 1928 a new Wesleyan Chapel was built opposite St Mary's School on the junction of High Road and Rectory Lane and in 1939 an impressive new Byfleet

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

architects Kenneth Wood and Charles Rose was completed on land immediately south of this. Built in typical

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

style with a bright interior and stained glass windows designed and produced by the

Thomas Camm Thomas William Camm (1839 – 1912) was an English stained glass designer and manufacturer. Born in Spon Lane, West Bromwich, he worked for the ornamental department of Chance Brothers in Smethwick until it closed down in 1865, when he set u ...

Studio in

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider bu ...

, this building survives in very original condition today. In 1935, an existing vehicle garage and petrol station trading as "Byfleet Motors Ltd" in High Road was rebuilt in typical 'modern' style and featured an impressive white painted cement-rendered brick facade with a central clock tower, neon lighting and a well-equipped workshop at the rear. One of the Directors was C E C Martin who raced cars at nearby Brooklands and various racing and sports cars were serviced and repaired here for other owners and drivers too. These same premises still survive in the motor-trade today although the frontage has been modified and petrol sales ceased many years ago.

St. Mary's Church

Byfleet, Church of St Mary the Virgin - geograph

The bellcote, nave and chancel were all rebuilt in the late 13th Century in a very simple Early English style. St Mary's Church interior features some very rare wooden crosses (grave markers) recovered from Europe shortly after World War I. Graves in the churchyard include those of: *Brooklands-based racing driver

(see above) who died aged 42 at

Pendine Sands Pendine Sands ( cy, Traeth Pentywyn) is a beach on the shores of Carmarthen Bay on the south coast of Wales. It stretches west to east from Gilman Point to Laugharne Sands. The village of Pendine ( cy, Pentywyn, link=no) is close to the wester ...

in 1927 while attacking the world Land Speed Record. *Record-breaking motorcyclist

Bert le Vack Herbert 'Bert' le Vack (1888 London – 16 September 1931 Berne, Switzerland) was a motorcycle world speed record holder throughout the 1920s and earned the nickname the 'Wizard of Brooklands' for his exploits at Brooklands. An expert racing ...

who was killed at the age of 44 while testing a new motorcycle in the Swiss Alps in 1931. *Gerald Napier, the first pilot to be killed in a flying accident at Brooklands, who died on 1 August 1911, aged only 19. *Scottish aviation pioneer and Vickers' first test pilot

Harold Barnwell Richard Harold Barnwell (3 April 1879 – 25 August 1917) was an English aviation pioneer, who began as an aircraft builder. He died while test-flying an early Vickers fighter aircraft. Life He was born in Lewisham in southeast London on 3 Apr ...

who was killed flying a new prototype fighter at Joyce Green Aerodrome near

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

, Kent, in 1917. *Ebeneezer Mears, local construction business founder. *Margaret Honor Wellby, believed to be the first British woman pilot to die flying an aeroplane, who lived with her parents at nearby St George's Hill, crash-landed

Avro 504 The Avro 504 was a First World War biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the war totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind tha ...

G-EBFM (ex H2070) on take-off from Brooklands in 1928. *Victims of the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

's 1940 bombing of Brooklands including: 17-year-old Irene Coleman, 36-year-old Edward Eastwood and 21-year-old Gwendoline Goddard, who all worked for Vickers. *Lt Arthur Doricourt Roberts, MC, RFC, who was killed in a flying training accident near Hanworth on 31 August 1917, aged 22. *Captain Edward Arnold (Ted) Jones, Director of Brooklands Aviation Ltd and a popular instructor at the Brooklands School of Flying, who was accidentally killed aged 34 at

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

after a flight from Brooklands ended with his DH60M Moth G-AAVU hitting a windsock mast then crashing while landing on 8 November 1931. *Sir

Horace Curzon Plunkett Sir Horace Curzon Plunkett (24 October 1854 – 26 March 1932), was an Anglo-Irish agricultural reformer, pioneer of agricultural cooperatives, Unionist MP, supporter of Home Rule, Irish Senator and author. Plunkett, a younger brother of Jo ...

KCVO PC (Ire) JP DL FRS (24 October 1854 – 26 March 1932), an Anglo-Irish agricultural reformer, pioneer of agricultural cooperatives, Unionist MP, supporter of Home Rule, Irish Senator and author. Locations for all of these graves can be found using an interactive map on the Byfleet Heritage Society's website.

Sanway

The history of the Sanway area of Byfleet is largely unrecorded and therefore currently being researched by local historians. Among its original residents in the early 20th century was record-breaking racing motorcyclist Bert Denly who lived in Richmond Cottages. The Sanway Laundry was a major local employer from the early 1900s until the 1960s with its distinctive green and white delivery vans. One of several late 19th century laundries established in the Sanway area of the village, it moved during World War 1 to occupy part of the former Byfleet Brewery in High Road until closed and redeveloped c.1970 as 'The Willows' housing estate. Another smaller laundry in Binfield Cottages (beside Top Field, Sanway) provided a laundry service for Byfleet Manor and was managed by Mrs Amelia Bailey (later Harling) but closed soon after she died c.1936.

Housing developments

Despite many new housing developments in recent decades and a number of flats for older residents such as 'Barnes Wallis Court' opened in 2009 at the junction of Oyster Lane and Parvis Road, Byfleet Village still has character and a number of interesting old buildings today including 12 nationally designated Listed buildings. Nine others are Locally Listed and the West end of High Road is also a Conservation Area.

21st century

Byfleet is an ancient parish. It was included as a civil parish in the Chertsey Rural District in 1884; it was added to the

Woking urban district Woking ( ) is a town and borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The earliest evidence of human activity is ...

in 1933 under a

County Review Order The Local Government Act 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales. The Act abolished the system of poor law unions in England and Wales and their boar ...

, thus extinguishing its parish council. The most recent parish council was formed in 1989. In June 2005, the

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duti ...

refused to abolish the parish, despite its own request. In May 2007, a group standing under an "Abolish Byfleet Parish Council" banner won election to the Parish Council and again proceeded to seek its abolition. The civil parish was abolished on 1 April 2010. The War Memorial commemorates military personnel and civilians who died in both world wars who came from the local community. In the lead up to Remembrance Sunday the memorial is lit up each night. The memorial includes, public benches, flower beds and a beautifully simple, yet empowering stone wall naming each hero that gave their life for justice and freedom.

Lloyds TSB Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exten ...

was the only bank left in Byfleet until its closure in November 2018 and this Victorian building is currently vacant, but there are still three pubs (a fourth pub, The King's Head in local-traffic only Chertsey Road was demolished in 2011), a post office, two Co-op supermarkets and a large variety of other local shops and businesses. A

Home Bargains Home Bargains is a British variety store chain founded in 1976 by Tom Morris in Liverpool, England, as Home and Bargain. It is the trading name of TJ Morris Ltd. History The retailer was founded by owner Tom Morris in 1976 as a single store ...

store opened in the Royston Road retail park on 13 December 2014 and a new shop named Alchemy (specialising in vintage and recycled gifts) opened beside the Blue Anchor Hotel in High Road on 22 November 2019. The traditional Byfleet Parish Day is held on the recreation ground with supporting events (including local crafts and home grown produce competitions) in the nearby village hall and St Mary's Day Centre every July. The nationally listed 'Clockhouse' in High Road in the east is an 18th-century mansion extended and converted in the 1960s into a retirement communal home for the elderly before its latest renovation as flats for the over-fifties was completed in 2009. The Blue Anchor Hotel was on 29 March 1924 the setting for a notorious murder. In January that year 41-year-old Mabel Theresa Jones, wife of landlord Alfred George Poynter Jones, had travelled to

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

to recover from a nervous breakdown. At Biarritz's Hôtel Victoria, with the aid of a French-English dictionary, she was seduced by 45-year-old French wireless operator

Jean-Pierre Vaquier Jean-Pierre Vaquier (14 July 1879 – 17 August 1924) was a French inventor and murderer. He was convicted in Britain of murdering the husband of his mistress by poisoning him with strychnine. Vaquier was born in Niort-de-Sault on Bastille Da ...

. When Mabel received a telegram from her husband calling her back to Byfleet, Vaquier followed, and in London the affair continued. Vaquier then took a room at the Blue Anchor and eventually killed Alfred Jones by adding

strychnine Strychnine (, , US chiefly ) is a highly toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the eye ...

to the dose of salts Jones habitually took as a hangover cure. Vaquier was hanged at

Wandsworth Prison HM Prison Wandsworth is a Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, Category B men's prison at Wandsworth in the London Borough of Wandsworth, South West (London sub region), South West London, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Pri ...

on 12 August 1924. Parvis Road was part of the 2012 Olympics Cycle Road Race route in July 2012 and also for the practice race for 150 entrants on 14 August 2011, which was won by British team member

Mark Cavendish Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Isle of Man, Manx professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . As a Track cycling, track cyclist he specialises in the Madison (cycling), madison, po ...

. In the centre of Brooklands in September 2012, Brooklands Museum installed the 40% scale model of the iconic

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

airliner previously displayed near the entrance to

London Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the Airports of London, London airport sys ...

's Central Terminal Tunnel. Repainted in authentic 1970s airline colours, the model now sits proudly beside the junction of Wellington Way and Sopwith Drive as an impressive symbol of Brooklands' aviation and industrial heritage.

Byfleet Heritage Society

The Byfleet Heritage Society formed in 1996 and has detailed historical displays in Byfleet Library's Heritage Room with popular monthly meetings in the former Victorian school, now the St Mary's Centre. Recent Society projects include researching such subjects as Byfleet's numerous shops and businesses, village life in both world wars, the Stoop family and West Hall and, thanks to the support of Surrey County Council and many volunteers, finding and recording the gravestones and memorials for over 2,500 known burial locations in St Mary's Churchyard – resulting in a new interactive map and database launched and added to the Society's website on 29 March 2015. A blue plaque organised by the Society in memory of the well known early 20th century Dutch benefactors, Frederick and Agnes Stoop (who lived in nearby West Hall), was officially unveiled on front of the Village Hall by the Dutch Cultural Attache, Daphne Thissen, on 11 September 2015.

Byfleet Fire Station

This rare surviving example of a Victorian village fire station was built at the West end of High Road in 1885 by notable local MP and former Lord Mayor of London Sir John Ellis and served the village until closed in 1963. Still owned by Surrey County Council, it was designated a Grade 2 Listed building in 2008 and thanks to a partnership of

Brooklands Museum Brooklands Museum is a motoring and aviation museum occupying part of the former Brooklands motor-racing track in Weybridge, Surrey, England. Formally opened in 1991, the museum is operated by the independent Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd, a pri ...

, the Byfleet Heritage Society and other local organisations, this historic building has benefitted from some restoration work for potential heritage-related community use. From 2008 to 2014 volunteers researched its history, secured grants and sponsorship, organised professional conservation and condition surveys, prioritised and carried out essential repairs, staged regular public open days and improved the building's internal and external appearance. In November 2009 a new development of retirement flats (appropriately named Ellis Court) was completed beside the fire station. Roof repairs were made in 2012 and, with the aid of two further grants, the electrics were totally renewed in 2013 and all exterior doors were repaired and repainted in 2014. The potential future use of the building for fire heritage purposes is currently being considered by the Surrey Fire & Rescue Service with continued encouragement from the Byfleet Heritage Society and other interested local residents.

Immediate surroundings

Byfleet borders the Brooklands

retail park A retail park is a type of shopping centre found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in the United Kingdom and other European countries. They form a key aspect of European retail geographies, alongside indoor shopping centres, standalo ...

(which includes Argos, Currys/PC World, Marks & Spencer and Tesco) on the western part of the former

motor circuit and aerodrome, the northern part of which is dominated by Mercedes-Benz World and the Brooklands Hotel.

St George's Hill St George's Hill is a private gated community in Weybridge, Surrey, United Kingdom. The estate has golf and tennis clubs, as well as approximately 420 houses. Land ownership is divided between homes with gardens, belonging to home owners, and t ...

, Weybridge, adjoins to the north-east and

lies to the west. On the northern edge of the Brooklands business park,

Byfleet and New Haw railway station Byfleet & New Haw railway station is on the London to Woking line, operated by South Western Railway. The station is at the northern edge of Byfleet with the village of New Haw immediately to the north and the M25 motorway within to the west ...

is a stopping-service station on the

which connects the village to central London.

Demography

The proportion of households in Byfleet who owned their home outright was just over 9% greater than the borough and regional average. The proportion who owned their home with a loan was 4% greater than the regional average; providing overall a lower proportion than average of rented residential property and of

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

, and close to the average in

Local government

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council administering certain services in the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1965 the Conservative Party has ...

, one of the 81 representatives represents the area for ''The Byfleets'' division.Electoral Divisions
Surrey County Council. Retrieved 6 November 2013 At

Woking Borough Council Woking Borough Council is the local authority for the borough of Woking in the county of Surrey, England. The council consists of 30 councillors, three for each of the 10 wards in the town. It is currently controlled by the Liberal Democrat Part ...

. a few wards of the borough are deemed appropriate to be represented under the current constitution of councillors by three councillors, which is the case for Byfleet.Your local councillors

. Retrieved 6 November 2013

Literature

Byfleet is mentioned in chapter 12 of ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

'' by

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Sir George Barnes – born in Byfleet in 1904; Controller of

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Radio and Television in the 1940s and 50s. Principal of the University College of North Staffordshire, now

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

1956–60. *

Harry Dodson Harry James Dodson (11 September 1919 – 25 July 2005) was an English gardener who became a celebrity as a result of the BBC television documentary series ''The Victorian Kitchen Garden'', which featured his professional expertise and his remi ...

– born in Byfleet; presenter of 1987 TV series The Victorian Kitchen Garden. * Sir John Ellis – former Lord Mayor of London, MP and founder of Byfleet Fire Brigade, lived at Petersham House in High Road in the late 19th century. *

Sarah Miles Sarah Miles (born 31 December 1941) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in films ''The Servant'' (1963), ''Blowup'' (1966), ''Ryan's Daughter'' (1970), ''The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing'' (1973), '' White Mischief'' (1987) and '' Ho ...

– lived in Byfleet in the late 1960s – early 1970s. * John Godfrey Parry-Thomas – engineer and record-breaking racing driver, lived in The Hermitage inside the Brooklands Track, killed on Pendine Sands and buried in St Mary's Churchyard in 1927. * Joseph Spence – 18th Century historian. *

– lived at Lake House, Chertsey Road.

References

Bibliography

*Allen, Jim, BEM (2018) 'Byfleet in the Great War' (Byfleet Heritage Society) *Flower, Stephen (1994) 'Raiders Overhead – The Bombing of Walton & Weybridge' (Air Research Publications, Walton on Thames) *Gardner, Charles (1956) 'Fifty Years of Brooklands' (Heinemann). *Gilbert, James (1975) 'The World's Worst Aircraft – A Rogue's Gallery of Flying Follies' (M & J Hobbs Ltd & Michael Joseph Ltd) – see chapter on the Byfleet-built Tarrant Tabor bomber. *Norris, Richard (2008) 'The Life and Works of Walter George Tarrant' (self-published). *Stevens, Leonard R (1977, Reprinted and Revised edition) The Parish Church of St Mary The Virgin Byfleet' (printed locally). *Stevens, Leonard, E, (2nd edition reprint, 2001) 'Byfleet – A Village of England'(Byfleet Heritage Society). *Wakeford, Iain (2000) 'Byfleet – A Heritage Walks Guide' (AK, HR & DA Wakeford, Old Woking, Surrey).

External links

Byfleet News and MailByfleet's Community & Social Networking WebsiteByfleet Heritage Society website
* {{Authority control Villages in Surrey Former civil parishes in Surrey Woking