Brookwood 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, about west of Woking, with a mixture of semi-rural, woodland-set and archetypal suburban residential homes. It lies on the western border of the Woking Borough, with a small part of the village in Guildford Borough. As part of the 2016 boundary review, Brookwood became part of the Heathlands ward which comprises Brookwood, Bridley, Hook Heath, Mayford, Sutton Green and Barnsbury and Wych Hill. The village is known for the 500-acre

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regi ...

, also called the London Necropolis. The village also gave its name to the former Victorian

Brookwood Hospital Brookwood Hospital at Knaphill (near Woking) in Surrey, was established in 1867 by Surrey Quarter Sessions as the second County Asylum, the first being Springfield Asylum in Tooting (1840). A third asylum, Cane Hill Hospital at Coulsdon in the ea ...

, once the leading mental institution in Surrey. Since its closure in 1994, it has been redeveloped as housing.

Geography

The village borders

Knaphill Knaphill is a village in Surrey, England, between Woking to the east and Aldershot to the west; to the south and north on the A322 – its western border – are Brookwood, and Bisley. Some of the village is on a hill, hence its name. ...

, on the other side of the main

A322 road List of A roads in zone 3 in Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island ...

, which is home to Brookwood Manor. The village also borders the

Basingstoke Canal The Basingstoke Canal is an English canal, completed in 1794, built to connect Basingstoke with the River Thames at Weybridge via the Wey Navigation. From Basingstoke, the canal passes through or near Greywell, North Warnborough, Odiham, Dogm ...

which has a flight of

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

there. Pirbright Camp is a short distance to the west, with the decommissioned

Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut The Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut, commonly referred to as Deepcut Barracks, is a former British Army installation near Camberley, Surrey. It was the headquarters of the Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) and also the Defence College of Logistics, Pol ...

slightly further away to the west. The village is surrounded mainly by

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

such as Sheet's Heath, a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

, Smarts Heath and Brookwood Heath. The main road is Connaught Road, a long road containing mixed Victorian terraces, a variety of 1930's

semi-detached A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single family duplex dwelling house that shares one common wall with the next house. The name distinguishes this style of house from detached houses, with no shared walls, and terraced hou ...

and larger detached houses. Branching off are smaller cul-de-sacs with more modern houses, some which back onto the canal itself. Along the road, there is a primary school which was established in 1906.

History

Brookwood appears by name (as ''Brocwud'' and ''Brocwude'') in the bounds of the Forest of Windsor as set down in 1225, and is depicted within 'Brookewood Walke' on

John Norden John Norden (1625) was an English cartographer, chorographer and antiquary. He planned (but did not complete) a series of county maps and accompanying county histories of England, the ''Speculum Britanniae''. He was also a prolific writer ...

's 1607 map of the Forest. It was mapped in detail for the first time in 1709, when it was recorded as covering 684 acres (excluding two large internal enclosures) bounded on all but the north-east side by Woking Common. Timber from Brookwood was used for the repair of local bridges in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, and by 1719 the wood appears to have been stripped of all trees. The village has grown over the 150 or so years since the vast cemetery and station first set roots in this area. Many of London's dead were buried in

during the Victorian era due to the over-population of the city at that time. The logistics were accomplished using the

London Necropolis Railway The London Necropolis Railway was a railway line opened in November 1854 by the London Necropolis Company (LNC), to carry corpses and mourners between London and the LNC's newly opened Brookwood Cemetery southwest of London in Brookwood, Sur ...

, consisting of funeral trains running from

London Waterloo railway station Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of ...

to Brookwood and subsequently down a small branch line into the cemetery grounds. This branch-line is now disused. The main station and nearby Brookwood Club private members bar are at least 100 years old. The name, 'Brook wood', refers to the small streams which used to rise within it, and in particular to 'Coresbrook'. The name is unlikely to derive from 'brocc' (meaning 'badger'), although the animal features on the village crest and on the school uniform.

Transport

Brookwood railway station Brookwood is a National Rail railway station in Brookwood in the English county of Surrey. It is down the line from . History The London and Southampton Railway (L&SR) was authorised on 25 July 1834. It was built and opened in stages, an ...

is 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 ...

, with four trains per hour each way. The junction with the

Alton Line The Alton line is a railway line in Hampshire and Surrey, England, operated by South Western Railway as a relatively long branch of the South West Main Line. The branch leaves the main line at Pirbright Junction to the west of Brookwood stati ...

is about further west. There is also a regular bus service to

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, Woking and

Frimley Frimley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. The town is of Saxon origin, although it is not listed in Domesday Book of 1086. Train services to Frimley (on the line between ...

Sports teams and organisations

Brookwood has a football team, Brookwood and District Football Club. Formed in 2007, B & D FC currently play in the Surrey and Hants Border League Division 3. Last season 2009/10 they were winners of the Prince Albert Cup, beating Abbey Rangers 5-4 in the match at Surrey Sports Park.

Youth organisations

Brookwood is home to quite a number of youth organisations and clubs. Most of these meet at either the Memorial Hall, St Saviours Church or are based in the school. Brookwood Scout Group meets in the Brookwood Memorial Hall every week during term time and offers both boys and girls between the ages of six and fourteen with the opportunity to take part in a wide range of activities and adventure. The group is a member of the Scout Association and covers the youngest three age bands that the Association caters for (Beavers, Cubs and Scouts).

Angling at Brookwood Country Park

Goldsworth Park Angling Club, established 2015, manages angling at Goldsworth Park Lake and Brookwood Ponds, under license with Woking Borough Council.

References

External links

Community website
{{authority control Villages in Surrey Woking