Hinchley Wood is a suburb in the Elmbridge borough of

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, approximately 13 miles (21 km) south-west of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

in central London, and within the

Greater London Urban Area The Greater London Built-up Area, or Greater London Urban Area, is a conurbation in south-east England that constitutes the continuous urban sprawl of London, and includes surrounding adjacent urban towns as defined by the Office for National Sta ...

. It developed largely around its

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

at its heart on the New Guildford Line — and many of its homes house at least one commuter to

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. The suburb has one main parade of convenience shops, local services and a petrol station; throughout the area is a light smattering of small businesses. A double-width section of the A309 bisects the suburb which acts as a local spur road to a semi-urban section of the motorway-standard

A3 road The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road or London Road in sections, is a major road connecting the City of London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston upon Thames, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield. For much of its length, it is classified ...

. The suburb's main retail area is directly north of a traffic light intersection adjoined by a large set of retirement flats. The suburb has no high-rise buildings and gained its first place of worship in 1953. Hinchley Wood, has the London dialling code 020.

History

The only old

listed building 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 ...

is the 16th century Old Farm House in the town. Its listing states '... C16 with C18 addition to front left, C19 addition to right. Timber framed core, stuccoed over with plain tiled roofs. Large brick stack to rear and ends. 2 storeys with 2 tripartite wood casements to centre of first floor...' and is now on an ordinary street. Initially the farmland on which Hinchley Wood was to be built was part of

Thames Ditton Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred 12.2 miles (19.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross ...

. In 1925

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 ...

Council considered a petition from the small number of residents of Manor Road, in which ribbon development from

was taking place, for the provision of a new station between

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

and

Claygate Claygate is an affluent suburban village in Surrey, England, southwest of central London. It is the only civil parish in the borough of Elmbridge. Surrounded by green belt, it lies inside the Greater London Built-up Area. Claygate was once in t ...

on the railway that had opened in 1885. The Southern Railway was not interested in a new station; the low population would create negligible new custom; the opening of the

Kingston Bypass The Kingston Bypass is a 41 million, highway bypassing the southern Hobart community of Kingston, Tasmania. The proposal of a bypass was originally published in the Hobart Area Transportation Study during 1965. The bypass was completed in 201 ...

changed the commercial viability of new station. Immediately the speculative possibilities created by the bypass were considered. Furthermore, even as it was being built a sewer was laid under it, at Manor Road, to facilitate development. The opening of

Hinchley Wood railway station Hinchley Wood railway station is in the centre of the compact suburban village of Hinchley Wood in Surrey, England. It is down the line from and opened in 1930 after the New Guildford Line first passed through the area in 1885. It is the n ...

brought about the rapid emergence of Hinchley Wood as a coherent, identifiable settlement, with a housing stock so plainly superior to that typical of the 1930s. At its annual general meeting in 1927, the chairman called attention to "great increment in the value of the land, which goes into the pockets of vigilant people at our expense". G.T. Crouch agreed to contribute £2,500 towards the cost (about one-third) of the building of the station. Having been given planning permission to build Hinchley Wood in September 1929, Crouch struck a deal with the Southern Railway for the construction of the station. To persuade the Southern Railway to build it, Crouch had to help pay for it. Although the Southern Railway knew that a new settlement would bring new business, it also knew the benefit to Crouch. After the Second World Ward, the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...

had large offices housed in the single storey inter-connected barrack blocks of former Italian Prisoner of War camp on the north side of the railway station. These blocks were eventually demolished to become a very dense turn of the Millennium housing development. In 1953, the community's church in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, St. Christophers Church was built. In 1999 residents took on

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

to defeat a plan to take over and convert a

public house 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 ...

. The pub had been visited two years before by the Soviet leader from 1985 to 1991

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

and his wife when their flight home to Russia was delayed.

Transportation and growth

was built at the point where conveniently the tracks forked already, making it the more economically built and manned. Additionally, the regionally monopolised owner-operator, Southern Railway bought some more land on which to build a goods yard, which in the event was never built because competition from road haulage became too great, but the land was retained; ultimately this allowed a car park to be provided. When the station opened, Hinchley Wood comprised a couple of dozen houses and a petrol filling station in a field that bordered the bypass. Development took place around the shops that were built next to the station. The speed at which the houses in Hinchley Wood were built was phenomenal, with the peak years being in 1933–34 when 750 residents moved in, many of whom were London commuters. The Hinchley Wood Residents' Association was formed in 1931 and quickly became an effective voice for the community on

Council. Hinchley Wood is served by the K3 bus route through Claygate to Esher to the south and through Surbiton to Kingston and

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

to the north. The local authority has varied from

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

to Residents Association since its 1974 formation.

Countryside and recreation parks

Many residents visit Littleworth Common, where it meets Esher Eagles Rugby League club, a community rugby club. These are followed by, in the south west, a historic but now small woodland named Hinchley Wood. Telegraph Hill is also southwest of Hinchley Wood and is the largest nearby walking spot and has some visitor attraction for its Grade II (architecture)

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 ...

'Semaphore House' semaphore tower described as "c1822. Rendered brick on projecting plinth with hipped slate roof. 3-storey square tower to centre...C20 glazing bar sash windows throughout".

Education

Hinchley Wood has two schools, Hinchley Wood Primary School and

Hinchley Wood School Hinchley Wood School is a secondary school with academy status in Hinchley Wood Surrey, England. Overview Hinchley Wood School admits pupils from the age of eleven to between sixteen and eighteen. The school has a Sixth Form which provides a to ...

, one of the main secondary schools in the area.

Demography and housing

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

In the media

McDonald's rebuffed

Hinchley Wood has independent cafés and small supermarkets. Nonetheless in 1999

sought to widen its reach, by opening a rare pure suburbia outlet. Hinchley Wood residents, organised as Residents Against McDonald's (RAM), took on McDonald's to defeat a plan to turn their local pub into a drive-through fast-food outlet. The residents defeated McDonald's on 16 June 2000 after a 552-day continuous occupation. The pub has since been demolished and has been replaced by retirement flats.

Irreverent jibes

Hinchley Wood unwittingly featured in an irreverent semi-comical book ''

Crap Towns ''Crap Towns: The 50 Worst Places to Live in the UK'','' Crap Towns II: The Nation Decides'', and ''Crap Towns Returns: Back by Unpopular Demand'', are a series of books edited by Sam Jordison and Dan Kieran, in association with UK quarterly '' ...

'' to be ranked "48th worst" in the United Kingdom. In response to the ranking, the local councillor stated "People like it here because it is a quiet place, very convenient for the city and, if you want to get to Kingston, it is easy as well. You have all the peace and quiet you want and it is near the countryside and the rivers. While we do not have a pub we do have a strong community spirit". The town lost the status in later editions.

Location

References

External links

Hinchley Wood ForumHinchley Wood Residents Association
{{authority control Villages in Surrey Borough of Elmbridge