Hook is a suburban area in south west

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. It forms part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and is located 12 miles (19.3 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; ...

. Neighbouring settlements include Hinchley Wood,

Long Ditton Long Ditton is a residential suburb in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England on the boundary with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. In medieval times it was a village, occupying a narrow strip of land. Neighbouring sett ...

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 h ...

Tolworth Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Long Ditton, New Malden, Kingston, Surbiton, Berrylands, Hinchley Wo ...

and

Chessington Chessington is an area in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames within Greater London. Historically part of Surrey, today it is the largest salient of Greater London into that county. At the 2011 census it had a population of 18,973. Th ...

. An RAF

barrage balloon A barrage balloon is a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe collision risk to aircraft, making the attacker's approach more difficult. Early barr ...

depot opened in Hook c. 1938 and was later known as RAF Chessington, latterly used as a hospital until demolished and redeveloped for housing in the 1990s. Hook forms part of the Chessington post town.

Governance

Hook was a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

which formed part of the

Surbiton Urban District 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 ha ...

of Surrey from 1895. The urban district became a municipal borough in 1936 and in 1965 its former area was transferred to

Greater London Greater may refer to: * Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film * Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 * Greater Bank, an Austra ...

. The former area of the Hook parish, together with that of the Chessington parish, form a protrusion of Greater London with the Surrey districts of Elmbridge to the west, Mole Valley to the south and

Epsom and Ewell Epsom and Ewell () is a local government district with borough status and unparished area in Surrey, England, covering the towns of Epsom and Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It ...

to the east.

Transport

Hook is on the A243 road. Chessington North railway station is within walking distance to the east.

Surviving old buildings

Only three listed buildings exist in the entire post town of

, two of which are on Hook Road, just north of Chessington itself, on the east side. The first is at number 325: a 19th-century CE two-storey home featuring central doorway with moulded architrave and bracketed hood with fluted Ionic columns. The second, at number 435, is a two-storey house inscribed 1669 but with later alterations. It has two-part baffle- (or lobby-) entry, and has been refaced with brick but is probably timber-framed behind; its sides and back are weather-boarded and it has a steeply pitched, pantiled roof with central chimney. Many former 18th- and 19th-century houses on this old

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp ...

and

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby ...

route have been redeveloped or were destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, including

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, as shown in the street numbering.

Notable people

Harry Hawker, record-breaking

Brooklands Brooklands was a Auto racing, 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 fir ...

-based test pilot and racing driver lived in Hook Road until his death in a flying accident at Hendon Aerodrome and is buried in St Paul's churchyard.

References

{{London Districts Areas of London Districts of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames