Ottershaw is a village in the

Borough of Runnymede The Borough of Runnymede is a local government district with borough status in the English county of Surrey. It is a very prosperous part of the London commuter belt, with some of the most expensive housing in the United Kingdom outside centra ...

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 southwest of central London. The village developed in the mid-19th century from a number of separate hamlets and became a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

in its own right in 1871. The nearest town is

Addlestone Addlestone ( or ) is a town in Surrey, England. It is located approximately southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the Runnymede (borough), Borough of Runnymede, of which it is the largest settlement. History The town is ...

, approximately to the east. The M25 is accessible via junction 11.

Economy and transport

Ottershaw is largely a mixture of a

London commuter belt The London metropolitan area is the metropolitan area of London, England. It has several definitions, including the London Travel to Work Area, and usually consists of the London urban area, settlements that share London's infrastructure, and ...

and a retirement settlement. Its nearest passenger trains to London leave from

Addlestone railway station Addlestone railway station serves the town of Addlestone in the Runnymede District of Surrey, England. It is located on the Chertsey Branch Line and is operated by South Western Railway. The station was opened, with the branch line, on 14 ...

, centred east, on a branch line, with two others on a main line a slightly greater distance to the south —; the principal one which has frequent, semi-fast services to London being

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 ...

Amenities

A significant landmark is Christ Church. Sir Edward Colebrooke (1813–90), who bought the Ottershaw Park estate in 1859, built the church on his estate as a memorial to his deceased son and heir. From its consecration in 1864, it was opened to the local community for worship. A

junior school A Junior school is a type of school which provides primary education to children, often in the age range from 8 and 13, following attendance at Infant school which covers the age range 5–7. (As both Infant and Junior schools are giving Primary ...

here is linked to this church. A boarding school for boys,

Ottershaw School Ottershaw School was founded in 1948 as an English school for boys in Ottershaw Park, Ottershaw, approximately southwest of London between Chertsey and Woking, Surrey, south of England, on an estate that dated back to 1761, when the first house ...

, was founded in 1948 in Ottershaw Park; it closed in 1980. The school buildings were converted for residential use.

History

The Ottershaw Society has carried out a comparative, now and then, survey of the village comprising more than 1,000 images (photographs and illustrations) from the mid-19th century to the present time, older residents' memories and various other historical written material. The

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...

collaborative historians' work captures the village under its

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in the ...

entries, as with Addlestone, considering in its 1910s edition some ties to Chertsey remained strong.

Leisure

Foxhills Golf Club Foxhills is a golf club and resort located in Ottershaw, Surrey, United Kingdom. It was established in 1975 and named for Charles James Fox on whose former estate it's located. Foxhills is credited with helping launch the career of Ryder Cup playe ...

is in the more rural western side of the area. The village has two pubs: the Otter, which has a restaurant, and the Castle in Brox Road. It also has an Indian restaurant, Three Rooms
Ottershaw FC
play their home games at Egham Cricket Club and play in the Surrey County Intermediate League Premier (Western) Step 8 of non-league football. 2016/17 Charity Cup Winners, 2017/18 Surrey County Cup Winners. The adult development side play in Guildford & Woking Alliance League Division 1. Homewood parkrun takes place in Ottershaw Memorial Fields each Saturday at 9am. It initially took place in Homewood park, but moved to Ottershaw after 13 events.

Notable residents

Living people

* Oliver James, musician and actor, was born in 1980 in Ottershaw. * John Romer,

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

and historian, was born and educated in Ottershaw. * Hannah Russell, British

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

swimmer, was born in Chertsey and lives in Ottershaw. At the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games she won silver in the S12 400m freestyle, and bronze in the 100m butterfly – setting a new British record, and bronze in the 100m backstroke.

Historical figures

* Robert Sewell,

Attorney General of Jamaica Attorney General of Jamaica is the chief law officer in Jamaica. Section 79(1) of the Constitution of Jamaica states that "there shall be an Attorney General who shall be the principal legal adviser to the Government of Jamaica" and pursuant to ...

and British MP, was born at Ottershaw Park.

Ottershaw in literature

In the book ''

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. ''

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

in Ottershaw.

References

External links

Ottershaw Village SocietyOttershaw Park HistoryOttershaw PlayersVillage Home PageChrist Church, Ottershaw (Anglican)Ottershaw School Old Boys' SocietyOttershaw FCHomewood parkrun
{{Runnymede 19th-century establishments in England Borough of Runnymede Villages in Surrey