Byfleet
Encyclopedia
Byfleet is an inland island village forming a suburb of Woking
in Surrey
, England
. It is in the east of the borough between the River Wey
and the River Mole, and is within the M25 motorway
.
Byfleet is centrally located close to the A3
and M25, and is located at the foot of the St George's Hill estate, just to the south of Weybridge
, to the west of Cobham
and to the east of West Byfleet
. The village is served by Byfleet and New Haw railway station
.
hundred
, a Saxon
administrative division. Byfleet appears in Domesday Book
as Byeflete. It was held by Uluuin (Wulfwin) from Chertsey Abbey
. Its domesday assets were: 2½ hide
s; 1 church, 1 mill
worth 5s, 1½ fisheries
worth 325 eel
s, 6 acres (24,281.2 m²) of meadow
, woodland
worth 10 hogs. It rendered £4.
The historic St Mary's Church dates back to at least the 14th century.
In 1895, 20 year old Hampshire-born Walter George Tarrant
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.
In 1898, the village gained an impressive new village hall and club thanks to the generosity of wealthy benefactor Frederick C Stoop who lived at West Hall (between Byfleet and West Byfleet).
By 1911 the Tarrant Works covered over five acres and included workshops for joinery, wrought iron and leaded lights, a stonemason’s yard and a timber mill with drying sheds. The firm also owned nurseries and brickfields elsewhere and was Byfleet's largest employer for many years.
Byfleet also expanded considerably after the opening of the Brooklands
motor circuit in 1907 and when major aircraft factories opened there during World War I. A large housing estate for Vickers aircraft workers was built between Chertsey Road and Oyster Lane in World War I and these houses still exist today. The Tarrant Tabor
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 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.
World War II affected village life in many ways with evacuees, British and Canadian soldiers and even German prisoners of war all being accommodated locally and, after the Vickers
factory on the East side of Brooklands was badly bombed with heavy loss of life on 4 September 1940, barrage balloons and other military defences were deployed throughout the local area. The Hawker
aircraft factory on the Byfleet side of the aerodrome was attacked two days later with major damage to its premises and other buildings nearby but Hurricane production was not seriously disrupted. 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 on the north side of Brooklands, Byfleet's gun crew manned a 40mm Bofors
gun against further enemy air attacks.
A fatal accident in the centre of Byfleet around 1942/43 saw a military Bren Gun Carrier operated by the Welsh Guards collide with the corner of The Plough pub killing a regular lady customer. She visited the pub regularly around midday and was co-owner of 'The 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 timbers for a considerable period of time afterwards.
In 1944 Byfleet also came under attack from V.1 '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 a short distance South of Byfleet at Wisley
.
Various aircraft crashed in and around Byfleet during the first half of the last century; these include a Vickers Viking
amphibian (on 13/4/22, flown by record-breaking England-Australia Vickers Vimy
pilot Sir Ross Macpherson Smith
and Lt Bennett - both men died), the prototype Vickers Wibault
(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
(on 12/3/43, flown by Capt W Whitson who hit a barrage balloon cable on bad visibility and crashed) and an RAF Mustang
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
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 and was reputedly sent on another test flight that same day.
Byfleet inevitably had connections motor racing at Brooklands too - record-breaking racing driver J G Parry-Thomas and motorcycle racer Bert Denley both lived in Byfleet in the 1920s and the renowned race-tuner Robin Jackson lived at St George's Hill and had an engineering works in Byfleet after World War II. The village had many garages and petrol stations during the 20th century and postwar racing driver Duncan Hamilton's old racing workshop that was the base for his Jaguar Le Mans assault survives today as a car showroom & workshop at 7, High Road, opposite the old fire station. 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
.
St Mary's Church interior features some very rare wooden crosses (grave markers) recovered from the Continent shortly after World War I and among notable graves in the churchyard, are those of Brooklands-based racing driver J G Parry-Thomas who died at Pendine Sands
in Wales in 1927 while attacking the world Land Speed Record and Bert le Vack
, one of the greatest ever motorcyclists to have raced at Brooklands. Also buried there were Scottish aviation pioneer and Vickers' first test pilot Harold Barnwell
who was killed flying a new prototype fighter at Joyce Green Aerodrome near Dartford
, Kent, in 1917 and Ebeneezer Mears, who founded a well-known construction company which was based in the village for many years.
One of the first British women pilots to die in a flying accident is also buried in St Mary's Churchyard - Honor Wellby, who lived with her parents at nearby St George's Hill, died after crashing an Avro 504
on take-off from Brooklands in 1928. At least three victims of the 1940 bombing of Brooklands are also buried here - 17 year old Irene Coleman, 36 year old Edward Eastwood and 21 year old Gwendoline Goddard, who all worked for Vickers at the time.
The Sanway Laundry was another major local employer from around the 1920s until the 1960s with its distinctive green and white delivery vans. Latterly it occupied part of the former Byfleet Brewery in High Road until closed and redeveloped c.1970 as 'The Willows' housing estate.
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 with 12 being nationally designated Listed buildings. Nine others are Locally Listed and the West end of High Road is also a Conservation Area.
in 1933 under a County Review Order
, thus extinguishing its parish council. Byfleet constitutes a civil parish
. The most recent parish council was formed in 1989. In June 2005, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 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. This was ultimately achieved and reported in the Byfleet News and Mail on 17 December 2009.
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.
The Byfleet Heritage Society has detailed historical displays in Byfleet Library's Heritage Room and has monthly meetings in St Mary's Day Centre. Society projects include making oral history recordings with older residents, recording gravestones and memorials in St Mary's Churchyard and researching specific subjects such as village life in World War II and the history of the Stoop family and West Hall. In partnership with Brooklands Museum
and other local organisations, the Society is also working on plans to restore the historic Victorian Byfleet Fire Station for community use. Built in High Road in 1885 by notable local MP and former Lord Mayor of London Sir John Ellis, it served the village until 1963, was designated a Grade 2 Listed building in 2008 and is owned by Surrey County Council. A new development of retirement flats (appropriately named Ellis Court) was completed beside the fire station in November 2009.
Property values of Byfleet have been reasonable in comparison to its adjoining affluent neighbours of Weybridge
and West Byfleet
. This is unusual for a Surrey
village located less than a mile away from Britain's wealthy estate of St George's Hill - which was itself first developed by Byfleet builder, Walter George Tarrant.
Lloyds TSB is now the only bank in Byfleet but there are three pubs (a fourth - The King's Head in Chertsey Road - closed in April 2010 and was demolished a year later), a post office, Co-op and a variety of other local shops and businesses as well as the nearby Brooklands Retail Park.
A Farmers' Market is held on the village green on the first Saturday every month except January and the traditional Byfleet Parish Day is held on the Recreation Ground with supporting events in the nearby village hall and St Mary's Day Centre every July.
Other recent developments include The Clockhouse in High Road at the east end of the village; this 18th century mansion has a significant history and was converted in the sixties into a retirement home for the elderly before its latest renovation as flats for the over fifties was completed in 2009.
Parvis Road is also part of the 2012 Olympics cycle road race route and a practice race for 150 entrants on 14 August 2011 was won by British team member Mark Cavendish
.
(1898) by H. G. Wells
, viz;
Woking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is in the east of the borough between the River Wey
River Wey
The River Wey in Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex is a tributary of the River Thames with two separate branches which join at Tilford. The source of the north branch is at Alton, Hampshire and of the south branch at both Blackdown south of Haslemere, and also close to Gibbet Hill, near Hindhead...
and the River Mole, and is within the M25 motorway
M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
.
Byfleet is centrally located close to the A3
A3 road
The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road for much of its length, is a dual carriageway, or expressway, which follows the historic route between London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston upon Thames, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield. For much of its length, it is classified as a trunk road...
and M25, and is located at the foot of the St George's Hill estate, just to the south of Weybridge
Weybridge
Weybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name...
, to the west of Cobham
Cobham, Surrey
Cobham is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, about south-west of central London and north of Leatherhead. Elmbridge has been acclaimed by the Daily Mail as the best place to live in the UK, and Cobham is a prosperous part of the London commuter belt...
and to the east of West Byfleet
West Byfleet
West Byfleet is a village in Surrey. Forming part of the Greater London Urban Area it lies in the stockbroker belt just outside the M25 motorway, 19 miles from Charing Cross, 8 miles from London Heathrow. The village grew up around the station on the London & South Western Railway. The...
. The village is served by Byfleet and New Haw railway station
Byfleet and New Haw railway station
Byfleet and New Haw railway station is served by the Waterloo to Woking service, operated by South West Trains. The station is near the northern side of Byfleet and the village of New Haw, near Woking in Surrey, England.-History:...
.
History
The village lies within the GodleyGodley (hundred)
Godley was a hundred in what is now Surrey, England. Egham, Thorpe, Chertsey and Chobham are all mentioned in the Chertsey Abbey charter of 673AD due to a donation by Frithuwold. Chobham manor needed to be large to have a reasonable economic importance as it covered very poor quality heathland...
hundred
Hundred (division)
A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...
, a Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
administrative division. Byfleet appears in Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as Byeflete. It was held by Uluuin (Wulfwin) from Chertsey Abbey
Chertsey Abbey
Chertsey Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, was a Benedictine monastery located at Chertsey in the English county of Surrey.It was founded by Saint Erkenwald, later Bishop of London, in 666 AD and he became the first abbot. In the 9th century it was sacked by the Danes and refounded from Abingdon Abbey...
. Its domesday assets were: 2½ hide
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
s; 1 church, 1 mill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
worth 5s, 1½ fisheries
Fishery
Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats,...
worth 325 eel
Eel
Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
s, 6 acres (24,281.2 m²) of meadow
Meadow
A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...
, woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
worth 10 hogs. It rendered £4.
The historic St Mary's Church dates back to at least the 14th century.
In 1895, 20 year old Hampshire-born Walter George Tarrant
Walter George Tarrant
Walter George Tarrant was a builder born in Brockhurst, near Gosport, Hampshire, England. He is best known as a Surrey master builder and developer of St George’s Hill and the Wentworth Estate in Surrey....
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.
In 1898, the village gained an impressive new village hall and club thanks to the generosity of wealthy benefactor Frederick C Stoop who lived at West Hall (between Byfleet and West Byfleet).
By 1911 the Tarrant Works covered over five acres and included workshops for joinery, wrought iron and leaded lights, a stonemason’s yard and a timber mill with drying sheds. The firm also owned nurseries and brickfields elsewhere and was Byfleet's largest employer for many years.
Byfleet also expanded considerably after the opening of the Brooklands
Brooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
motor circuit in 1907 and when major aircraft factories opened there during World War I. A large housing estate for Vickers aircraft workers was built between Chertsey Road and Oyster Lane in World War I and these houses still exist today. The Tarrant Tabor
Tarrant Tabor
- See also :* Witteman-Lewis XNBL-1 - a design by Barling for a similar aircraft for the US Army- External links :* http://avia.russian.ee/air/england/tarrant_tabor.php* http://members.aol.com/wwatrans/unique.htm...
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 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.
World War II affected village life in many ways with evacuees, British and Canadian soldiers and even German prisoners of war all being accommodated locally and, after the Vickers
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
factory on the East side of Brooklands was badly bombed with heavy loss of life on 4 September 1940, barrage balloons and other military defences were deployed throughout the local area. The Hawker
Hawker
Hawker may refer to:Places*Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra*Hawker, South Australia, in the Flinders Ranges*Division of Hawker, an Electoral Division in South AustraliaPeople...
aircraft factory on the Byfleet side of the aerodrome was attacked two days later with major damage to its premises and other buildings nearby but Hurricane production was not seriously disrupted. 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 on the north side of Brooklands, Byfleet's gun crew manned a 40mm Bofors
Bofors
The name Bofors has been associated with the iron industry for more than 350 years.Located in Karlskoga, Sweden, the company originates from the hammer mill "Boofors" founded 1646. The modern corporate structure was created in 1873 with the foundation of Aktiebolaget Bofors-Gullspång...
gun against further enemy air attacks.
A fatal accident in the centre of Byfleet around 1942/43 saw a military Bren Gun Carrier operated by the Welsh Guards collide with the corner of The Plough pub killing a regular lady customer. She visited the pub regularly around midday and was co-owner of 'The 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 timbers for a considerable period of time afterwards.
In 1944 Byfleet also came under attack from V.1 '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 a short distance South of Byfleet at Wisley
Wisley
Wisley is a small village in Surrey, England. It lies between Cobham and Woking. It is the home of the Royal Horticultural Society's Wisley Garden. The River Wey runs through the village....
.
Various aircraft crashed in and around Byfleet during the first half of the last century; these include a Vickers Viking
Vickers Viking
-References:NotesBibliography* Andrews, C.F. and E.B. Morgan. Vickers Aircraft since 1908. London: Putnam, 1988. ISBN 0-85177-815-1.* London, Peter. British Flying Boats. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7509-2695-3....
amphibian (on 13/4/22, flown by record-breaking England-Australia Vickers Vimy
Vickers Vimy
The Vickers Vimy was a British heavy bomber aircraft of the First World War and post-First World War era. It achieved success as both a military and civil aircraft, setting several notable records in long-distance flights in the interwar period, the most celebrated of which was the first non-stop...
pilot Sir Ross Macpherson Smith
Ross Macpherson Smith
Sir Ross Macpherson Smith KBE, MC & Bar, DFC & Two Bars, AFC was an Australian aviator, who, along with his brother, Sir Keith Macpherson Smith, became the first pilots to fly from England to Australia, ....
and Lt Bennett - both men died), the prototype Vickers Wibault
Vickers Wibault
-Bibliography:* Andrews, E.N. and Morgan, E.B. Vickers Aircraft Since 1908, Second edition. London: Putnam, 1988. ISBN 0-85177-815-1.* Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. The Complete Book of Fighters. New York: Smithmark, 1994. ISBN 0-8317-3939-8....
(in June 1926, flown by chief test pilot 'Tiny' Scholefield
Edward Scholefield
Flight Lieutenant Edward Rodolph Clement Scholefield 1893-1929 DCM AFC was an aviator and a motor racing driver. He was killed during a test flight of a Vickers Vanguard airliner in 1929.-Early life:...
- he baled out and the aeroplane crashed on the Vickers Sports Ground), an RAF Taylorcraft Auster
Auster
Auster Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1938 to 1961.-History:The company began in 1938 at the Britannia Works, Thurmaston near Leicester, England, as Taylorcraft Aeroplanes Limited, making light observation aircraft designed by the Taylorcraft Aircraft Corporation of...
(on 12/3/43, flown by Capt W Whitson who hit a barrage balloon cable on bad visibility and crashed) and an RAF Mustang
Mustang
-Animals:* Mustang , a free-ranging horse of the American west. -Aircraft:* Cessna Citation Mustang, a modern business jet which is currently the smallest model in the Cessna Citation range...
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
Vickers Warwick
The Vickers Warwick was a multi-purpose British aircraft used during the Second World War. Built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands, Surrey, the Warwick was used by the Royal Air Force as a transport, air-sea rescue and maritime reconnaissance platform, and by the civilian British Overseas...
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 and was reputedly sent on another test flight that same day.
Byfleet inevitably had connections motor racing at Brooklands too - record-breaking racing driver J G Parry-Thomas and motorcycle racer Bert Denley both lived in Byfleet in the 1920s and the renowned race-tuner Robin Jackson lived at St George's Hill and had an engineering works in Byfleet after World War II. The village had many garages and petrol stations during the 20th century and postwar racing driver Duncan Hamilton's old racing workshop that was the base for his Jaguar Le Mans assault survives today as a car showroom & workshop at 7, High Road, opposite the old fire station. The modern 'Cobb House' in Oyster Lane is presumed to have been named in memory of record-breaking racing driver John Cobb
John Cobb
John Cobb may refer to:People* John Cobb , Australian politician* John Cobb , English cabinetmaker* John Cobb , Canadian politician)...
who lived in Esher
Esher
Esher is a town in the Surrey borough of Elmbridge in South East England near the River Mole. It is a very prosperous part of the Greater London Urban Area, largely suburban in character, and is situated 14.1 miles south west of Charing Cross....
.
St Mary's Church interior features some very rare wooden crosses (grave markers) recovered from the Continent shortly after World War I and among notable graves in the churchyard, are those of Brooklands-based racing driver J G Parry-Thomas who died at Pendine Sands
Pendine Sands
Pendine Sands is a length of beach on the shores of Carmarthen Bay on the south coast of Wales. It stretches from Gilman Point in the west to Laugharne Sands in the east. The village of Pendine is situated near the western end of Pendine Sands....
in Wales in 1927 while attacking the world Land Speed Record and Bert le Vack
Bert le Vack
Herbert 'Bert' le Vack was a motorcycle world speed record holder throughout the 1920s and earned the nickname the 'Wizard of Brooklands' for his exploits at the Brooklands Track. An expert racing engine tuner, le Vack worked for some of the great marques and in the late 1920s joined Motosacoche...
, one of the greatest ever motorcyclists to have raced at Brooklands. Also buried there were Scottish aviation pioneer and Vickers' first test pilot Harold Barnwell
Harold Barnwell
Harold Barnwell was an aircraft pioneer. He was born in Lewisham, Kent, the son of Richard Barnwell, a director of the Clyde shipbuilder, Fairfields. Barnwell was brought up at Elcho House in Balfron, Stirlingshire, and educated Fettes College in Edinburgh...
who was killed flying a new prototype fighter at Joyce Green Aerodrome near Dartford
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....
, Kent, in 1917 and Ebeneezer Mears, who founded a well-known construction company which was based in the village for many years.
One of the first British women pilots to die in a flying accident is also buried in St Mary's Churchyard - Honor Wellby, who lived with her parents at nearby St George's Hill, died after crashing an Avro 504
Avro 504
The Avro 504 was a World War I 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 that served in World War I, in any military capacity, during...
on take-off from Brooklands in 1928. At least three victims of the 1940 bombing of Brooklands are also buried here - 17 year old Irene Coleman, 36 year old Edward Eastwood and 21 year old Gwendoline Goddard, who all worked for Vickers at the time.
The Sanway Laundry was another major local employer from around the 1920s until the 1960s with its distinctive green and white delivery vans. Latterly it occupied part of the former Byfleet Brewery in High Road until closed and redeveloped c.1970 as 'The Willows' housing estate.
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 with 12 being nationally designated Listed buildings. Nine others are Locally Listed and the West end of High Road is also a Conservation Area.
Today
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 districtUrban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
in 1933 under a County Review Order
Local Government Act 1929
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....
, thus extinguishing its parish council. Byfleet constitutes a civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
. The most recent parish council was formed in 1989. In June 2005, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 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. This was ultimately achieved and reported in the Byfleet News and Mail on 17 December 2009.
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.
The Byfleet Heritage Society has detailed historical displays in Byfleet Library's Heritage Room and has monthly meetings in St Mary's Day Centre. Society projects include making oral history recordings with older residents, recording gravestones and memorials in St Mary's Churchyard and researching specific subjects such as village life in World War II and the history of the Stoop family and West Hall. In partnership with Brooklands Museum
Brooklands Museum
Brooklands Museum is an independent charitable trust, established in 1987, whose aim is to conserve, protect and interpret the unique heritage of the Brooklands site. It is located south of Weybridge, Surrey and was first opened regularly in 1991 on of the original 1907 motor-racing circuit...
and other local organisations, the Society is also working on plans to restore the historic Victorian Byfleet Fire Station for community use. Built in High Road in 1885 by notable local MP and former Lord Mayor of London Sir John Ellis, it served the village until 1963, was designated a Grade 2 Listed building in 2008 and is owned by Surrey County Council. A new development of retirement flats (appropriately named Ellis Court) was completed beside the fire station in November 2009.
Property values of Byfleet have been reasonable in comparison to its adjoining affluent neighbours of Weybridge
Weybridge
Weybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name...
and West Byfleet
West Byfleet
West Byfleet is a village in Surrey. Forming part of the Greater London Urban Area it lies in the stockbroker belt just outside the M25 motorway, 19 miles from Charing Cross, 8 miles from London Heathrow. The village grew up around the station on the London & South Western Railway. The...
. This is unusual for a Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
village located less than a mile away from Britain's wealthy estate of St George's Hill - which was itself first developed by Byfleet builder, Walter George Tarrant.
Lloyds TSB is now the only bank in Byfleet but there are three pubs (a fourth - The King's Head in Chertsey Road - closed in April 2010 and was demolished a year later), a post office, Co-op and a variety of other local shops and businesses as well as the nearby Brooklands Retail Park.
A Farmers' Market is held on the village green on the first Saturday every month except January and the traditional Byfleet Parish Day is held on the Recreation Ground with supporting events in the nearby village hall and St Mary's Day Centre every July.
Other recent developments include The Clockhouse in High Road at the east end of the village; this 18th century mansion has a significant history and was converted in the sixties into a retirement home for the elderly before its latest renovation as flats for the over fifties was completed in 2009.
Parvis Road is also part of the 2012 Olympics cycle road race route and a practice race for 150 entrants on 14 August 2011 was won by British team member Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...
.
In fiction
Byfleet is mentioned in chapter twelve of The War of the WorldsThe War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
(1898) by H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
, viz;
Byfleet was in a tumult; people packing, and a score of hussars, some of them dismounted, some on horseback, were hunting them about. Three or four black government waggons, with crosses in white circles, and an old omnibus, among other vehicles, were being loaded in the village street. There were scores of people, most of them sufficiently sabbatical to have assumed their best clothes. The soldiers were having the greatest difficulty in making them realise the gravity of their position. We saw one shrivelled old fellow with a huge box and a score or more of flower pots containing orchids, angrily expostulating with the corporal who would leave them behind.
Notable residents
- Harry DodsonHarry DodsonHarry James Dodson 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 reminiscences....
- 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.
- Jonnie Green - footballer, lives in Chertsey Road.
- Sarah MilesSarah Miles-Early life and career:Sarah Miles was born in the small town of Ingatestone, Essex, in South East England.She first attended Roedean but at the age of 15 she enrolled at RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art...
- lived in Byfleet in the late 1960s - early 1970s - J G Parry-Thomas - racing driver
- Joseph SpenceJoseph Spence (author)Joseph Spence was a historian, literary scholar and anecdotist, most famous for his collection of anecdotes that are an invaluable resource for historians of 18th century English literature .- Early life :Spence was born on 28 April 1699, at Kingsclere, Hampshire, the son of Joseph Joseph Spence...
- 18th Century historian - Walter George TarrantWalter George TarrantWalter George Tarrant was a builder born in Brockhurst, near Gosport, Hampshire, England. He is best known as a Surrey master builder and developer of St George’s Hill and the Wentworth Estate in Surrey....
- lived at Lake House, Chertsey Road.