Woking

Woking is a large town in Surrey and part of the London cummerbund belt. The area is most well know for its station, built in 1838, with direct links to London. The Basingstoke Canal, completed in 1794 also passes through the town. The original development, now called ‘Old Woking’ was built on the River Wey a mile from the more modern town centre. Woking is now a very multicultural town and is home to the first purpose-built mosque in the UK. It also houses a number of churches, has a large purpose built shopping centre, The Peacocks, leisure facilities and green spaces such as Woking Park.

St John’s

St John’s is a small village on the outskirts of Woking in Surrey, dating mainly from the 19th century. The village got its name from the St John the Baptist’s church built in 1842. The village stretches along the Basingstoke Canal and grew up to house workers employed at the local brickworks.

Knaphill

Knaphill is a small urban village bordering Brookwood in Surrey. Up until the 1990s one of the large employers was Brookwood Hospital, a mental hospital dating from the Victorian era. This area has now largely been redeveloped with large superstore and houses. In 1859 the construction of a prison in the area was started. This grew in size and population over the coming years with both Male and female inmates. In the 1890s the Army moved into the buildings and prisoners moved out, renaming the site to Inkerman Barracks. The barracks was eventually sold and developed into housing, some original buildings still survive.

Goldsworth Park

Goldsworth Park is an area that contains one of the largest housing estates in Europe, on the edges of Woking in Surrey. In its early years during the 1760s it had existed as a nursery, which grew in size through the generations. During the 1960s plans were drawn up to house people from the Woking area which have been led to the rapid increase in population and property. The area is also well known for its Lake and recreation area along with green spaces.

Brookwood

Brookwood is a small village on the suburbs of Woking in Surrey. The village is most well known for Brookwood Cemetery, also called The London Necropolis and it gave its name to the Victorian Brookwood Hospital, a mental institution, which is now the site of a residential housing estate. Brookwood is surrounded by woodland, borders the Basingstoke Canal and a short distance from the decommissioned Army Barracks At Deepcut. It has direct train links to London Waterloo.

Horsell

Horsell is a small village on the edges of Woking in Surrey. The village is believed to date back to the 12th century and until the 19th century largely consisted of cottages, farms, fields and nurseries. Development in earnest started in the 1880s but it still very much retains its rural charm. One of the most famous areas in Horsell is Horsell Common, made famous in the science fiction novel ‘The War of the Worlds‘ by H.G. Wells. This book details a meteor landing on the common and an eventual invasion by an extraterrestrial race.

Guildford

Guildford has a long history dating back to the Saxon times. A mix of old and new, modern shopping precincts, beautiful historic buildings, cobbled High Street and a wealth of attractions and venues such as G Live. A vibrant town which has a wealth of attractions, places to see, things to do, for young and old alike.

Pirbright

Pirbright is a small village on the edges of Woking in Surrey. Its name came from the Anglo-Saxon ‘Pirige-fyrhþ‘ which means “sparse woodland where peartrees grow“. The village is believed to date back to the 13th century and built up around the manor and mill. Through the years both brick labourers’ cottages were developed and also large Georgian homes with estates of land. Pirbright’s churchyard contains an 11-feet high block of granite, marking the grave of British Empire soldier and explorer Henry Morton Stanley. Part of the stone is inscribed with the words “Henry Morton Stanley Bula Matari 1841–1904 Africa”. ‘Bula Matari’ was another of his names and it translates to “Breaker of Rocks” in Kongo. Also based at Pirbright is The Pirbright Institute is a research establishment, which investigates diseases in farm animals.

Bisley

Bisley is a small village on the outskirts of Woking. It was first recorded in the 10th century as ‘Busseleghe’, derived from the old English ‘Bysc’ meaning bushes and ‘Leah’ a clearing. The Grade II listed St John the Baptist church was built in the 15th century by Chertsey Abbey monks and features a medieval bell and porch said to have been built from a single oak tree. A spring located nearby was said to have medicinal powers and water used for local baptisms up until the early 20th century. Much of the land west of the parish is covered in Health and owned by the Ministry of Defence. Bisley also is the headquarters of the National Rifle Association and Coldingley Men’s Prison is also located here.

Old Woking

The village of Old Woking, predates Woking Town by over 1000 years and has many historic buildings, many of which are listed. The area is bounded by the River Wey to the south and the Hoe Stream to the north. Old Woking used to be the commercial hub of Woking, containing a number of large companies. Many of these have now moved away but evidence of their presence can still be seen today in the form of redeveloped buildings.