Ashford, Surrey

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Coordinates: 51°25′57″N 0°28′10″W / 51.43250°N 0.46936°W / 51.43250; -0.46936

Ashford
AshfordStMatthews.jpg
St Matthew's C of E Church
Church Road, Ashford, Middlesex - geograph.org.uk - 1528396.jpg
Church Road
Ashford is located in Surrey
Ashford

 Ashford shown within Surrey
Population 25,240 
OS grid reference TQ065715
District Spelthorne
Shire county Surrey
Region South East
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town ASHFORD
Postcode district TW15
Dialling code 01784
Police Surrey
Fire Surrey
Ambulance South East Coast
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament Spelthorne
List of places
UK
England
Surrey

Ashford is a town almost entirely in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne with a small part falling within the London Borough of Hounslow (About this sound pronunciation (help·info)) in west London, England.[n 1] Predominantly residential, Ashford is a spacious suburban development situated 15.5 miles (24.9 km) WSW of Charing Cross in London and forms part of the London commuter belt.

Normally referred to as Ashford, Middlesex to distinguish it from the larger town of Ashford, Kent, since 1965, when Middlesex County Council was dissolved, most of the town has officially been Ashford, Surrey.

Contents

Topography [edit]

Ashford is in the almost flat alluvial plain formed by the historic courses of the River Thames[1] on fairly fertile but gravelly soil[2] in centuries past covered by deciduous forest for wood gathering and meadow for pasture and to a lesser extent arable farming to supply the London market, with sheep rearing continuing today around the reservoirs. In common with western fringes of Greater London, gravel commences often within a metre of the surface which has led to 20th century gravel extraction[1][n 2], which has formed the lakes to the north of the railway line. One of these areas has been converted to Shortwood Common, a recreation ground, Ashford Park School, a cemetery and the Staines Reservoirs, the other is The Princes Club, Bedfont Lakes; both areas are within the Metropolitan Green Belt buffer. The borders also include much of the Queen Mary Reservoir named after the wife of George V, Mary of Teck.

A large majority of land is devoted to suburban housing[3] — in addition to recreational areas, green belt begins just across the border in Feltham with equestrianism in fields around Feltham Young Offenders' Institution, in Shortwood Common in the west and in the surrounding remnants of Ashford Common which give the eastern part of the town a reminder of the previous grazing common, in and around several recreation grounds such as Thames Water-sponsored Spelthorne Sports Club and the BP recreation ground.[4]

Fewer than ten houses of its post town, which covers TW15, northeast of the railway are within the London Borough of Hounslow, Greater London, alongside the Princes Club, watersports lakes partly in Ashford post town but mostly in East Bedfont.[5]

History [edit]

Bronze Age artifacts have been found in Ashford (at 51.432708N, 0.485174W) giving rise to the name Bronzefield and a henge may have been present in that period.[6] The settlement as indicated by its name but small assets just after the Norman Conquest was part agricultural settlement in Saxon times.

Ashford appears on the Middlesex Domesday map as Exeforde held by Robert, Count of Mortain. Its Domesday Assets were: 1 plough, meadow for 1 plough; a separate manor in 1066, it was part of the manor of Kempton in 1086. It rendered (in total): 14s 0d.[7] Throughout the early medieval period the place was also referred to as Echelford.[8]

A stone bridge was built over the ford in 1789 by the Hampton and Staines Turnpike Trust, part of which is used as the rather scenic Fordbridge roundabout with its large weeping willow trees at the centre.[8]

Ashford Common the large area of common land in the south and east of the town was sold (enclosed) in 1809, before which this was a favourite ground with George III for the forces to put on military displays.[8]

While Ashford Manor Golf Club was established in 1902 at the property which was the Manor Farm House[9] the actual large manorial estate and manor house that was held by Solomon Abraham Hart from 1870 to 1882[n 3] had, before 1902 been broken up among many small owners and all trace of the manor house became lost.[8][n 4]However the title of lord of the manor was acquired by Scott Freeman in 1890[10] and after passing to another partner of the solicitors Horne, Engall Freeman came in more recent times to Russell Grant.[11]

Ashford's housing stock is modern, with chiefly a mixture of detached and semi-detached housing built between 1885 and 1960. [n 5]

Civic Administration [edit]

In 1894, under the Local Government Act 1894, Ashford became part of the Staines Rural District of Middlesex.[12] In 1930 the rural district was abolished to join Staines Urban District. In 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, Middlesex County Council was abolished and the urban district was transferred to Surrey.[13] In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Staines Urban District was abolished and its area combined with that of Sunbury-on-Thames Urban District to create the present-day borough of Spelthorne.

Religious buildings [edit]

The present parish church of St Matthew was built in 1858 with financial assistance from the Welsh School (latterly St David's School, now St. James's School) which had just moved to Ashford. It has older internal monuments and the south arch is 12th century.[14] A daughter church to St Matthew was built on the corner of Stanwell Road and Woodthorpe Road, commencing in 1913, in order to serve the needs of the rapidly growing community of dwellings built around the railway station; its original design included a magnificent spire which would have been one of the most significant landmarks in the area but was never built. The church without its spire was completed in 1928 and consecrated to St Hilda. Initially assigned the status of a conventional District under the Parish Church of St Matthew, St Hilda's Church is now an Ecclesiastical Parish.

An imposing Roman Catholic Church designed by the architect Sir Sir Giles Gilbert Scott RA, which is dedicated to St Michael is on the corner of Fordbridge Road and Clarendon Road and the partially completed church was consecrated in 1928. The foundation stone of the building was laid in 1927 at the site. Further work to extend the building was carried out in 1938 but World War II intervened and the building was not completed to the original design until 1960.[14]

There are two methodist churches, on Clarendon Road and in Ashford Common on Felthamhill Road.[15]

Economy [edit]

The high street - actually called Church Road - mainly comprises local businesses, including Co-op, Tesco Express Costa Coffee, a Sainsbury's, three funeral directors, many different eateries and hairdressers. Church Road is also home to the Ashford Campus of Brooklands College (formerly Spelthorne College), Ashford Library and a prominent World War 2 memorial.[16] Ashford, in common with most of London suburbia, has very low unemployment rates. A great deal of local employment is directly related to Heathrow Airport. BP International is another major employer. Many other residents work in London or in the Thames Valley.

Transport [edit]

Ashford railway station lies on the Waterloo to Reading Line; it is served and managed by South West Trains services from Waterloo station on two of the three routes, those to Windsor & Eton Riverside and to Weybridge on the South Western Main Line via the Chertsey Line.[17] The station lies to the south of the A30 road. There are many bus services provided by Abellio, as well as some other London Buses routes run by other operators.

Education [edit]

Ashford contains more primary than secondary schools as due to available land, three secondary schools were established in Sunbury-on-Thames, particularly the religious denominated schools, the The Bishop Wand Church of England School and St Paul's Catholic College

Primary Schools [edit]

(above in order of best combined England and Maths benchmark score 2011 primary schools)[19][20]
  • Ashford Infants School
  • Spelthorne Infant and Nursery School

Secondary Schools [edit]

Further Education [edit]

A further education college covers a wide area of Surrey for ages 16 to 18, Spelthorne College, which became a Brooklands College Campus in 2007.

Sport [edit]

Active sports clubs in Ashford: (Ashford Town F.C.), Ashford Cricket Club. Clubs exist for Hockey, Tennis, Table Tennis, Aikido, Karate, Acrobatic Gymnastics, Sailing, Golf & Bowls.

Ashford Manor Golf Club is the only golf course in the immediate area with 18 holes; the next closest is Sunbury Golf Course in Charlton.

Spelthorne Atoms (previously known as Ashford Atoms) are one of the best youth basketball teams in the country having been to the national finals on a number of occasions.

Spelthorne Gymnastics club is one of the premier clubs for Acrobatic Gymnastics in the World, having won eight World Title gold medals.

Geography [edit]

Ashford has one river, the River Ash, one of the six distributaries of the River Colne, Hertfordshire which runs in line with the Staines bypass under a roundabout at the far end of Fordbridge Road and then passes Laleham.

Government [edit]

Ashford is part of the Spelthorne constituency which has been represented by the Conservative Kwasi Kwarteng since 2010.[21] At Surrey County Council, Ashford is covered by three county council wards: Ashford, Sunbury Common and Ashford Common, and Staines South and Ashford West.[22] Ashford and Staines South and Ashford West are represented by two Conservative councillors whereas Sunbury Common and Ashford Common is represented by a Liberal Democrat councillor.[23]

Ashford has 12 representatives on Spelthorne Borough Council, headquartered in Staines-upon-Thames:

Most Recent
Election		 Member[24] Ward
2011 Marion Bushnell Ashford Common
2011 Nick Gething Ashford Common
2011 Frank Ayers Ashford Common
2011 Asif Ayub Ashford East
2011 Chris Frazer Ashford East
2011 Sam Budd Ashford East
2011 Marian Rough Ashford North and Stanwell South
2011 Joanne Sexton Ashford North and Stanwell South
2012 David Gosling Ashford North and Stanwell South
2011 Gerald Forsbrey Ashford Town
2011 Denise Grant Ashford Town
2011 Caroline Spencer (Independent) Ashford Town

Notable people [edit]

Notes and References [edit]

Notes
  1. ^ In the same way as Potters Bar, Ashford is in the historic county of Middlesex in continued used for cricket purposes. Ordnance Survey map 1964.
  2. ^ Page wrote in 1911: There are 1,401½ acres in the parish, and of these 495¼ acres are arable, and 398¼ acres are grass. The principal crops are oats, wheat, barley, turnips, and peas. The soil is gravelly, and the subsoil gravel.
  3. ^ who died in 1887 aged in the Holborn district of London (General Register Office ref: 1b 538)
  4. ^ See the source book, where in 1911, the name of the club was at that point the Ashford Manor Farm Golf Club
  5. ^ William Page states
    “ The aspect of the whole parish is rapidly changing. Until a few years ago it was almost completely rural ”
    in the A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2, The Institute of Historical Research, 1911
References
  1. ^ a b [1] Natural England. Retrieved 2012-10-12
  2. ^ UK Soilscapes, a resource from Cranfield University
  3. ^ 2001 Census: density and land use statistics
  4. ^ Spelthorne maps, see in Planning section: Maps: Green Belt
  5. ^ Google map of TW15 versus Greater London boundary
  6. ^ Ashford Henge details from history website
  7. ^ Surrey Domesday Book
  8. ^ a b c d William Page (Editor) (1911). "Spelthorne Hundred: Ashford". A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2: General; Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Feltham, Hampton with Hampton Wick, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 11 October 2012. 
  9. ^ http://www.amgc.co.uk/ashford-manor/history.htm Golf Club website, as the New Manor Golf Club Ashford Company
  10. ^ Archives in London and the M25 area
  11. ^ a b Press article on Suffolk manors cites Russell Grant's ownership of the incorporeal hereditament, though not its land.
  12. ^ Vision of Britain - Staines Rural District
  13. ^ Vision of Britain - Staines Urban District
  14. ^ a b St Matthew's Church: Details from listed building database (1187026). National Heritage List for England. English Heritage.
  15. ^ Ashford Methodist Church
    Ashford Common Methodist Church.
  16. ^ Details from listed building database (1392259). National Heritage List for England. English Heritage.
  17. ^ "Station Facilities for Ashford (Surrey)". National Rail. Retrieved 6 March 2012. 
  18. ^ Department of Education performance of this school
  19. ^ BBC 2011 summary of schools in Surrey
  20. ^ Department of Education performance of this school
  21. ^ "Spelthorne: Constituency". The Guardian. 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2012. 
  22. ^ "Conservatives still in control in Surrey". Get Surrey. 5 June 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2012. 
  23. ^ Web Operations Team (5 March 2012). "Surrey's County councillors". Surrey County Council. Retrieved 5 March 2012. 
  24. ^ "Borough Councillors by ward 2011-2015". Spelthorne Borough Council. 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2012. 
  25. ^ June 07, 2010 Article, S&B Media (Surrey Herald, Surrey Advertiser, Staines Informer series

External links [edit]

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