Oxshott

Oxshott
Oxshott  Oxshott shown within Surrey
Population	6,100
OS grid reference	TQ1460
District	Elmbridge
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Leatherhead
Postcode district	KT22
Dialling code	01372
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Esher and Walton
List of places UK England Surrey

Oxshott is a village in Surrey, England with a growing population of around 6,100. Neighbouring settlements include: Chessington, Claygate and Cobham. It is situated in fields and woodlands between Esher and Leatherhead on the A244, five minutes by car from both the A3 (Portsmouth Road) and the M25 London Orbital motorway. It is situated in London's stockbroker belt and the area consequently has some of the highest property prices in the UK—it was voted as the most expensive suburb to live in, by the Daily Telegraph on 26 December 2007. In 2010, the Daily Telegraph called Oxshott "the village with most footballers" in England.

History

Oxshott means "Ocga's corner of land", from the Old English personal name Ocga and sceat (related to modern 'shoot') "corner of land". The first element does not, contrary to popular belief, have anything to do with oxen. The name was recorded in 1179 as Occesete. At this time Oxshott was a hamlet of about 200 people earning their living from forestry, farming and the keeping of pigs.

For 600 years Oxshott was in an isolated position, which was surrounded by heath and scrubland and connected to nearby villages only by footpaths.

Oxshott Heath

In 1885 the nature of the village was changed forever with the building of the railway. The railway allowed both day trippers and wealthy residents quickly to appreciate the area's scenery. The following 30 years saw Oxshott expand to meet their demands and in doing so it acquired all the characteristics of a stereotypical English village.

The Crown Commissioners limited early housing development to mansions suitable for occupation by wealthy families. Examples of these include Danes Hill, Broom Hall and Bevendean. Subsequently the village has expanded to include all types of housing, but it has retained a degree of prosperity.

The religious needs of the growing population were met by the consecration of St. Andrew's Church in 1912. Oxshott became a parish in its own right in 1913. The high street expanded from an initial nucleus of three shops: a draper's, a tobacconist and a set of tea-rooms. Industry arrived in Oxshott when John Early Cook set up his brickworks in 1866. Production continued until 1958, with the famous and distinctive chimney being demolished in 1967. Heathfield pond is the sight of the brickwork pit previously called Brick Pond. The pond is approximately 100 ft deep with a cottage and machinery at the bottom. Alfie Skelton (15yrs) died in a boating accident on the pond in March 2011.

During WW2 Canandian army engineers were billeted on Oxshott Heath whilst they built The Cabinet War Rooms.

Today, Oxshott is a thriving residential and commercial community, thanks to its relative proximity to London coupled with its semi-rural location.

Transport

Oxshott Railway Station

Oxshott is served by commuter trains and is 38 minutes from Waterloo Station in London, with local bus services also available. Oxshott railway station is situated just off Oxshott Heath, to the south of Oxshott Woods. Oxshott Heath is interesting geologically as it has an escarpment where the London clay and sand strata emerge from the ground. For this reason, Oxshott had a brickworks from 1866 to 1958. The brickworks was served by a branch line that ran from the station, West (towards Guildford). This is why the footbridge at the end of Sheath's Lane (this is the proper, historic spelling) can span three tracks.

At Cook's Crossing, the railway crossing had three lines: two for the electrified main line to Guildford via Cobham and Stoke D'Abernon and a single track to the brickyards. This latter track is still in evidence if one looks hard, and the old hand-operated gates were still there less than 5 years ago. This single track now disappears into the houses built on the brickyards on Somerville Road. Many people have signed petitions to have a proper bus route. Currently there is one arriving in Oxshott every three hours.

2010 Oxshott train accident

An incident occurred on the afternoon of Friday 5 November 2010 at 3:40 pm where the Guildford via Cobham railway line passes in a deep cutting under the Esher to Leatherhead road. A 26 tonne concrete mixer lorry crashed through the road bridge's parapet and fell approximately 30 feet onto the railway line, colliding with a train travelling from Guildford to London Waterloo. Of the 40 people on board the train, 4 were injured. The driver of the lorry was badly injured, and also apparently had a heart attack and had to be carefully taken out of the cab by the medical services. Remarkably both rail and road had been cleared by first thing on the following Monday and normal traffic was restored.

Miscellaneous

A picture on the road between Oxshott in Surrey and Oxshott railway station during 2000.

Oxshott has one, Anglican, church, St. Andrew's. Oxshott has its own Primary School, the Royal Kent, named because its predecessor was founded by the Duchess of Kent, Queen Victoria's mother, in 1820. The original building stood on the sight now occupied by the village petrol station. There is also the private preparatory school, Danes Hill School, and its pre-prep school, Bevendean. Another school located near Oxshott is Reed's School that caters for boys aged 11 to 18 and girls aged 16 to 18.

There is also a very active sports club, which has expanded from the village cricket club founded in 1896. Oxshott also has two public houses: The Victoria and The Bear. Both used to be Courage Brewery houses, but now only The Victoria continues that alliance.

The village has a large number of expatriates, due in part to the nearby ACS Cobham International school.

The local newspaper is the Surrey Advertiser.

The local newsagents is named Beejays.

Oxshott is featured in the popular Shopaholic novels by British author Sophie Kinsella, as the hometown of the series' narrator, Becky Bloomwood.

A greater part of the historic novel "Unter der Asche" (Beneath the ashes) by German author Tom Finnek is set in Oxshott and nearby Cobham. The novel deals with the Great Fire of London 1665–66 and the so-called "Diggers", a nonconformist dissenting group during the English Civil War.

Scenes from Monty Pythons feature film Jabberwocky (1977) were filmed in Oxshott Woods.

Notable people

• Carlo Ancelotti – former Chelsea manager
• Becky Bloomwood (fictional)
• Didier Drogba – professional footballer for Chelsea
• David Hamilton – radio, television presenter and matchday compere at Fulham Football Club.
• Salomon Kalou – professional footballer for Chelsea
• Graeme Le Saux – ex professional footballer
• David Lloyd – founder of David Lloyd Leisure Clubs
• Colin Montgomerie – professional golfer
• Andy Murray – tennis player
• John Obi Mikel – professional footballer for Chelsea
• Michael Perkins - Founder of Perkins Fox Retail
• Vanessa Perroncel – ex-wife of Manchester City player Wayne Bridge, and alleged mistress of John Terry
• Jamie Redknapp – ex-Liverpool midfielder
• Louise Redknapp – wife to Jamie and ex-singer
• John Terry – professional footballer for Chelsea
• Chris Wolstenholme – bass player and backing vocalist for alternative rock band Muse
  • A number of professional footballers have recently moved to Oxshott because of the proximity of the Chelsea Football Club training grounds at Stoke D'Abernon.^{[citation needed]} Players are required to live within 6 miles of the training ground.

External links

• Oxshott Village Sports Club
• St. Andrew's Church, Oxshott