Worcester Park
Worcester Park is a suburb of London, England and a ward in the extreme north west of the London Borough of Sutton. It is 10.2 miles (16.4 km) south west of Charing Cross. It has a population of 9,874 people.
The Worcester Park post town, which is coterminous with the KT4 postal district, is somewhat larger than the Worcester Park ward of the London Borough of Sutton and includes parts of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London and Epsom and Ewell in Surrey.
Demographics
Around 90% of Worcester Park residents are White, with 1.9% mixed race, 4.8% Asian or British Asian, 1.3% Black and 2% Chinese or of another ethnic group. [1]
Transport
Bus
Worcester Park is well served with regular bus services to Kingston and Sutton on the 213 bus route that runs up Central Road. There are also buses to Heathrow Airport and Croydon on the hourly X26 coach service. A local "Hopper" bus service to Sutton and Sutton Hospital runs via Sainsbury's supermarket in North Cheam. The 151 bus route also runs into Worcester Park and terminates at Worcester Park Rail station before returning though Sutton to Wallington. Epsom Coaches operate a Bus service within the Epsom & Ewell area for local services to and from Epsom. The 213 bus service runs through Worcester Park via Cheam to Sutton, and in the opposing direction via Old Malden, New Malden and onwards to Kingston Upon Thames.
School Buses
The 627 and the 613 run every morning between 7:30 and 8:00. The 627 is from Worcester Park station to Wallington. However the 613 travels from the Station to Sutton Garage.
Rail
Worcester Park railway station is in Zone 4, served by the National Rail services of South West Trains and is on the boundary with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The Worcester Park line runs from London (Waterloo) via Wimbledon through Worcester Park to Epsom and Guildford. Worcester Park is approximately a 25 minute journey to London Waterloo by train.
Sport and recreation
Bowls
- Worcester Park Athletic club on Green lane
- Auriol Park in the Borough of Epsom & Ewell[1]
Football
- Worcester Park Athletic club on Green lane has a very good quality pitch and club house also with successful football teams
- Auriol Park in the Borough of Epsom & Ewell[1]
Swimming
- Indoor pools at Epsom, Sutton, North Cheam
- Between 1934 and 1980 the nearest open air swimming pool was Surbiton Lagoon
History
Worcester Park takes its name from the 4th Earl of Worcester, who was appointed Keeper of the Great Park in 1606. (The area was once part of a Great Park surrounding the Nonsuch Palace of Henry VIII.)
Blakesley School
Blakesley School was a private primary school run by the Headmaster Eric Dudley. It closed in the summer of 1958, when the land was sold for housing. It occupied the land at grid reference TQ214654 bordered by the portion of Delta Road which was then not surfaced, Delta Close (then a gated track and public right of way leading from Delta Road to Salisbury Road), and Grafton Avenue, again not surfaced, heading towards the church.
It occupied a substantial plot of land and was a "modern manor house" style building. The surrounding wall is said to go back to Henry VIII's reign[citation needed].
Parker's Field
Possibly belonging to T Parker & Sons, Landscapers, who were based at what is now a housing estate at grid reference TQ221662 beside Worcester Park Station, Parker's Field was the best toboggan run until the top half was built on in the 1970s (despite being Green Belt), when it became unusable.
Rowe Hall
The Scout hut next door to Cuddington Primary School in Salisbury Road at grid reference TQ215650 was built in 1958 and named Rowe Hall in honour of a long serving scout mistress, "Miss Rowe", who was a teacher at Blakesley School. This hut was erected after the previous building was destroyed by arsonists and still serves the 2nd Cuddington (Rowe) Scout Group.
Worcester (Park) House
In the 1950s, the ruins of a splendid ornamental lake with a multi-arched bridge (at grid reference TQ211654) and balustrade were still visible in the woodland at the foot of the hill in "Parker's Field" (situated between Grafton Road and Old Malden Lane, and behind the still rather ramshackle stables in Grafton Road).
The house itself was not visible, nor were there any ruins apart from the lake and some mounds of bricks to be found. The lake itself had drained into the river Hogsmill, but no source of incoming water was visible. The lake dried up in the late 1940s following the rechanelling of the river.
Close to the bridge remnant to the southwest of the bridge was a ruined domed structure, all that remains of an ice house. However it was filled with soil and other débris which prevented any investigation.
Locals presumed the house to be named "Worcester Park House", and have suggested that Blakesley School was the original house, while historical sources suggest "Worcester House"[2]. However the map of 1871 shows a building labelled "Worcester Park House" to be alongside the lake, to the west of it, on land that was, in the 1950s, overgrown with trees.
The Hamptons
The Hamptons is a development of New England style housing in Worcester Park. Created by St James homes, The Hamptons is constructed in 30 acres of parkland on the former site of sewage works at the top of Green Lane. The site includes a conservation wetland area, amphitheatre, community centre and gym (for residents), tennis courts and a viewing platform which affords views across to the City Of London.
Recent development of The Hamptons has been controversial, because of fears over the impact on local amenities (healthcare and education) and the added pressure of vehicular traffic.
In December 2007, a planning application for a further 147 homes on The Hamptons site was rejected following objections by over 300 local residents. [3]
Notable residents
- Jimmy Hill - footballer for Fulham Football Club and BBC TV Football commentator lived either at 12 or at 14 Kinross Avenue
- John Major - British Conservative Party Prime Minister lived in Longfellow Road and went to Cheam Common School
- Daley Thompson - British decathlete lived near "The Plough" public house
- Kenneth Wolstenholme - the BBC's original TV football commentator lived at 75 Salisbury Road
- Gary Borrowdale - Coventry City FC defender
- HG Wells - Author - lived in The Avenue
- James Heath - European Tour professional golfer
Notes
- ^ a b Auriol Park is a King George's Field. See also List of King George V Playing Fields (Surrey) under the entry for Worcester Park
- ^ Brief local history
- ^ The Worcester Park Blog
References
External links
- The Worcester Park Blog
- 2nd Cuddington Scout Group
- 4th Worcester Park Scout Group
- Worcester Park Community
- Worcester Park Baptist Church
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