Curchods, Weybridge
In the leafy residential avenues, the green open spaces and wooded heath land of Weybridge, it is often hard to believe that you are just 20 miles away from the centre of London.
Weybridge is an historic town which can trace its roots back to 675AD when it was known as Waigebrugge which means bridge over the river Wey.
The town has grown and developed where the River Thames meets The River Wey, and many fine homes now overlook the water. People who travel frequently settle at Weybridge due to its excellent connections with the M25 motorway just 2 miles away, linking the national motorway network and the principle airports at Heathrow and Gatwick.
Another attraction is the quality and extent of schooling locally which also caters well for the requirements of many of the area's foreign residents. The American Community School is only a short distance away in neighbouring Cobham, the Dutch School a short way down the road at West Byfleet and TASIS (The American School In Surrey) about 6 miles away at Thorpe.
Weybridge is superbly situated for the area's many leisure and recreational facilities. Golf, tennis, bowling, skating, swimming, rowing, sailing - the list goes on.
On an historical note, the large estate of Oatlands was compulsorily acquired to enable Henry VIII to join Oatlands with his other palaces at Cheam and Hampton Court to create a very large hunting area. At the time of the round-head revolution, when Oliver Cromwell came to power, the palace was given to Parliament and subsequently demolished. Remains of the walls and its massive gate house are still standing and can be found incorporated in the present housing estate in Weybridge.
Motor racing and aviation history were made at Weybridge with Brooklands airfield and race track, the latter of which was built in 1907, the first and still one of the very few embanked race tracks in the World. Local magnate Hugh Locke-King powered the motoring and flying industry at Brooklands, changing this part of Weybridge into an industrial area, which has now, in the late 1990's, returned to residential housing, light industry and offices. A point of note - Brooklands was the starting point for the very first fee paying passenger flight in the World. The main building of Brooklands College, is a Victorian mansion, and was built for, and lived in by the Locke-King family.
Andrew Grant - Manager, Weybridge Office