Worcester Park
| Worcester Park | |
| Surrey | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ225655 |
| Location: | 51°22’31"N, 0°14’20"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Worcester Park |
| Postcode: | KT4 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Epsom and Ewell |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Epsom and Ewell |
Worcester Park is a town in Surrey, in the edge of the metropolitan conurbation; contiguous with the surrounding towns in such a way that its own identity is largely lost.
The Beverley Brook runs through Worcester Park and alongside Green Lane down passed Green Lane Primary School. Green Lane itself appears in the Domesday Book. The Huntsmans Hall (now Midas Touch) was cited on what was the far boundary of hunting ground for Henry VIII.
Railway
- Worcester Park: services to London Waterloo by way of Wimbledon and through Worcester Park to Epsom and Guildford. Worcester Park is approximately a 25 minute journey to London Waterloo by train.
History
Worcester Park takes its name from Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester, who was appointed Keeper of the Great Park in 1606. The area was once part of the Great Park which covered around 1,100 acres and surrounded the Little Park which contained Nonsuch Palace, built by Henry VIII. Both parks were originally used as deer parks. King Henry VIII had obtained the land from Sir Richard de Cuddington.
During the ownership by Sir Richard de Cuddington, there was a manor house on a site which was later replaced by Worcester House and is now the site of Worcester Close. There was also a church of St. Mary on roughly the same site where the church of St. Mary the Virgin, Cuddington, now stands. The diarist Samuel Pepys visited the district and in his diary commented on Worcester House.
In 1809 Worcester Park was acquired by William Taylor. He used a mill on the banks of the Hogsmill River to continue the manufacture gunpowder which had been carried out on and off in the area for several centuries. Manufacturing continued until the 1850s when the mill blew up.
Sport and recreation
- Worcester Park Cricket Club, on Green Lane.
- Worcester Park Athletic Club, on Green Lane.
- Auriol Park: a King George's Field
- Worcester Park Football Club, based at Skinner's Field, on Green Lane. The club was founded in 1908.
- Cazbar FC based from the Cazbar in Central Road play at Manor Park
- Wandgas Football Club is located on Grafton Road and also have cricket teams.
Parker's Field
Possibly belonging to T Parker & Sons, Landscapers, who were based at what is now a housing estate beside Worcester Park Station, Parker's Field was a fine, green hill until the top half was built upon in the 1970s.
Rowe Hall
The Scout Hut next door to Cuddington Primary School in Salisbury Road 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 headquarters 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 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 Hogsmill River, but no source of incoming water was visible. The lake dried up in the late 1940s following the rechannelling 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".[1] 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.
Outside links
References
- ↑ A brief history of Worcester Park and Cuddington, Cheam and Worcester Park on the Internet, http://www.cheamandworcesterpark.co.uk/history.htm, retrieved 24 November 2005