West End, Surrey

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Not to be confused with West End, Esher
West End
Surrey
West end common1.jpg
West End Common
Location
Grid reference: SU945609
Location: 51°20’23"N, 0°38’38"W
Data
Population: 4,693  (2011)
Post town: Woking
Postcode: GU24
Dialling code: 01483 / 01276
Local Government
Parliamentary
constituency:
Surrey Heath

West End is a village in north-western Surrey, midway between the towns of Camberley and Woking, four miles to the west and east respectively. The River Bourne rises from its sources to the immediate west to run through the village. Until the mid 20th century, the West End consisted of a collection of smallholdings surrounded by a substantial area of common land.

The name of village is from its growing form a hamlet at the west end of Chobham.

West End village hall

West End Common is comparable in size to Chobham Common to the north and includes Army training ranges. Brentmoor Heath is to the north-west of the village.

West End is equidistant between Bagshot and Brookwood railway stations, both three miles away. The village is close to junction 3 of the M3 motorway.

Parish church

The Church of England parish church, Holy Trinity, is a small building consisting of a chancel consecrated in 1890, nave consecrated in 1842, and a vestry built in 1906. The material is stone and the style is 13th century. Over the west end is a small bell-turret with a square spire above the entrance.[1]

Recognising rising population as the hamlet becmae a village, and continuing housebuilding, the village became a parish in 1895.[1]

History

Holy Trinity Church

Nearby lands were settled in prehistoric times, evidenced within this civil parish, with a megalithic barrow on Westend Common.[2][3]

In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson described 'Westend' as "a tything in Worplesdon parish, Surrey; 3¼ miles NW of Guildford. Pop., 341."[4] A dependency on Worplesdon church, as its tything, is attested in the Middle Ages until the late 19th century, after which the area formed part of the parish of Chobham.[5]

In the 20th century many houses were added to the village, during which period books on the county and subject of nurseries show it to be a significant economic centre of nursery gardening.[6]

Events

Every year on the village recreation ground is its Summer Fete and in the autumn, The Horticultural and Agricultural Show.

Sport

The two grounds in the village host a seniors football team and cricket team, competing within the county.

About the village

The village has a range of local shops and businesses. Once merely the west end of a parish, West End has itself spawned new hamlets and neighbourhoods.

  • Donkey Town is the western neighbourhood of the village
  • West End Common is a restricted access area, uninhabited and a habitat with many rare heathland plants which has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.[7] It is also a 'Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area' within the remit of Surrey Heath.[8]
  • Lucas Green is a linear settlement on a cul-de-sac road, Lucas Green Road, leading to the periphery of West End Common, Lucas Green has a close cluster of four buildings, surrounding Lucas Green Manor, which are listed. One, Lucas Green Manor house, at Grade II dates to the 16th century.[9]

Outside links

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("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about West End, Surrey)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 A History of the County of Surrey - Volume 3 pp 413-419: Parishes: Chobham (Victoria County History)
  2. Four bowl barrows on West End Common National Heritage List 1007890: Four bowl barrows on West End Common (Scheduled ancient monument entry)
    National Heritage List 1018505: Bowl Barrow at New England, West End Common (Scheduled ancient monument entry)
  3. Megalithic Portal: West End Common Barrows
  4. Headline listings from the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales in a Vision of Britain
  5. A History of the County of Surrey - Volume 3 pp 390-395: Parishes: Worplesdon (Victoria County History)
  6. Nurserymen To The World – EJ Willson
  7. SSSI listing and designation for West End Common
  8. Map of Special Protection Area
  9. National Heritage List 1189829: Lucas Green Manor House (Grade II listing)