Borough of Elmbridge

History

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering two former districts which were both abolished at the same time:

• Esher Urban District
• Walton and Weybridge Urban District The new district was named after the medieval Elmbridge hundred which had covered a similar area. The hundred appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Amelebrige. The name thus derives from the River Amele or Emley, an old name for the River Mole, rather than elm trees. The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.

In the early 1990s the neighbouring London Borough of Kingston upon Thames sought to have eastern parts of Elmbridge, including Long Ditton, Thames Ditton, Hinchley Wood, Weston Green and the Moleseys transferred to it, making the case that these areas had particularly strong social and economic ties to Kingston and Greater London. The proposal was considered by the Local Government Boundary Commission in 1992, but was not pursued.

Governance

• See main article: Elmbridge Borough Council

Geography

In common with the nearby Surrey boroughs of Spelthorne and Epsom and Ewell, much of Elmbridge is a continuation of the built-up area of suburban London, and the areas of Molesey, Long Ditton, Thames Ditton, Hinchley Wood, Esher, Cobham and Claygate lie within the social and commercial orbit of neighbouring Kingston upon Thames. Molesey, Cobham, the Dittons and Claygate were included in the Metropolitan Police District from 1840 until 2000.

Elevations, landscape and wildlife

The northern third of the borough is flatter and fertile with free draining slightly acid loamy soil, similar to the south, as described in the Surrey article. In the next third, the first of the remarkable acid soil heaths in west Surrey begin to appear in places here , characterised by undulating heaths: these sandy and stony reliefs start in the east in the Esher Commons, covering the central swathe of the area including Oxshott Heath and Woods and areas of Weybridge and areas surrounding Wisley, a natural soil for pines, other evergreen trees as well as heather and gorse, described as naturally wet, very acid sandy and loamy soil which is just 1.9% of English soil and 0.2% of Welsh soil. Claremont Landscape Garden and Fan Court (now independent school) is on part of this elevated soil as is St George's Hill. Most undeveloped land in Elmbridge is Metropolitan Green Belt.

The central band of forest/heath includes part of the Wisley and Ockham Commons reserve within the national wildlife trust scheme: see Surrey Wildlife Trust, several pine heath based golf courses and in the north there are reservoirs, on the side of which there is sheep grazing.

Watercourses

The Mole, passing the Grade I Church in Stoke D'Abernon, Cobham Mill at Grade II and Painshill Park and the Wey, passing Silvermere Golf Course and the Brooklands circuit, hotel and retail park, cut through the borough from south to north reaching the River Thames which denotes the northern border, stretching from Weybridge to Thames Ditton apart from inclusion of inhabited islands such as Wheatley's Ait. The Wey and Mole have sources beyond gentle valleys which cut through the high North Downs to the south.

Settlements within the Borough

:From East to West:

• Long Ditton
• Thames Ditton
• Hinchley Wood
• Claygate
• Weston Green
• Molesey (East Molesey)
• Esher including West End and Lower Green
• Oxshott
• Hersham including Burwood Park
• Molesey (West Molesey)
• Walton on Thames including Fieldcommon and Ashley Park
• Cobham * including Fairmile and the hamlets of Hatchford* and Downside
• Stoke D'Abernon
• Weybridge including St George's Hill

Affluence and The "Grandees"

The borough is home to some of the county's highest earners. It has been labelled Britain's Beverly Hills by sections of the press. Famous residents, past and present, include Maurice Gibb Sir Cliff Richard, Mick Jagger, George Harrison, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Wood, Andy Murray, Kate Winslet, John Terry, Gary Lineker, Mick Hucknall, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Theo Paphitis, Chris Tarrant, Peter Crouch, Michael Aspel and Shilpa Shetty.

St George's Hill is noted as the site of one of the earliest experiments in common ownership of land by ordinary people, in a marked contrast to the area's modern status as a wealthy private estate. In 1649 the "Diggers", one of the radical groups set up in the aftermath of the English Civil War and the execution of Charles I seized common land in the area and lived by simple farming. As well as debates about religion and how the country should be run at this time these groups complained that even the Parliamentary side in the Civil War was dominated by "Grandees" i.e. wealthy nobles who often spent their time in comfort conducting fatuous debates in Parliament while the less well off risked their lives in the war to defeat an absolutist system. They were the subject of a long campaign of harassment by a local landowner and were eventually removed following a court case.

Transport

The M25 motorway has several junctions nearby and the A3(M) from London bisects the borough.

The main north-south road is the A244 for instance to London Heathrow Airport and starts in the borough at Walton Bridge leading to Esher and Oxshott then to Leatherhead. The east-west Leatherhead to Horsell, Woking road, the A245 leads by Cobham and Brooklands, Weybridge.

As to rail, the South West Main Line cuts through the borough, with four stations from Esher to Weybridge, one of which several express services call at: Walton on Thames in the Ashley Park estate of the south of the town. The branch lines have services with four stations in the borough via Cobham & Stoke D'Abernon to Guildford; and a branch to Thames Ditton and Hampton Court railway station in East Molesey, both within Transport for London's Zone 6.

Bus services include TfL Oyster card services to East and West Molesey, Hinchley Wood, Claygate and Esher.

Cycling is very popular, with the Thames Path passing through the north of the borough and the 2012 Summer Olympics hosting both of the main road cycling events in the borough with most of the road section around Hampton Court and with the sections of the routes taken to and from Box Hill.

Economy

The economy is diverse, with a strong local service sector, including numerous bars and restaurants, trades including interior supplies, fitting,

Twinning

The Borough of Elmbridge is not twinned with any towns. However, between 1966 and 2009 Elmbridge was formally twinned with the Paris suburb of Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts de Seine, France.

Coat of arms

The council's arms were created upon the formation of the present day district, being formed out of symbols taken from the local towns and villages with the Latin motto meaning until the rivers cease. The arms include a depiction of an elm tree on a bridge, being a play on the district's name.

Notes

References

References

1. "Elmbridge Local Authority".
2. {{cite legislation UK. (1972)
3. {{cite legislation UK. (1973)
4. [http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm Surrey Domesday Book] {{webarchive. link. (30 October 2007)
5. (1988). "Dictionary of place-names in the British Isles". Bloomsbury.
6. (28 March 1974). "District Councils and Boroughs".
7. "The boundaries of Greater London and the London Boroughs: Report No 627".
8. "Review of Greater London, the London Boroughs and the City of London: Report No 667".
9. {{London Gazette. (13 October 1840)
10. {{cite legislation UK. (1999)
11. "LandIS - Land Information System - Homepage Soil Portal".
12. {{National Heritage List for England
13. {{National Heritage List for England
14. (2019-11-22). "Modern map of Lower Green Esher".
15. [http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/2134362_elmbridge_stumps_up_1bn_annual_income_tax ''Surrey Press & Herald''] "Elmbridge Stumps up £1Bn Annual Income Tax" Claire French, 20 May 2013
16. Bennett, Oliver. (21 January 2011). "Is Elmbridge Britain's Beverly Hills?". Independent Digital News & Media Ltd.
17. (23 March 2022). "Seventeenth century squatters? The Diggers and the occupation of St George's Hill".
18. "National Rail Enquiries - Official source for UK train times and timetables".
19. "Elmbridge twinning info".
20. "The History of Elmbridge Borough Council".