Spelthorne

Spelthorne is a local government district and borough in Surrey, England. It includes the towns of Ashford, Laleham, Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell and Sunbury. Boroughs adjacent to Spelthorne include Runnymede, Elmbridge, and Windsor and Maidenhead. The borough is home to a number of large reservoirs, including Queen Mary, Staines and King George VI, all important bird reserves as is the large Staines Moor, designated an area of outstanding scientific interest.

History

Spelthorne appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as "Spelet(h)orne". Spelthorne was a hundred (these are not marked on the Surrey map, which shows only Domesday manors) an administrative area, where local leaders met about once a month. [ [http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm Surrey Domesday Book] ] The Spelthorne hundred also covered East Bedfont, Feltham and Hanworth, all now in the London Borough of Hounslow in Greater London.

The borough was formed in 1974 from Staines Urban District and Sunbury-on-Thames Urban District. The urban districts had originally been part of Middlesex; however in 1965 when much of the rest of Middlesex was absorbed into Greater London these two were instead transferred to Surrey. Its boundary changed in 1995 when Poyle was transferred to Slough in Berkshire. The borough remained inside the Metropolitan Police District, and was not transferred to Surrey Police until the boundary was realigned to Greater London in 2000.

Politics

The 3rd May 2007 election results produced 31 Conservative seats and 8 Liberal Democrat seats. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/vote2007/maps/eng_councils/html/eng_councils_map.stm BBC news] retrieved 4/5/07]

Districts

The borough is a mix of leafy suburbs (mainly towards the river Thames) and suburban housing. Kempton Park Racecourse and Shepperton Studios are both located in Spelthorne. Staines is both the largest town in the borough and its administrative centre, at Knowle Green.

* Staines
* Sunbury on Thames
* Shepperton
* Ashford
* Laleham
* Kempton Park
* Stanwell
* Stanwell Moor
* Upper Halliford
* Charlton Village
* Littleton

Twinning

Spelthorne is twinned with Melun in France.

ee also

* Spelthorne (UK Parliament constituency)

External links

* [http://www.spelthorne.gov.uk/ Spelthorne Borough Council]
* [http://www.brooklands.ac.uk/ashford.asp Brooklands College Ashford Campus]

References