Weston Green

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 51.3841
longitude= -0.3512
official_name= Weston Green
map_type= Surrey
population = less than 3,000
shire_district= Elmbridge
shire_county = Surrey
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= Esher and Walton
post_town=
postcode_district =
postcode_area=
dial_code=
os_grid_reference=TQ148662 Weston Green is a village close to Thames Ditton and Long Ditton in the county of Surrey. It is just inside the southern part of the circle of the M25 near the larger towns of Esher and Sunbury-on-Thames.

Weston Green is in the census area of "Thames Ditton" which has a population of 5,863. [ [http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=5943027&c=KT7+0JB&d=14&e=16&g=489835&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1 Census data] ]

History

The name is derived from Westun farm.

Weston Green appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as "Westone". It was held by Barking Abbey (a nunnery). Its domesday assets were: 3 ploughs. It rendered £2. [ [http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm Surrey Domesday Book] ]

There were at least two manors in medieval Thames Ditton: firstly the manor of Weston was held by the abbey of Barking in 1086, and continued part of the property of that house till shortly before the Dissolution, when Henry VIII bought it to add to the honour of Hampton Court. Secondly there was the manor of Immeworth (or Imworth), which belonged to Ralphe de Imworth in the reign of Henry III.

According to the Chancery Rolls of 1212, King John was entertained at a residence of some size in Ditton belonging to Geoffrey Fitz Pierre, the Chief Justice, during a royal journey from Chertsey to London. It was likely the house of one of these two manors.

A curious reminder of the ancient lordship of Weston is given by a notice board, which used to stand on the common, headed" 'Manor of Weston otherwise Barking'. "The name of Barking Manor, for Weston, appears also in surveys of Imber Court.

The manor of Weston was annexed by Act of Parliament in 1539, and leased in the following year to John Baker. In later times, it was usually demised upon lease to the owner of Imber Court, but in 1801 the right of the Crown was sold to William Speer. Hannibal Speer, grandson of William Speer, then became lord of the manor. At about the same time that Speer bought the manor of Weston, he bought land belonging to the manors of Claygate and Imber Court, which has since been treated as part of the manor of Weston.

The barn of Weston Manor Farm, built to Henry VIII's order, was said to be a 'huge and splendid building'. It was demolished in 1962.

In the great Onslow sale of 1778, the Speer family bought Manor Farm. This led to William Speer's Lordship of the Manor of Weston.

Towards the end of the 18th century, an amateur police force of about 80 men was formed at Weston Green. In 1792, a group of vigilantes was formed and based at the Harrow Inn. Their backers included William Speer of Weston Grange, Thomas Bracey and William Chauncey.

At Weston Green, south of Thames Ditton, is the chapel of ease of St. Nicholas, a plain red-brick building constructed in 1901.

Weston Green was the birthplace of Felicia Browne (1904-1936).

Present day

There is an Anglican church, All Saints Weston, built in the 1930s and an unusual rounded Catholic church. Hampton Court Way was built in around 1928 bisects the village and demarcates postcodes into Esher and Thames Ditton.

References

External links