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Coordinates: 51°23'25?N 0°30'27?W? / ?51.3902, -0.5074
Chertsey is a town in Surrey, England, on the River Thames and its tributary rivers such as the River Bourne. It can be accessed by road from junction 11 of the M25 London orbital motorway. It shares borders with Staines, Laleham, Shepperton, Addlestone, Woking, Thorpe and Egham. It lies within the Godley hundred, some 18 miles / 29 km southwest of central London.
The town is served by Chertsey railway station. The theme park Thorpe Park is in the nearby village of Thorpe.
The altitude is generally low with an altitude of 14 m / 45 ft in the high street and 10 m / 35 ft on the river Thames where the restaurants Boat House and Kingfisher are; making it the lowest place in Chertsey. The highest point in Chertsey is up St. Annes hill in the forest, where it reaches a peak of 70 m / 230 ft.
[edit] History
Chertsey is a town of historical importance hence giving the title of 'The historical town of Chertsey', having grown around Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 by Eorcenwald, Bishop of London. It is one of the oldest towns in England.
In the 9th century it was sacked by the Danes and refounded from Abingdon Abbey by King Edgar of England in 964.
Chertsey appears in Domesday Book as Certesi. It was held partly by Chertsey Abbey and partly by Richard Sturmid from the abbey. Its domesday assets were: 5 hides; 1 mill and 1 forge at the hall, 20 ploughs, 200 acres of meadow, woodland worth 50 hogs. It rendered £22.[2]
The Abbey grew to become one of the largest Benedictine abbeys in England, supported by large fiefs in the northwest corner of Sussex until it was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1536. The King took stone from the Abbey to construct his palace at Oatlands, and the villagers used stone for raising the streets. By the late 17th century, only some outer walls of the Abbey remained.
Today the history of the abbey is reflected in local place names and the fishponds that still fill with water after heavy rain.
The eighteenth century Chertsey Bridge provides an important cross-river link, and Chertsey Lock is a short way above it on the opposite side.
In the 18th century Chertsey Cricket Club was one of the strongest in the country.[citation needed] Chertsey Regatta has been held on the river for over 150 years.
The town now populates approximately 15.967
[edit] The Salesians
The Salesians, one of the three Catholic schools, have been located in Chertsey since the 1920s. The school also has a sixth form. The original site is in Highfield road and contains the boarding school where pupils once lived during term. The newer site is located in Guildford Road. It serves around 1.200 pupils. The school plans to merge the two sites together in September 2008, along with a new timetable.
Chertsey has three Catholic Schools, a Catholic Church and a Catholic youth club. There is also an Anglican Church, a Community Church hall and a Jehova's Witnesses Hall.
[edit] Notable residents
Justin Hawkins, lead singer of The Darkness rock group, singer-songwriter Doug Walker and England cricketer Ashley Giles were born in Chertsey in the 1970s. Keith Moon, drummer with rock band The Who, lived in the town in that decade.[3] England and West Ham United footballer Robert Green was born in Chertsey in 1980.
[edit] Chertsey in literature
Chertsey was visited by Charles Dickens to make notes for Oliver Twist, and the poem "The Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight" by Rosa Hartwick Thorpe was written in the town.
In H. G. Wells' book The War of the Worlds, Chertsey was destroyed by attacking Martian fighting-machines in the early afternoon of 8 June 1902.
Abraham Cowley, the 17th Century English poet, lived in Chertsey after his return from exile. The Abraham Cowley Mental Health Unit of St Peter's Hospital (UK), Chertsey, was named in his honour.
Chertsey also made a fleeting appearance in the 1964 classic First Men In The Moon with the old town hall playing the role of Dimchurch town hall.
Chertsey Abbey is mentioned in William Shakespeares play, Richard III in Act 1, Scene 2.
[edit] References
- , Census data
- , Surrey Domesday Book
- , Rock's Back Pages
[edit] External links
(Source: Wikipedia) |