Welcome to the Weybridge Directory listing all that is good about this vibrant town and featuring the best local traders.

The History of Weybridge

The name Weybridge is derived from a crossing of the River Wey, a tributary of the River Thames in the 13th century. The earliest records of the name date back to 1235.

Other than this it was of no major importance, its function being an uninteresting place on the route to Chertsey in the Manor of Byfleet. Matters did not change for many years and in the the 16th century, the inhabitants of the area asked to be excused from conveying the royal baggage to Oatlands Palace as they only had one cart. 

Oatlands Palace was built in 1537 by Henry VIII giving the area a Royal connection. The palace was demolished around 1650 and many of the bricks were used to build the lock walls on the Wey Navigation. This was one of the earliest canalised rivers in England and was a main route for goods from Guildford, the county town of Surrey, to the Thames and then to London and beyond.

Part of the original site of the Palace is now occupied by the Oatlands Park Hotel.

During the eighteenth century Weybridge rose in prominance and had many famous residents:- The Earl of Torrington at Oatlands Park, Admiral Sir Thomas Hopson (the hero of Vigo Bay), the Hon. George Clinton at Clinton House, the inventor of the Naval semaphore, Sir Thomas Riggs Popham, John Austin, author, and Fanny Kemble, actress.

In 1800 the Enclosure Acts were passed for the Walton & Weybrige area. The main beneficiary of this ruling for Weybridge was the Duke of York who significantly enlarged his Oatlands estate.

In 1838, after Victoria’s ascension to the throne, the first section of the London & Southampton Railway was opened from London to Woking and this began the transformation of Weybridge from a quiet rural backwater to a commuter town. With a main railway line to London in the town many large houses belonging to wealthy city workers were soon lining the slopes above the river at Broadwater in Oatlands. This pattern has been repeated in modern times and the house prices in the area are heavily influenced by the London property market.

In addition to the short commute to London the Surrey countryside was a great attraction to the upwardly mobile London city workers. The breakup of the Oatlands Estate opened up property development opportunities and Weybridge became a bustling town with new housing to meet the demands of rich London workers.

In 1907, on the fields bordering the river Wey, Hugh Locke-King, the owner of Brooklands House,built the first motor racing track in England. For thirty-two years, until its destruction in the Second World War,the most famous drivers in the world competed for victory in the fastest cars.

Broklands museum now includes part of the original track which is still preserved and is an interesting museum of the development of aviation and motor racing.

Amongst some other notable attractions the oldest air booking office in the world still survives beside part of the old airfield, in the centre of the race track, which enabled some of the earliest flights in England. The factory built many flying legends including the ‘Wellington Bomber’, the ‘Dambusters’  bomb and more recently Concorde.