Chobham, Surrey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chobham | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Population: | 3,800 |
| Ordnance Survey | |
| OS grid reference: | [1] |
| Administration | |
| District: | Surrey Heath |
| Shire county: | Surrey |
| Region: | South East England |
| Constituent country: | England |
| Sovereign state: | United Kingdom |
| Other | |
| Ceremonial county: | Surrey |
| Historic county: | Surrey |
| Services | |
| Police force: | Surrey Police |
| Fire and rescue: | {{{Fire}}} |
| Ambulance: | South East Coast |
| Post office and telephone | |
| Post town: | Woking |
| Postal district: | GU24 |
| Dialling code: | 01276 |
| Politics | |
| UK Parliament: | Surrey Heath |
| European Parliament: | South East England |
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Not to be confused with Cobham, Surrey.
Chobham, Surrey is a small village in NW Surrey, England. About fifteen minutes drive from the London railway line stations at Woking to the south and Sunningdale to the north.
When the railways were developed in the 19th century, the main lines went north and south of the village, passing through the nearby then smaller villages of Sunningdale and Woking. Thus Chobham has remained largely undeveloped whilst Woking has grown into the large town it is today.
Surrounded by Chobham Common which is heathland of little agricultural value, the village was traditionally a poor rural isolated community. During mediaeval times, Chobham was part of the Chertsey Abbey estates. The abbots' management was conservative and restrictive.
St Lawrence Church is on the High Street. Its earliest parts date from about 1080 although there may have been an earlier church on the site. It is dedicated to St Lawrence, who was martyred in Rome in 258.
Within living memory it was a quiet one-church, four-pub village, with useful food shops. However, now it has a traffic-congested High St mostly given over to estate agents and restaurants. This corner of Surrey is one of the fastest developing areas in Britain with house prices to match. Lying between M3 and M25 motorways, the expansion of nearby Heathrow Airport - all combine to increase the demand for land for industry and housing as well as greatly increasing the traffic that the village is required to bear. Nevertheless the village and the surrounding lanes remain attractive.
Chobham is probably most famous for the tank factory that was once carved out of Chobham Common and created Chobham armour. However, there are also the reputed "treacle mines" (where it is said soldiers had buried their treacle tins before going off to the Crimean war). Queen Victoria visited their camp.
The four pubs in the area are:
- The Castle Grove, towards Knaphill, a pub with a public bar and a saloon bar, as well as pool table, darts and jukebox.
- The Red Lion, Burrowhill, a pub that serves the local housing estate .
- The Sun Inn, the last remaining pub in the High St - saved by local villagers that bought it to prevent it being converted to a restaurant.
- The Four Horseshoes, at Burrowhill - classical English village green setting, complete with a baker and blacksmith. There is an area to sit outside in the summer time.
The Rugby club has up to six senior teams, the first XV play in London South West Division 3. There is also a large junior and mini section with many County and Divisional players.
