Weybridge
{{infobox England place|
Place= Weybridge | Population = 19,463 | District= Elmbridge | County= Surrey | Region= South East England | Ceremonial= Surrey | Traditional= Surrey | Constituency= Runnymede and Weybridge | PostalTown= WEYBRIDGE | PostCode= KT13 | DiallingCode= 01932 | GridReference= TQ078648 | Police= Surrey Police | Euro= South East EnglandWeybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the North by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name.The early history of Weybridge was simply as a river crossing. In 1537 it became the location of Oatlands Palace built by Henry VIII. When it was demolished in 1650, bricks from its walls helped to line the then new Wey Navigation. Part of the original site of the Palace is now occupied by Oatlands Park Hotel.
At the bottom of Monument Hill, close to the town centre is a monument to the Duchess of York, erected by public subscription in 1820 from the remains of the original Seven Dials Monument that stood in St.Martin's Lane London until 1773.
The famous former Brooklands Aerodrome and Race Circuit is located here, just south of the railway station. It is now the location for the Brooklands Museum. Brooklands was also the home of Vickers the aeroplane construction organisation.
At the top of Monument Hill, adjacent to the cricket green is a World War I war memorial.When the London and Southampton Railway opened its station here in 1838, development of what was only a village began. Large houses were built on St George's Hill; and gradually Weybridge became a town.In Weybridge heath many rare species of insects (particularly ants), rare birds and insectivorous plant formerly occurred. The heath was allowed to become vastly overgrown in recent years, but recently Surrey Wildlife Trust invoked a scrub clearance plan in an attempt to restore this valuable habitat.
Weybridge is the UK headquarters of Toshiba Information Systems, Sony Corporation and Proctor & Gamble.
In H. G. Wells' book The War of the Worlds, Weybridge was the location of a battle in which a Martian fighting machine was destroyed.
Two schools for 11-18-year-olds serve Weybridge, Heathside School and 6th Form Centre in the town itself and St George's College in nearby Addlestone.
The Veterinary Laboratories Agency, an executive agency of DEFRA has its central laboratories located near Weybridge. The laboratory is notable as being one of the principal test centres for the H5N1 virus, commonly known as Bird Flu.
The local newspaper is the Weybridge News & MailFamous current inhabitants of Weybridge include TV & Radio presenter Michael Aspel, singer/songwriter Cliff Richard, and golfer Nick Faldo. The latter two live on St Georges Hill, which was the founding place for the Diggers in the 17th century, whose early attempt at communal life heavily influenced the development of embryonic socialist thought.
Famous past inhabitants of Weybridge include musicians John Lennon and Tom Jones and the authors E. M. Forster and Warwick Deeping, the Formula 1 racing driver Jenson Button and the entomologist, Horace Donisthorpe.Weybridge is made up of a number of distinct areas:
* Town Centre Shopping Area
* Monument Hill / Queens Road Shopping Area
* St George's Hill
* Brooklands
* Oatlands Village* History of Weybridge
* The York Column Monument and Monument Green History
* The Brooklands Society
* Weybridge Rowing Club
* The River Wey and Wey Navigations Community Site* Population figures (PDF)
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