Goldsworth Park
Encyclopedia
Goldsworth Park is a large housing estate to the north-west of Woking
in Surrey
, England
. It was named after the nearby Goldsworth area which was a large 'tithing' of Woking Parish. The tithing included most of the north west of Woking, such as Brookwood
, Knaphill
and St. John's. It is bordered by villages such as St. John's, Knaphill and Horsell
.
At one time, it was said to be the largest such estate in Europe.
tools were found in the 1920s-1930s, on what was later to become the Goldsworth Park playing fields. These were probably left by a small group of people, settled in the valley of Parley Brook (though there may be a small chance that the actual original location may have been somewhere else, if they had been moved by glacial ice).
The name Goldsworth was first recorded in 1229 and is possibly derived possibly from 'la Goldhord' that may record a find of gold
coins. Goldsworth then was a few houses in the area where Goldsworth Road is now, but also gave its name to the tithing of Goldsworth (sometimes called Goldings) which covers most of the north-west of Woking
Parish.
Long Lane Cottage which is now in Clifton Way, Goldsworth Park and Langman's which is now in Langman's Lane, Goldsworth are both thought to have been built in the 16th century. They are now Grade II listed buildings and are timber framed.
In 1760, James Turner bought from the Earl of Onslow
, owner of Woking Manor, some land in the "Tithing of Goldings". Then in 1790, James Turner on his land in the "Tithing of Goldings" started a nursery south of the canal near Langmans; he later passed it on to John Slyfield. It was later passed it to a member of the Jackman family, who in the early 19th century passed it onto Robert Donald and it then became known as Goldsworth Nursery. In the 1830s it was passed to a partnership consisting of William Chandler, Charles Waterer and George Jackman. 1877 saw the partnership selling to Walter Charles Slocock who, in time, expands the nursery by buying land to the north.
Goldsworth (Langmans) Bridge was built in 1790; it is a brick bridge over the Basingstoke Canal
and is now listed as a National Scheduled Ancient Monument. Goldsworth Road was built in 1836.
In 1894, Woking Local Board formed, first met in Goldsworth Hall with 18 councillors representing these wards, Knaphill, St Johns, Mayford, Sutton, Brookwood, Old Woking, Maybury and Central.
The Nursery Staff that died during the First World War are remembered on the Goldsworth Nursery War Memorial
area by 1981 and proposed building 3 new housing schemes, one of which was known as 'Slococks', to be built on nurserylands owned by the Slococks which was the Goldsworth Nursery. So in 1967, a master plan decided that the Land Commission should buy the land and drain and service the site then sell it to developers. However, in 1970, the Land Commission was abolished by the Conservative Government; New Ideal Homes and Woking Borough Council
agree to a partnership to build 'Slococks'. At this time, houses in the Mead Court area were built and therefore are not part of Goldsworth Park, they were a separate development.
The Goldsworth Park project was approved by the government in 1973 with work starting in Goldsworth Vale (phase one was Wilders Close e.t.c.). The plan was to build 4,500 homes for 15,000 residents. It also planned for a lake, sports facilities, golf
course, shops, swimming-pool, library, industrial estate, youth centres, pubs, churches, fire station
and social facilities. The first house was completed in 1974. Three years later the Goldsworth Park Residents' Association Allotments Society formed (now called the Goldsworth Park Allotments Society). It commenced with 70 plots. However, in 1995 they had to move to a new 90-plot site at Brookwood
. The soil at the old site was deemed to be unsafe.
By 1978, about 1,000 homes were completed. In the same year the Goldsworth Park Scout
and Guides
started at local schools. York Road doctor's practise opened in 1979 a second premises on Goldsworth Park. The first parish Vicar
of St Andrews Church Goldsworth Park was appointed in 1981. The shops came in 1982 and the Bitterne Drive houses were also started in 1982. Three years later the Goldsworth Park Health Centre opened.
In 1988, the Goldwater Lodge and St Andrews Church were built. At this stage, about 3,000 homes were completed. The last homes were built in the 1990s
Fields Car Centre moves to Goldsworth Road in 1991. Trident Garages opened a branch in Goldsworth Road the same year. 1994 saw Goldsworth School moved location to Bridge Barn Lane from Kingsway.
1999 saw a change in the wards with Goldsworth Park Ward being split into two wards Goldsworth West and East. Goldsworth East gained extra areas around Goldsworth Road and Woking Town Centre.
In 2000, Goldsworth Care was launched. The next year, C+A closed its Swiftflow distribution depot on Goldsworth Park Trading Estate and Trident Garages sold its branch in Goldsworth Road to Majestic Wine
. Arriva's Woking (Goldsworth Park Trading Estate) bus garage closed in 2002. The next year a new bigger warehouse is built on the site of the old C+A warehouse in Kestrel Way.
St Andrew's Church opened its A2 Youth & Community Centre in 2008, providing youth facilities and venues for local community and social events. The A2 is located adjacent to the church centre.
pitch, football pitch, cricket
pitch, offices, trading estate, chemist, hairdressers, scout and Guide
hall, canal, recycling facilities, children's playground
s, basketball
court, skateboard
area, skateboard ramp.
In 2000, Ian Eastwood from Goldsworth is the 27th Woking Mayor for 2000-2001. Two Goldsworth East Councillors Bryan Cross and Rosie Sharpley become members of the new Woking council's executive committee.
for some Woking borough council
wards.
2003 elections
for some Woking borough council
wards.
Woking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was named after the nearby Goldsworth area which was a large 'tithing' of Woking Parish. The tithing included most of the north west of Woking, such as Brookwood
Brookwood, Surrey
Brookwood is a village in Surrey, located about 5 km west of Woking, in a semi-rural location. It lies on the western border of the Woking Borough ....
, Knaphill
Knaphill
Knaphill is an urban village in Surrey, UK. To the east is Woking, to the west, eventually, is Aldershot, while to the south and north on the A322 – which forms its effective western border – are Brookwood, and Bisley, respectively. Some of the village is set on a hill, hence the...
and St. John's. It is bordered by villages such as St. John's, Knaphill and Horsell
Horsell
Horsell in Surrey is an ancient village nearby to the more modern 19th century Woking, probably best known because of its association with the story The War of the Worlds, written by H. G. Wells. It is the home of the book's narrator , and the landing site of the first Martian transport vessel...
.
At one time, it was said to be the largest such estate in Europe.
Early history
Thousands of flintFlint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
tools were found in the 1920s-1930s, on what was later to become the Goldsworth Park playing fields. These were probably left by a small group of people, settled in the valley of Parley Brook (though there may be a small chance that the actual original location may have been somewhere else, if they had been moved by glacial ice).
The name Goldsworth was first recorded in 1229 and is possibly derived possibly from 'la Goldhord' that may record a find of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
coins. Goldsworth then was a few houses in the area where Goldsworth Road is now, but also gave its name to the tithing of Goldsworth (sometimes called Goldings) which covers most of the north-west of Woking
Woking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
Parish.
Long Lane Cottage which is now in Clifton Way, Goldsworth Park and Langman's which is now in Langman's Lane, Goldsworth are both thought to have been built in the 16th century. They are now Grade II listed buildings and are timber framed.
In 1760, James Turner bought from the Earl of Onslow
Earl of Onslow
Earl of Onslow, of Onslow in the County of Shropshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1801 for George Onslow, 4th Baron Onslow. The Onslow family descends from Arthur Onslow, who represented Bramber, Sussex and Guildford in the House of Commons...
, owner of Woking Manor, some land in the "Tithing of Goldings". Then in 1790, James Turner on his land in the "Tithing of Goldings" started a nursery south of the canal near Langmans; he later passed it on to John Slyfield. It was later passed it to a member of the Jackman family, who in the early 19th century passed it onto Robert Donald and it then became known as Goldsworth Nursery. In the 1830s it was passed to a partnership consisting of William Chandler, Charles Waterer and George Jackman. 1877 saw the partnership selling to Walter Charles Slocock who, in time, expands the nursery by buying land to the north.
Goldsworth (Langmans) Bridge was built in 1790; it is a brick bridge over the Basingstoke Canal
Basingstoke Canal
The Basingstoke Canal is a British Canal, completed in 1794, built to connect Basingstoke with the River Thames at Weybridge via the Wey Navigation....
and is now listed as a National Scheduled Ancient Monument. Goldsworth Road was built in 1836.
In 1894, Woking Local Board formed, first met in Goldsworth Hall with 18 councillors representing these wards, Knaphill, St Johns, Mayford, Sutton, Brookwood, Old Woking, Maybury and Central.
The Nursery Staff that died during the First World War are remembered on the Goldsworth Nursery War Memorial
Estate starts in 1960s
A plan in 1964 foresaw a population of 97,000 of the WokingWoking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
area by 1981 and proposed building 3 new housing schemes, one of which was known as 'Slococks', to be built on nurserylands owned by the Slococks which was the Goldsworth Nursery. So in 1967, a master plan decided that the Land Commission should buy the land and drain and service the site then sell it to developers. However, in 1970, the Land Commission was abolished by the Conservative Government; New Ideal Homes and Woking Borough Council
Woking (borough)
Woking is a local government district with borough status in the west of Surrey, England.It was formed in 1895 as an urban district under the Local Government Act 1894. The present-day borough was established in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and is one of two districts in Surrey to...
agree to a partnership to build 'Slococks'. At this time, houses in the Mead Court area were built and therefore are not part of Goldsworth Park, they were a separate development.
The Goldsworth Park project was approved by the government in 1973 with work starting in Goldsworth Vale (phase one was Wilders Close e.t.c.). The plan was to build 4,500 homes for 15,000 residents. It also planned for a lake, sports facilities, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
course, shops, swimming-pool, library, industrial estate, youth centres, pubs, churches, fire station
Fire station
A fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
and social facilities. The first house was completed in 1974. Three years later the Goldsworth Park Residents' Association Allotments Society formed (now called the Goldsworth Park Allotments Society). It commenced with 70 plots. However, in 1995 they had to move to a new 90-plot site at Brookwood
Brookwood, Surrey
Brookwood is a village in Surrey, located about 5 km west of Woking, in a semi-rural location. It lies on the western border of the Woking Borough ....
. The soil at the old site was deemed to be unsafe.
By 1978, about 1,000 homes were completed. In the same year the Goldsworth Park Scout
The Scout Association
The Scout Association is the World Organization of the Scout Movement recognised Scouting association in the United Kingdom. Scouting began in 1907 through the efforts of Robert Baden-Powell. The Scout Association was formed under its previous name, The Boy Scout Association, in 1910 by the grant...
and Guides
Girlguiding UK
Girlguiding UK is the national Guiding organisation of the United Kingdom. Guiding began in the UK in 1910 after Robert Baden-Powell asked his sister Agnes to start a group especially for girls that would be run along similar lines to Scouting for Boys. The Guide Association was a founder member of...
started at local schools. York Road doctor's practise opened in 1979 a second premises on Goldsworth Park. The first parish Vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
of St Andrews Church Goldsworth Park was appointed in 1981. The shops came in 1982 and the Bitterne Drive houses were also started in 1982. Three years later the Goldsworth Park Health Centre opened.
In 1988, the Goldwater Lodge and St Andrews Church were built. At this stage, about 3,000 homes were completed. The last homes were built in the 1990s
Fields Car Centre moves to Goldsworth Road in 1991. Trident Garages opened a branch in Goldsworth Road the same year. 1994 saw Goldsworth School moved location to Bridge Barn Lane from Kingsway.
1999 saw a change in the wards with Goldsworth Park Ward being split into two wards Goldsworth West and East. Goldsworth East gained extra areas around Goldsworth Road and Woking Town Centre.
In 2000, Goldsworth Care was launched. The next year, C+A closed its Swiftflow distribution depot on Goldsworth Park Trading Estate and Trident Garages sold its branch in Goldsworth Road to Majestic Wine
Majestic Wine
Majestic Wine plc is the United Kingdom's largest retailer of wine by the mixed case. -History:Majestic Vintners was founded by Sheldon Graner in 1980...
. Arriva's Woking (Goldsworth Park Trading Estate) bus garage closed in 2002. The next year a new bigger warehouse is built on the site of the old C+A warehouse in Kestrel Way.
St Andrew's Church opened its A2 Youth & Community Centre in 2008, providing youth facilities and venues for local community and social events. The A2 is located adjacent to the church centre.
Facilities
Some of the facilities and infrastructures include: shops, mobile library, community hall, children's play centre, pub, health centre, St. Andrew's Church (with its A2 Youth & Community Centre), Lakers Youth Centre, Waitrose supermarket, garage, lake, recreation grounds, field hockeyField hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
pitch, football pitch, cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
pitch, offices, trading estate, chemist, hairdressers, scout and Guide
Girlguiding UK
Girlguiding UK is the national Guiding organisation of the United Kingdom. Guiding began in the UK in 1910 after Robert Baden-Powell asked his sister Agnes to start a group especially for girls that would be run along similar lines to Scouting for Boys. The Guide Association was a founder member of...
hall, canal, recycling facilities, children's playground
Playground
A playground or play area is a place with a specific design for children be able to play there. It may be indoors but is typically outdoors...
s, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
court, skateboard
Skateboard
A skateboard is typically a specially designed plywood board combined with a polyurethane coating used for making smoother slides and stronger durability, used primarily for the activity of skateboarding. The first skateboards to reach public notice came out of the surfing craze of the early 1960s,...
area, skateboard ramp.
Local people
Professor C J Wrigley (born in 1947) attended Goldsworth School. Rosie Sharpley from Goldsworth became the 20th Woking Mayor for 1993–1994, She also served briefly as the Woking representative on the South East Region Assembly.In 2000, Ian Eastwood from Goldsworth is the 27th Woking Mayor for 2000-2001. Two Goldsworth East Councillors Bryan Cross and Rosie Sharpley become members of the new Woking council's executive committee.
Election results
2002 electionsWoking Council election, 2002
The 2002 Woking Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Woking Borough Council in Surrey, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control...
for some Woking borough council
Woking (borough)
Woking is a local government district with borough status in the west of Surrey, England.It was formed in 1895 as an urban district under the Local Government Act 1894. The present-day borough was established in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and is one of two districts in Surrey to...
wards.
- Goldsworth West 22% of 3816 voters= Landon 485 LD (Elected) Lawrence 266 CON Wand 83 LAB.
- Goldsworth East 29.7% of 5418 voters= Bellord 488 CON Cross 797 LD (Elected) Ford 316 LAB.
- Goldsworth Alive starts, a new website for our area.
2003 elections
Woking Council election, 2003
The 2003 Woking Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Woking Borough Council in Surrey, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control....
for some Woking borough council
Woking (borough)
Woking is a local government district with borough status in the west of Surrey, England.It was formed in 1895 as an urban district under the Local Government Act 1894. The present-day borough was established in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and is one of two districts in Surrey to...
wards.
- Goldsworth East 25.8% of 5426 voters= Yates 457 (CON) Smith 727 (LD - Elected) Martin 210 (LAB).