Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for WOKING

WOKING, a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a hundred, in Surrey. The town stands on the river Wey, 1¼ mile SSE of Woking r. station; was once a market-town; consists chiefly of one long street; and has a post-office‡ under Woking-Station, an inn, and a fair on Whit Tuesday. The r. station is on the South-western railway, adjacent to the junction of the line to Portsmouth, 6 miles N by E of Guildford; and has a head post-office‡ and a telegraph office.—The parish contains 8 tythings, and comprises 7,332 acres. Real property, £13,542. Pop. in 1851, 2,835; in 1861, 3,819. Houses, 681. The increase of pop. arose from the erection of an invalid convict prison, of an alms-house dramatic college, of a number of private edifices, and of several houses connected with a new necropolis for London. The convict prison stands near Knap hill; and, at the census of 1861, had 450 inmates. The dramatic college stands at Maybury, and has been separately noticed. The necropolis was formed in 1854; and is connected, by a branch railway, with Woking-Station. The property of the parish is much divided. Sutton House, Sutton Park, Maybury House, Heathside, Beech-Hill House, Mayford Green, and Hoe Bridge Place are chief residences. A palace of the Earl of Winchester, of the time of Edward II., stood on the Wey, about a mile below the village; went to the Crown, at the Earl's attainder; passed, through the Hollands, to the mother of Henry VII.; was an occasional residence of Henry VIII.; went, in the time of James I., to Sir E. Zonch; fell then into decay; and is now represented only by substructions. There are a malt house, a brewery, a paper mill, and three nursery establishments. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £234.* Patron, Earl Onslow. The church is early and decorated English. A Roman Catholic chapel is at Sutton House; and there are national schools.—The sub-district contains three parishes, and is in Guildford district. Acres, 19,051. Pop., 6,171. Houses, 1,155.-The hundred contains 14 parishes and a part; and is cut into two divisions, first and second. Acres, 36,372 and 17,684. Pop. in 1851, 8,714 and 4,221; in 1861, 15,113. Houses, 2,868.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a hundred"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Woking AP/CP       Woking Hundred       Woking SubD       Surrey AncC
Place: Woking

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