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Borough of Elmbridge | |
|---|---|
 Walton-on-Thames, one of the borough's main towns | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Motto: Dum Defluant Amnes (Latin: Until the rivers cease to flow) | |
 Elmbridge shown within Surrey | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | South East England |
| Non-metropolitan county | Surrey |
| Status | Non-metropolitan district |
| Admin HQ | Esher |
| Incorporated | 1 April 1974 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Non-metropolitan district council |
| • Body | Elmbridge Borough Council |
| Area | |
• Total | 37.2 sq mi (96.3 km2) |
| • Rank | 203rd(of 296) |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 141,926 |
| • Rank | 165th(of 296) |
| • Density | 3,820/sq mi (1,470/km2) |
| Ethnicity(2021) | |
| • Ethnic groups | |
| Religion(2021) | |
| • Religion | List
|
| Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ONS code | 43UB (ONS) E07000207 (GSS) |
| OS grid reference | TQ1402064766 |
| Police | Surrey |
Elmbridge is alocal government district withborough status inSurrey, England. Its council is based inEsher, and other notable towns and villages includeCobham,Walton-on-Thames,Weybridge andMolesey. The borough lies just outside the administrative boundary ofGreater London, but is almost entirely within theM25 motorway which encirclesLondon. Settlements within Elmbridge range from the contiguous suburbs of theGreater London Built-up Area in the borough's northeast (Molesey,Thames Ditton,Long Ditton,Weston Green, andHinchley Wood) to the exurban towns and villages of theMetropolitan Green Belt beyond, includingWalton on Thames,Hersham,Weybridge,Esher,Claygate,Cobham, andOxshott.
The neighbouring districts areMole Valley,Guildford,Woking,Runnymede,Spelthorne,Richmond upon Thames andKingston upon Thames, the latter two beingLondon boroughs.
The district was created on 1 April 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972, covering two former districts which were both abolished at the same time:[2]
The new district was named after the medievalElmbridge hundred which had covered a similar area.[3] The hundred appears inDomesday Book of 1086 asAmelebrige.[4] The name thus derives from the River Amele or Emley, an old name for theRiver Mole, rather than elm trees.[5] The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title ofmayor.[6]
In the early 1990s the neighbouring London Borough of Kingston upon Thames sought to have eastern parts of Elmbridge, includingLong Ditton,Thames Ditton,Hinchley Wood,Weston Green andMolesey transferred to it, making the case that these areas had particularly strong social and economic ties to Kingston and Greater London. The proposal was considered by theLocal Government Boundary Commission in 1992, but was not pursued.[7][8]
In common with the nearby Surrey boroughs ofSpelthorne andEpsom and Ewell, much of Elmbridge is a continuation of the built-up area of suburban London, and the areas ofMolesey,Long Ditton,Thames Ditton,Hinchley Wood,Esher,Cobham andClaygate lie within the social and commercial orbit of neighbouringKingston upon Thames.[7] Molesey,Cobham, the Dittons andClaygate were included in theMetropolitan Police District from 1840 until 2000.[9][10]
The northern third of the borough is flatter and fertile with free draining slightly acid loamy soil, similar to the south, as described in theSurrey article. In the next third, the first of the remarkable acid soil heaths in west Surrey begin to appear in places here[n 1], characterised by undulating heaths: these sandy and stonyreliefs start in the east in theEsher Commons, covering the central swathe of the area includingOxshott Heath and Woods and areas ofWeybridge and areas surroundingWisley, a natural soil for pines, otherevergreen trees as well asheather andgorse, described as naturally wet, very acid sandy and loamy soil which is just 1.9% of English soil and 0.2% of Welsh soil.[11]Claremont Landscape Garden andFan Court (now independent school) is on part of this elevated soil as isSt George's Hill. Most undeveloped land in Elmbridge isMetropolitan Green Belt.
The central band of forest/heath includes part of theWisley and Ockham Commons reserve within the national wildlife trust scheme: seeSurrey Wildlife Trust, several pine heath basedgolf courses and in the north there arereservoirs, on the side of which there is sheep grazing.
TheMole, passing the Grade IChurch in Stoke D'Abernon,[12] Cobham Mill at Grade II[13] andPainshill Park and theWey, passing Silvermere Golf Course and theBrooklands circuit, hotel and retail park, cut through the borough from south to north reaching theRiver Thames which denotes the northern border, stretching fromWeybridge toThames Ditton apart from inclusion of inhabited islands such asWheatley's Ait[n 2]. The Wey and Mole have sources beyond gentle valleys which cut through the highNorth Downs to the south.
The borough is home to some of the county's highest earners.[15] It has been labelledBritain's Beverly Hills by sections of the press. Famous residents, past and present, includeMaurice Gibb SirCliff Richard,Mick Jagger,George Harrison,John Lennon,Ringo Starr,Ronnie Wood,Andy Murray,Kate Winslet,John Terry,Gary Lineker,Mick Hucknall,Frank Lampard,Didier Drogba,Theo Paphitis,Chris Tarrant,Peter Crouch,Michael Aspel andShilpa Shetty.[16]
St George's Hill is noted as the site of one of the earliest experiments in common ownership of land by ordinary people, in a marked contrast to the area's modern status as a wealthy private estate. In 1649 the "Diggers", one of the radical groups set up in the aftermath of theEnglish Civil War and the execution ofCharles I seizedcommon land in the area and lived by simple farming. As well as debates about religion and how the country should be run at this time these groups complained that even the Parliamentary side in the Civil War was dominated by "Grandees" i.e. wealthy nobles who often spent their time in comfort conducting fatuous debates in Parliament while the less well off risked their lives in the war to defeat an absolutist system. They were the subject of a long campaign of harassment by a local landowner and were eventually removed following a court case.[17]
TheM25 motorway has several junctions nearby and theA3(M) fromLondon bisects the borough.
The main north-south road is theA244 for instance toLondon Heathrow Airport and starts in the borough atWalton Bridge leading to Esher and Oxshott then toLeatherhead. The east-west Leatherhead toHorsell, Woking road, theA245 leads by Cobham andBrooklands, Weybridge.
As to rail, theSouth West Main Line cuts through the borough, with four stations fromEsher toWeybridge, one of which several express services call at:Walton on Thames in theAshley Park estate of the south of the town. The branch lines have services with four stations in the borough viaCobham & Stoke D'Abernon toGuildford; and a branch toThames Ditton andHampton Court railway station inEast Molesey, both within Transport for London's Zone 6.
Bus services includeTfLOyster card services to East and WestMolesey,Hinchley Wood,Claygate andEsher.
Cycling is very popular, with theThames Path passing through the north of the borough and the2012 Summer Olympics hosting both of the main road cycling events in the borough with most of the road section aroundHampton Court and with the sections of the routes taken to and fromBox Hill.
The economy is diverse, with a strong local service sector, including numerous bars and restaurants,[16] homes built and being built forcity workers as the majority of locations have access to one of theHome Counties fastestcommutes,[18] trades including interior supplies, fitting,[16] gardening, golf course/landscape management and a developed public/education sector. Of international renown are the employersSony,Procter & Gamble,JTI (formerly Gallaher) andToshiba Information Systems alongside the local corporate venues and day-out attractions ofSandown Park Racecourse andMercedes-Benz World. As of 2012, Elmbridge residents hadaverage weekly earnings of £1162.[19]
The Borough of Elmbridge is not twinned with any towns. However, between 1966 and 2009 Elmbridge was formally twinned with theParis suburb ofRueil-Malmaison,Hauts de Seine,France.[20]
The council'sarms were created upon the formation of the present day district, being formed out of symbols taken from the local towns and villages with the Latinmotto meaninguntil the rivers cease. The arms include a depiction of an elm tree on a bridge, being a play on the district's name.[21]
51°22′12″N0°21′42″W / 51.3700°N 0.3618°W /51.3700; -0.3618
