A Walk Around Laleham Village The long history of our village has been well recorded in ‘The Laleham Common Place Book’ and in ‘Our Dear Laleham’; both books were written and compiled by the late Oswald Adamson. The village name is recorded as ‘Laelham’ on 10th Century charts; the word probably coming from ‘lael’ meaning twig and from ‘ham’ meaning water meadow or village. 5th Century Iron Age spearheads have been found in the Thames at the site of the former Laleham Ferry, suggesting that this has long been used as a crossing point. The foundations of our Parish Church of All Saints date back to the 12th Century and records show that in the 13th Century the monks of Westminster had their "Grange" and watermill on the banks of the Thames, very close to the site of Laleham Abbey. In 1970 much of the centre of the village was designated as a Conservation Area in order to protect our heritage for future generations. The walk was planned and compiled by Susan de Pear, on behalf of The Laleham Society (now Laleham Residents Association), with acknowledgement to all contributors to the two Laleham books from which much of the information is gleaned. Thanks also to local artist Matthew Wright, for the use of some of his sketches and thanks to former pupils of Matthew Arnold School; Jessica Harris & Kim Underwood for the line drawings, and David Williams & Paul Mitschke for drawing the outline map. This pamphlet is provided by Laleham Residents Association and was most recently updated in June 2016. For further information about the Association and about Laleham, see http://www.lalehamonthames.com The Walk The River Thames provides a natural western boundary to the village and there are three routes towards the neighbouring communities of Ashford, Shepperton and Staines which diverge from the junction and roundabout outside All Saints churchyard’s north gate, close to the War Memorial (No 14 on the village plan, page 2). This walk is presented in three sections; each is a circular route beginning and ending at this central point and a minimum walking time is given for each section. Refreshment is available at any of our three village pubs, The Three Horseshoes, The Feathers or The Turk’s Head, also at Notcutts Garden Centre (Staines Road) and at Meson Toby Restaurant (Ashford Road). Section 1 - The Broadway / Ashford Road / All Saints Church - 30+ minutes Section 2 - Staines Road / Thameside / Blacksmiths Lane / War Memorial - 30+ minutes An optional extended walk to Penton Hook, its lock and island is outlined. Section 3 - Vicarage Lane / Ferry Lane / Laleham Abbey and Park / Shepperton Road - 35+ minutes An optional extended walk to Chertsey Bridge is outlined. The majority of the properties described are private residences. We hope you find the walks interesting and enjoyable and we ask that you respect the privacy of our residents. Thank you. A Walk Around Laleham Village - - - - Conservation Area boundary (1) Church Farm (13) High Elms and Yew Corner (2) The Village Hall (14) The War Memorial (3) The Limes (15) Dial House (4) Manor Farmhouse and Barns (16) Old Farm (5) Cambridge Cottage and Red Cottage (17) Little Ravenswell (6) Laleham School (18) Laleham House/Abbey (7) The Turk's Head Public House (19) The Thatched Cottage (8) All Saints Church (20) The Coverts (9) The Tower (21) Muncaster House (10) Harris Boatyard (22) The Shops (11) The Old Forge and Forge Cottage (23) Three Horseshoes Public House (12) Plane Tree (24) The Nursery and Orchard Wall 2 A Walk Around Laleham Village Section 1 - The Broadway / Ashford Road / All Saints Church (30+ minutes) The walk begins at Church Farm (1), situated adjacent to the Church and at the junction of The Broadway and Staines Road. This is an early 17th Century brick farmhouse with Georgian alterations and is an excellent example of a central chimney house, having a standard layout for such a house, with a living room on either side of the central chimney. The entrance is through a tiled two-storey porch, with stairs filling the space on the opposite side of the chimney to the doorway. It once housed the Lucan Family’s bailiff and was sold by the Lucan estate in 1966. (1) Church Farm The traditional roadsign outside Church Farm shows the route towards Ashford along The Broadway, passing the Recreation Ground entrance, the allotments and the Heritage Centre and on to The Village Hall (2). The land on which all these amenities stand was given to the village by the Fourth Earl of Lucan in 1907 and the foundation stone of the Village Hall was laid by Lady Lucan in 1908. It is here that The Laleham Players performed throughout the 1940s, 50s and 60s and it’s the regular meeting venue for many local groups. The original plans for the Village Hall can be seen in the book ‘Our Dear Laleham’. Does the Village Hall look familiar? It featured in an episode of ‘Call the Midwife’ in January 2016. (2) Village Hall Walking on towards Ashford you pass Home Farm Cottages (1876), these are similar to the School Cottages across the road, which will be described later. You will also pass The Feathers public house (1796) with its large forecourt; typical of pubs that were staging points on transport routes. The next house of interest is The Limes (3), an early 18th Century farmhouse with double pile old tile roof. The front is stuccoed and the back is of yellowish field bricks. (3) The Limes Cross the road outside The Limes. Continuing towards Ashford you pass many charming 18th Century cottages, nestling between more recent houses, until you reach Meson Toby, which is immediately before the bridge over a water channel. This 18 th century property was built as a private residence until Albert King opened his house to serve teas about 40 years ago and it has since become a restaurant. Opposite the restaurant is the Village Pond, a historic feature which was lost for many years before being recreated and developed, since 1997, as a wildlife habitat area (As such, this is a fenced area with limited opening times). 3 A Walk Around Laleham Village Walk back towards the village to Manor Farm, with its listed farm buildings (4). (4) Manor Farmhouse and Barns Adjacent to Manor Farm are a good pair of early 18th Century brick houses, now called Cambridge Cottage and Red Cottage (5). The porches were added at a later date. Inside both are many Georgian features including red quarry tiled flooring, panelling and shutters, stairs winding round a newel post and semi circular brick parlour fireplaces. The Red Cottage has deeds dating back to 1726; Cambridge Cottage was formerly an inn called ‘The Generous Britain’. Both have large walled gardens at the rear. (5) Cambridge Cottage & Red Cottage Walking back towards the village you pass more Victorian cottages and School Cottages (1873) with their pointed gables, diaper pattern brickwork and Lucan coats of arms. Laleham Church of England School (6) was opened in 1865, the land having been given by the Third Earl of Lucan. The New Junior School was built in the playground in 1959 and a further extension block was added in 1977. A detailed history can be found in ‘Our Dear Laleham’. (6) Laleham School Next to the school stands Glebe House, built in 1865 as the vicarage. It stands on the site of Thomas Arnold's house and private school. These were demolished in 1864, with the bricks being re-used in the new school. 4 A Walk Around Laleham Village Further towards the village centre is The Turk's Head public house (7). The name may just refer to the knot, although this pub name is generally attributed to the time of the Crusades when returning soldiers brought back dried heads as trophies which, when exhibited in the ale houses of the time, attracted customers in large numbers. Laleham’s Turk’s Head is more recent, circa. 1867. Its exterior has beautiful hanging baskets throughout the summer months. Adjacent are Wisteria Cottage and Corner House, both listed buildings. (7) The Turk's Head Public House This section of the walk ends at All Saints Church (8), the oldest and most historically important of all our many listed buildings. Inside, 12th Century pillars and arcades still remain; a pre-reformation altar slab is preserved on the West wall and medieval graffiti is to be seen in several areas. Stained glass windows, memorials, grave slabs and wall plaques all add significantly to the history of All Saints, telling of various families and persons from Laleham's past. Parish Records, which date from 1538, are no longer kept at the church. They were removed for safe custody to the Greater London Records Office in 1983. Further detailed description of the wealth of heritage within its walls is contained in the two books on Laleham. (8) All Saints Church The church is aligned broadly east-west, with the tower at the west end. Looking at the Church from below the tower and within the churchyard, a very small amount of the original 12 th century west wall can be seen. The Tower (9) was brick built in 1730 to replace a wooden steeple and had to be extensively repaired and buttressed a hundred years later. At the north side is the Lucan Chapel with its red Tudor brickwork. Walking further around the churchyard, the Lucan Memorial can be seen in the graveyard at the east end. Here the Earls of Lucan are buried. Both the north and the south walls were rebuilt and the geometrically designed windows were restored in 1889.