Ashford, Surrey
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| Ashford | |
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| OS Grid Reference: | Template:Gbmappingsmall |
| Administration | |
| Borough: | Spelthorne |
| County: | Surrey |
| Region: | South East England |
| Nation: | England |
| Other | |
| Ceremonial County: | Surrey |
| Traditional County: | Middlesex |
| Post Office and Telephone | |
| Post town: | ASHFORD |
| Postcode: | TW15 |
| Dialling Code: | 01784 |
Ashford is a suburban dormitory town in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne bordering on the London Borough of Hounslow, and close to London Heathrow Airport. It covers an area of 30 square kilometres. Other nearby places include Feltham and Sunbury.
Spelthorne is an area of mostly green belt land, rivers, flood plain and reservoirs. Ashford is almost completely surrounded by the latter: in particular the Staines Reservoirs to the north east (now a bird sanctuary) and the Queen Mary Reservoir to the south. These reservoirs, resulting from gravel extraction, are part of the water supply network.
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History
Ashford, mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, when it was named Exeford, was most likely founded in Saxon times. For long a village, it was always associated with Staines, its nearest neighbour, becoming part of Staines Urban District Council in 1930. It now has a larger population than Staines.
Ashford is in the traditional county of Middlesex, but became part of the administrative county of Surrey in 1965. Many people continue to call it "Ashford, Middlesex", in particular to distinguish it from Ashford, Kent and other places called Ashford.
The parish church of St Matthew was built in 1860 with financial assistance from the Welsh School (now St David's School) which had just moved to Ashford.
Ashford today
Although the town's origins are ancient, Ashford's housing stock is chiefly a mixture of bungalows and semi-detached houses built between 1930 and 1960.
The high street mainly comprises of local businesses, with Somerfield, Woolworths and Kwik Save also present. The main street is also home to Spelthorne College, Ashford Library and a World War 2 memorial. Ashford in common with most of London suburbia, has very low unemployment rates. A great deal of local employment is directly related to Heathrow Airport. BP International is another major employer. Many other Ashfordians work in London or in the Thames Valley.
The town is served by South West Trains services from Waterloo station. It lies to the south of the A30 road.
Trivia
A V for victory, and an outline of Winston Churchill's face can be see on the roof of the Spelthorne College sports halls.
Famous people from Ashford
- Norman Willis, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) 1984?92 and president of the European TUC 1991?93.
- Sarah Ayton, Olympic gold medal winner in the Yngling sailing class 2004 Summer Olympics
- Sarah Webb, Olympic gold medal winner in the Yngling sailing class 2004 Summer Olympics (They won Britain's first gold medal of the Athens Games)
- Bobby Davro, 1990s TV impressionist
- Russell Grant (astrologer and resident of Staines) became Lord of Ashford in 1996.
External links
- Notes on Ashford (http://www.southernlife.org.uk/Surrey/ashford.htm)
- St David's School (http://www.isbi.com/isbi-viewschool/625-ST_DAVIDS_SCHOOL.html)no:Ashford, Surrey