In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Woking like this:
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.
Woking through time
Click here for graphs and data of how Woking has changed over two centuries. For statistics for historical units named after Woking go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Woking in Surrey | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/553
Date accessed: 05th November 2024
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