View source for Weston Green

{{Short description|Village in Surrey, England}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{infobox UK place 
|country = England
|coordinates = {{coord|51.384|-0.351|display=inline,title}}
|official_name= Weston Green  
|map_type= Surrey   
|population = 3,876
|population_ref=(2011 census)<ref name=ons>[http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density] [[United Kingdom Census 2011]] ''[[Office for National Statistics]]'' Retrieved 21 November 2013</ref>
|area_total_km2=1.5
|civil_parish=n/a
|shire_district= [[Borough of Elmbridge|Elmbridge]]
|shire_county = [[Surrey]]
|static_image_name=Weston Green - geograph.org.uk - 1212512.jpg
|static_image_caption=The narrow western section of Weston Green has the main through route and the retail/dining/entertainment roads of the village.  The local council offset the A309 road with daffodils in spring time.
|region= South East England
|constituency_westminster= [[Esher and Walton]]   
|post_town= THAMES DITTON
|postcode_district= KT7
|postcode_area= KT
|post_town1= ESHER
|postcode_district1= KT10
|postcode_area1= KT
|dial_code= 020
|dial_code2= 01372
|os_grid_reference=TQ1566     
}}
<!---Start of article--->
'''Weston Green''' is a small suburban village{{#tag:ref|An almost identical definition is the parish of '''Weston''', which officially gives the village a status as one of the [[villages in England]]|group= n}} and a [[wards of the United Kingdom|ward]] in the [[Borough of Elmbridge|Elmbridge]] borough of [[Surrey]].  This area was, until 1901, a part of [[Thames Ditton]] with which it remains contiguous and associated. Weston Green is also contiguous with [[Esher]], which provides the village's closest railway station. The village forms a rough triangle of land along the west side of the midsection of the [[Hampton Court Branch Line]] next to [[Thames Ditton railway station]] and down to [[Esher railway station]] (which is on the [[South West Main Line]]), with the split between the two being the part dual-carriageway, the [[A309 road (Great Britain)|A309]].

==History==

===Farm and manors===
The name is derived from Westun, a farmstead covering land in the west of Thames Ditton.

Weston Green appears in [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as ''Westone'' held by [[Barking Abbey]] (a [[nunnery]]). Its domesday assets were: 3 [[plough]]s. It rendered £2 per year to its [[feudal system]] overlords.<ref>[http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm Surrey Domesday Book] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030192829/http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm |date=30 October 2007 }}</ref>

The village occupies part of the lands of two manors of medieval Thames Ditton:
*the manor of Weston which remained with its ecclesiastical owners (as at 1086) until shortly before the Dissolution, when [[Henry VIII]] bought it to add to the honour (set of manors) of [[Hampton Court]]
*the manor of Immeworth (or Imworth), which belonged to Ralphe de Imworth in the reign of [[Henry III of England|Henry III]].

According to the Chancery Rolls of 1212, [[John of England|King John]] was entertained at a residence of some size in Ditton belonging to Geoffrey Fitz Pierre, the Chief Justice, during a royal journey from [[Chertsey]] to London.  It was likely the house of one of these two manors.

A curious reminder of the ancient lordship of Weston is given by a notice board, which used to stand on the common, headed'' 'Manor of Weston otherwise Barking'. ''  The alternative name of Barking Manor appears in surveys before the 20th century of Imber Court.

The manor of Weston was annexed by Act of Parliament in 1539 and leased in the following year to John Baker.  In later times, the Crown usually demised it upon lease to the owner of Imber Court.  In the great [[George Onslow, 1st Earl of Onslow|Onslow]] sale of Imber Court in 1778, William Speer (who had acquired property in Westminster and Fulham on marrying heiress Katherine Wilson) bought the largest parcel of land, Manor Farm. In 1801 his son William bought the remains of the [[Manorialism|manor]] of Weston from the Crown. This comprised waste (infertile land) that was [[common land]] and also came with the Lordship of the Manor of Weston "alias Barking".  William passed on the title of Lord of the Manor of Weston to his son Wilfred Speer, and later it was inherited by Wilfred's son Wilfred Dakins Speer and then Hannibal son of Cecilia Speer and Hannibal Sandys, who took the name of Speer to conform with William's will.  At about the same time that Speer bought the manor of Weston, he bought extensive 'wastes' or common lands belonging to the manors of Claygate and Imber Court, which has since been treated as part of the manor of Weston.

The barn of Weston Manor Farm, built to [[Henry VIII]]'s order, was said to be a 'huge and splendid building'. During the reign of his younger daughter [[Elizabeth I]] the farm belonged to [[Thomas Fanshawe]]. It was demolished in 1962.

Towards the end of the 18th century, an amateur police force of about 80 men was formed at Weston Green.  In 1792, a group of [[vigilante]]s was formed and based at the Harrow Inn.  Their backers included William Speer of Weston Grange, Thomas Bracey and William Chauncey.

From 1901 until 1939 a plain, red brick, chapel of ease here existed to the church of [[Thames Ditton]]. Weston Green was the [[birthplace]] of [[Felicia Browne]] (1904–1936).

==Amenities==
A [[buffer zone|green buffer]], including the Esher and Thames Ditton Golf Course, separates Weston Green from the Littleworth Common part of [[Claygate]] that was also once a manor of Thames Ditton. [[East Molesey]] and [[Esher]]'s part of the Imber Court and [[Sandown Park]] neighbourhoods directly adjoin.  Its relatively small green is adjoined by the larger Old Cranleighan (Sports) Club, see [[Cranleigh School]].

Weston Green has an [[Anglican]] church, All Saints, built in 1939 having been designed by [[Edward Maufe]] who designed [[Guildford Cathedral]].<ref>[http://www.achurchnearyou.com/allsaintsweston/ All Saints, Weston or Weston Green] The Church of England.  Retrieved 14 December 2013</ref> and an unusually rounded [[Catholic church]]. Hampton Court Way was built 1928–32.  It bisects the village and became the division between the [[Esher]] and [[Thames Ditton]] [[post town]]s.
[[Image:AllSaintsWGreen27Ja6-3272.jpg|thumb|All Saints – Edward Maufe's brick built church showing features and proportions typical of his designs and part of Marney's Pond]]
*

==Demography and housing==
{| class="wikitable"
|- 
|+ '''2011 Census Homes'''
|-
!Output area !!Detached  !!Semi-detached!!Terraced!!Flats and apartments!!Caravans/temporary/mobile homes!!Shared between households<ref name=ons/>
|-
|(ward)||804	||	398	||	30	||	134	||	1	||	0
|}
The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.

{| class="wikitable"
|- 
|+ '''2011 Census Key Statistics'''
|-
!Output area !!Population !!Households !!% Owned outright !!% Owned with a loan!!hectares<ref name=ons/>
|-
|(ward)||3,876	||	1,367	||	40	||	48	||	150
|}
The proportion of households in the settlement who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%.  The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%.  The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).

==Local government==
At [[Surrey County Council]], one of the 81 representatives represents the area, that for ''The Dittons'' division.  At the two tiers levels of local government, to date representatives have been from the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] more often lately a usually allied to the others [http://residents-association.com Thames Ditton & Weston Green Residents' Association] but sometimes acting independently from the other residents associations, as currently professed at the county level by Nick Darby.<ref>[http://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/mgWardMap.aspx Electoral Divisions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202225249/http://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/mgWardMap.aspx |date=2 December 2013 }} Surrey County Council. Retrieved 6 November 2013</ref>

At [[Elmbridge Borough Council]] the ward is a smaller one than its average and elects two councillors.<ref name=e>[http://www.elmbridge.gov.uk/committees/wardmembers.htm?wardid=20 Your local councillors] [[Elmbridge Borough Council]]. Retrieved 14 December 2013</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Elmbridge Borough Councillor
!colspan="2"|Election!!Member<ref name=e/>!!
Ward
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Residents Association}}" |
|2016
|Tannia Shipley || Weston Green
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Residents Association}}" |
|2016
|Jane Turner|| Weston Green
|-
!
|2016
|Nigel Haig-Brown
|Weston Green
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Surrey County Councillor
!colspan="2"|Election!!Member<ref>[http://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=125 Your Councillor] [[Surrey County Council]]. Retrieved 6 November 2013</ref>!!
Electoral Division
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Residents Association}}" |
|2017
|Nick Darby ||The Dittons
|}

==Notes and references==
;Notes 
{{Reflist|group=n}}  
;References
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Weston Green}}
{{Elmbridge}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Surrey]]
[[Category:Borough of Elmbridge]]