Camberley

Related Topics:
Camberley_Town :: Camberley :: Camberley_and_District_Sunday

Camberley is a town in Surrey, England, situated 48 km (30 miles) southwest of London, in the corridor between the M3 and M4 motorways. Its population in 2001 was 47,123.

History

A settlement which became known as Yorktown grew up around the gates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the 19th century. It grew in size with the arrival of the branch-line railway (the main-line passes through nearby Deepcut but there is no stop).

Later, the Staff College was established to the east of the Academy, and a property speculator built the nearby Cambridge Hotel. The surrounding area became known as Cambridge Town, but was renamed Camberley in 1877 to avoid confusion with the better-known Cambridge in Cambridgeshire.

Camberley grew to become the largest town in the area, and Yorktown is now regarded as part of Camberley.

The name "Camberley" is derived from two local features: the River Cam (Surrey) and Amber Hill, "ley" being Old English for "pasture" or "clearing".

Town

Camberley's town centre is host to tastefully designed Main Square shopping centre, anchored by stores such as House of Fraser and Woolworths. The High Street has a number of high street shops as well as bars and clubs. There are a number of secondary shopping streets including Park Street, Princess Way and parts of London Road. The town has its own public library, theatre (The Arts Link) and is home to the Surrey Heath Council offices. The town's only cinema, owned by Robin's Cinemas, and situated on London Road, closed in 2003.

Construction started in May 2006 on a new seven acre mixed-use development west of Park Street. Named 'The Atrium', the new development will include residential, leisure and retail facilities, as well as a 900 space car park. There will be 217 'design-led' apartments divided into three areas within the complex (named Centro, Aspect and Courtyard). Fourteen new retail units will face directly onto Park Street, opposite the Main Square shopping centre. The intention is to pedestrianise and landscape Park Street for the new development. Leisure facilities are to include a 9 screen cinema, bowling alley, a health and fitness club and cafés and restaurants.

The town is administered by Surrey County Council and Surrey Heath Borough Council. The parliamentary constituency is Surrey Heath and the MP is Michael Gove, a Conservative.

The Old Dean is a council housing estate on the outskirts of Camberley, most of which was built in the 1950s on the "Old Dean Common" for residents of heavily bombed Surrey-areas homeless after World War II. Many of the roads on that half of the Old Dean are named after those areas (the others are named after places on the common). There is a recent development which has expanded the Old Dean and provides more affordable housing

Camberley was mentioned in the black-and-white film Lord of the Flies, loosely based on the William Golding novel. In this, the character Piggy claims that Camberley was formerly known as Cambridgetown, but changed its name following confusion with the town of Cambridge. The new name consisted of three parts; "Cam" was taken from the original name of Cambridgetown, "ber" was taken from the name of a nearby river, and "ley" was added on because it is a common ending for English town names. The story, however, is untrue.

Transport

Camberley railway station is situated south of the town centre on the New Guildford line. It is connected to London Waterloo, Guildford and Ascot by South West Trains. Nearby Blackwater station (situated perpendicular to the A30 on the border of Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire) on the North Downs Line has direct services to Reading and Gatwick Airport.

Camberley can be reached by the A30 and junction 4 of the M3 motorway.

There are two small airports nearby at Farnborough and Blackbushe. Farnborough Airport is well known for its International Air Show. Heathrow is only 30 km (19 miles) away.

Schools

There are a number of schools in Camberley, the two secondary schools are Collingwood College, famous for being one of the largest in Surrey with over 2,000 pupils, and Kings International College (formly France hill school) . Other schools include Watchetts Junior School, Crawley Ridge Junior School, Bristow First Infants School, Cordwalles Junior School and The Grove Primary School.

Area

The town of Frimley, being so close to Camberley, is often thought to be a part of the town by many visitors to the area, although the two are seprate by the M3 motorway. Frimley has its own town centre, a major regional hospital (Frimley Park) and extensive suburban areas. In the 19th Century, Yorktown and Camberley were in the Ecclesiatical Parish of Frimley. Likewise with neighbouring Blackwater, two miles to the west, which is actually inside Hampshire.

=Suburbs of Camberley= Crawley Hill, Yorktown, Old Dean

Famous People Past and Present

External links

Camberley On The Net — The OFFICIAL Camberley Guide
Camberley Business Directory — A directory of Camberley based businesses.
Surrey Heath Council — Camberley's Local Council

Towns in Surrey

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