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Molesey History
Molesey
Molesey is primarily made up of two villages, East and West Molesey, situated
in Surrey, United Kingdom. See
a Detailed map of Molesey. The villages are a beehive of activity both
business and community wise.
Molesey, road and rail connections, and the surrounding
villages
Courtesy of elmbridge.gov.uk
The following sections are extracts from two books available about
Molesey. "The Book Of Molesey" and "Thameside Molesey" both
by Rowland Baker and available for sale via the MRA. Details are also available
at www.moleseyhistory.co.uk
West Molesey
West Molesey lies along one of the most pleasant stretches of the River
Thames. It is a continuation of and much larger than its parent East Molesey. At
the end of the 12th century a church was built, of which nothing remains and of
a later church only the 15th century tower remains. The rest was rebuilt in
Victorian times, though the font, pulpit and communion table, a piscina and
several monuments were preserved from the earlier building. Some brasses from a
memorial to Thomas Brende, who died in 1598, are fixed to the chancel wall.
There is a black marble monument to Frances Thorowgood, the date of whose death
is inscribed cryptographically.
Molesey Hurst, a long low open stretch of land, lies along the Thames on the
north side of the parish. It was once a common meadow. The name derives from
"Hyrst", an Old English word for a small wood that presumably once
stood here. The land was once used for sporting activities -archery, cricket,
pugilism, horse racing, golf and occasionally for illicit duelling. The first
game of cricket known to have taken place here was on 13th July, 1731, and the
earliest recorded instance of a player being given out leg-before-wicket
occurred here in 1795. Several bouts for the Prize Fighting Championship of
England were fought on Molesey Hurst in the early part of the last century. One
of the earliest games of golf to have been played on English soil is said to
have taken place here in 1758. Eventually horse racing dominated the scene. In
1890 Hurst Park Race Course was laid out but in 1962 it was sold for residential
development.
One of the earliest balloon ascents in the history of English aeronautics took
place from the grounds of the "Priory", now Molesey Football Ground,
on 5th May, 1785.
In the 18th and 19th centuries West Molesey was much favoured for the erection
of large country houses and in 1900 there were a dozen or so still in or around
the village. Sadly, there are no good examples remaining. Being further from the
railway station than East Molesey, the parish was later to develop. In the
1930's when expansion began on a large scale, there were still four large farms
and several market gardens in full production. Since then the rate of
development has increased enormously and the parish is now well populated.
East Molesey
The earliest record of Molesey so far traced occurs in the grants of land
made to Chertsey Abbey in the 7th century. Among these are estates at "Muleseg".
The name derives from an Old English word for an island or river meadow
compounded with a personal name Mul (pronounced Mule). Molesey was Mul's Island
or meadow. The prefixes East and West are not met with until the beginning of
the 13th century, prior to which there was only one village, and this was
undoubtedly East Molesey.
In the Domesday Survey Molesey appears as three manors, tenanted by knights who
had come over from Normandy with the Conqueror. In the Middle Ages its isolated
position, encompassed by rivers and low-lying land, probably flooded even more
frequently than nowadays, must have kept the community small and poor.
Although Henry VIII's residence at Hampton Court may have brought the village
some prosperity, this was offset by the conversion of the district into a deer
park. The Molesey people's complaints were loud and bitter.
The most momentous date in East Molesey's history was 2nd February, 1849, when
the railway to London was opened. The commuter era had begun, soon the fields
were gradually covered with houses, and the orchards gave way to villas. Most of
the present roads were laid down or adjusted during this period. The chief
developer was Francis Jackson Kent, a lawyer from Hampton. He bought most of the
land between the Walton Road and the Thames and laid it out for a housing
estate. The district is known as Kent Town.
East Molesey was originally part of the parish of Kingston upon Thames, although
from at least Tudor times it had elected its own parish officers and had other
rights which made it virtually independent It was separated from Kingston under
a Special Act in 1769.
Of a church on the site of East Molesey mentioned in Domesday no details
survive. It was probably small and built of wood. A more solid church of mud
mortar and flint rubble erected in the 12th century survived until the middle of
Queen Victoria's reign. For many years it had been too small for the growing
population. After being damaged by fire in 1863 the parishioners demolished it
and built a new church which was consecrated in 1865. Of stone, in the Early
English style, it retains a number of old memorials, the oldest being a brass to
Anthony Standen who died in 1611, a servant to the ill-fated Earl of Damley.
St Paul's Church was built on the Kent Estate which was separated as an
ecclesiastical district in 1856. The church, in Perpendicular style, was
enlarged in 1861,1864 and 1870 - indicative of the rapid population growth The
tower and spire were erected in 1887/88.
From at least the reign of Henry VIII there was a ferry between East Molesey and
Hampton Court. In 1753 it was replaced by a wooden bridge. This lasted
twenty-five years and was replaced by another wooden bridge in 1778. An iron
bridge was erected in 1865 to be replaced by the present Ferro concrete
structure in 1933.
The 16th century Bell Inn - one of the quaintest inns in Surrey - Matham Manor
House (17th century and earlier) and the "Old Manor House" which is
the newer part of Guillots Royal - still stand in East Molesey, although the
latter was never a manor but the parish workhouse.
In 1866 East Molesey adopted the Local Government Act of 1858, which authorised
the setting up of an elected "Local Board" in place of the old Parish
Vestry. It was the only part of the new Borough of Elmbridge to have its own
elected Council before the setting up of Urban Districts in 1895. In that year
East Molesey became an Urban District, and eighteen months later took in West
Molesey. Under the Surrey Review Order of 1933 the Moleseys were merged into the
enlarged Urban District of Esher.
Pictures of Molesey are available here.
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