LALEHAM

'Laleham' is a village in the borough of Spelthorne, in the county of Surrey in South East England and is close to Staines. It has a wildlife park called Laleham Park by the River Thames. Penton Hook Lock is nearby and the historic town of Chertsey is across the river on the other side of Chertsey Bridge.
The word Laleham probably comes from 'lael' meaning twig and 'ham' meaning water meadow or village.^[1]

Contents

History

Today

Notable people

References

External links

History

It is possible that there was a 1st century Roman marching camp on the field which is now part of The Matthew Arnold School.
Iron Age spearheads from the 5th century have been found in the River Thames at Laleham Ferry. 10th Century charts record the village of ''Laelham''.
Laleham appears on the Middlesex Domesday Map within the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Leleham''. It was held partly by Fécamp Abbey from the Count of Mortain and partly by Estrild, the nun. Its domesday assets were: 10 hides. It had 6½ ploughs, meadow for 5 ploughs, cattle pasture. It rendered £5.^[2]
The foundations of the parish church of All Saints date back to the 12th century.^[3] Records show that in the 13th century the monks of Westminster Abbey had their 'Grange' and watermill on the banks of the Thames very close to the site of Laleham Abbey. It was in 1970 that the village of Laleham was designated as a Conservation Area.
Laleham contains many fine and listed buildings notably ''Laleham Abbey''. In the past this was owned by one of the Earls of Lucan. The hatchment in the north aisle of All Saints Church belonged to them. In the eastern part of the cemetery is the grave of Field Marshall Lord Lucan who gave the order for the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava.

Today

Laleham Village also contains Burway Rowing Club and an archery club. There is Laleham Lea School which is an independent catholic primary school.

Notable people

Matthew Arnold was born in the town, and is buried in All Saints' Churchyard. He also has a local Comprehensive school named after him.

References

1. Spelthorne borough information
2. Surrey Domesday Book
3. All Saints Church history

External links