The History of Woking

Woking has a long history, appearing in the Anglo-Saxon chronicles and the Doomsday book as Wochinges. Since then, the town has played host to Henry VIII and been linked to one of the largest Canal networks in the world.

Woking Palace

The first record of a building on the site in Old Woking was in 1272. By 1466, Lady Margaret Beaufort had obtained a royal grant for the former Beaufort Manor of Woking. This started the progression of the house into an important property in England. In 1490 the Treaty of Woking was signed by Henry VII. He took over the property from his mother and started work to create a palace from the manor house, which Henry VIII took over after his death. The palace was a favourite of Henry VIII, but by 1620 the property had passed to Sir Edward Zouch who abandoned the property, leaving it to decay.

Woking's Canal

In 1651 Guildford was connected to the River Thames by the Wey Navigation Canal, which passed through Woking. This meant an opportunity for the town to grow, and by 1791 the canal system had been extended to Horsell and in 1792 to Basingstoke canal opened to Pirbright.

The Brookwood Cemetery

The London Necropolis Company founded the cemetery in 1852 to bury London's vast numbers of dead. It was the largest cemetery in the world by 1854, easing the strain on the ever growing London population.

A military cemetery was added in 1917, covering approximately 37 acres. It the largest Commonwealth Graveyard in the UK, with graves from both World War I and World War II.