Old Woking

Old Woking is a ward and the original settlement of the town and borough of Woking, Surrey, about 1.3 miles (2.1 km) southeast of the modern town centre. It is bounded by the Hoe Stream to the north and the River Wey to the south and between Kingfield to the west and farmland to the east. The village has no dual carriageways or motorways, its main road is the A247, which connects Woking with Clandon Park and provides access to the A3. The village contains parts of Woking's two largest parks and two converted paper mills. The expanded village largely consists of semi-detached houses with gardens and covers an area of 224 hectares (550 acres).

To the east of Old Woking's developed cluster are the ruins of Woking Palace which was the local manor house and a royal dwelling throughout the Tudor dynasty.

The village of Old Woking, though much rebuilt, predates the rest of Woking by over 1000 years and still contains many historic buildings; the Old Wokings Residents' Association architectural group has recorded over 100 buildings in St Peter's parish built before 1700. More than 50 buildings have been listed by English Heritage.

St Peters Church is a grade I listed building, dating to the 12th century. Other significant buildings in the parish include Ye Olde Brew House, The Grange, London House, Sutton Place, Church Cottage, Hand and Spear, The Old House, The Old Vicarage, Fishers Farm, Hoe Place, The Old Manor House and Weylea.

Here Woking Palace was important as a main home of Margaret Beaufort, the pious and determined mother of Henry VII. His allied forces largely obtained through his mother's marriages and skilful negotiation won the Battle of Bosworth, killing the last king to have died in battle in Britain. It remained a royal residence throughout the Tudor period. However after Margaret's death it lost importance compared to the royal palaces of London, Oatlands Palace and Windsor Castle.

By 1911 only the foundations, stumps of walls and earthworks remained. These still provide visitors with evidence of its once extensive buildings, with two chapels, within a double moat. The double moat is shown in the survey by Norden of 1607, and the remains of what was the manor house are still visible at Woking Park Farm. The palace had a cornmill, a fulling-mill and a deer park.

It was Elizabeth I's own house in 1583. James VI and I, however, made a grant of it in 1620 to Sir Edward Zouch, who died in 1634. In 1715 following that family, the palace in some ruin already, and the vast manor estate around it was bought by John Walter. His son Abel sold it to Lord Onslow in 1752 in whose hands Old Woking remained until the Earls sold it off piecemeal, through the 19th and 20th centuries.

For most of the 20th Century and earlier Old Woking was the commercial hub of Woking containing many large companies including the original factory of Kenwood Limited, manufacturer of kitchen appliances, notably the Kenwood Chef. Today the company is owned by DeLonghi. Harvey's Water Softeners is another example of a long-established manufacturing business in the area.