A short history of Byfleet
There are several small towns with several generations of history and stories to be told throughout England. However, in the county of Surrey, there’s a small village that lies between River Wey and River Mole. With a population of only 7,000 people, Byfleet is by all means a small town, with a big story to tell.
Parvis Road, Byfleet
In the 1920’s, two record-breaking racers had brough Byfleet the fame it deserved. Being relatively close to the Brooklands racetrack, J G Parry-Thomas, a race car driver who shattered several records, lived in Byfleet at the time, along with Bert Denley, who was world-renown for his motorcycle racing speeds. Several famous racing garages were also posted up in Byfleet at one point or another, with owners like Francis Beart and Robin Jackson. Today, you can still see remnants of Byfleet’s racing history with Duncan Hamilton’s Jaguar Le Mans still displayed in a showroom.
Byfleet might just be most well-known for its historical landmark of St. Mary’s Church. St. Mary’s is the oldest structure in Byfleet today, and is said to date back to as far as the 1300’s. The interior of the church contains grave markers from World War I. Byfleets history within the racing industry is prominent within the church as several of these grave markers are those of famous racers, such as Pendine Sands and Bert le Vack. While the church is not famous for major artwork, nor is it an enormous structure, it preserves and continues to represent the racing history in and around Byfleet today.
Byfleet was once a civil parish that was a part of the Chertsey Rural District in the late 1800s until the 1930’s, when it was added to the working urban district. The most recent parish was established in 1989, but a protest group known as the “Abolish Byfleet Parish Council” won a vote to dismember the group, and that was done so in 2009.
Today, Byfleet is still considered an ancient civil parish. Its popularity will most certainly regain some ground as the Olympics of 2012 have included Byfleet in their plans. The cycle road race route passes directly through Byfleet and the surrounding villages. Parvis road, which will also run through Weybridge and West Byfleet will be prominently displayed on TV’s around the world.
Finally, if you’re a science fiction guru, you’d recognize the village of Byfleet’s name from H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds as a city of mass hysteria when aliens had attacked the planet earth.