Cobham Future

The future of Cobham is dear to all our hearts. In this section we will keep you informed of the many things that will affect the future of Cobham.

Town Plan

A project called Envisage was setup in 2008 to collect information from local residents, businesses and voluntary organisations in a bid to find out what residents and local organsiations like and dislike about the area. The Envisage area included Cobham, Downside, Oxshott and Stoke D'Abernon. A Steering committee , led by Nicholas Driver was formed to take the project forward.

To ensure everyone had an opportunity to provide their view, questionnaires were delivered to all the households and business in the Envisage area. The response was very encouraging and over 37% of households and 21% of businesses returned their questionnaires. This enabled a very comprehensive analysis and review to be undertaken.

From the report published in January 2009, a number of  local initiatives have been undertaken and Elmbridge Council have used some of the findings in the Elmbridge Core Strategy document.

Planning

Planning is a key area which the CCHT involves itself. More information appears in the Planning section of this website.

Local Environment

The reason why people like to live in the Cobham area is it is relatively unspoiled and the local residents value and respect the local environment. The CCHT recognises that we must be proactive as a community to protect and conserve our area but develop it to keep pace with modern life whilst retaining the historic buildings and character of the area.

We undertake projects where we can enhance and protect the area. More details of past and current projects can be found in the Projects section.

Cobham Present

Cobham is a delightful village in the county of Surrey, England. Cobham has a very rural feel even though it is only 20 miles from London.

Cobham has a population of about 10,000 and retains much of its charming village atmosphere. There is an attractive river frontage by the River Mole, a tributary of the Thames, which almost encircles Cobham, and provides a distinctly rural atmosphere in some places with views across open countryside.

The picturesque riverbank has weeping willows, swans, ducks and the restored Cobham Mill. Nearby is St. Andrew’s Church, one of several churches to be found in Cobham. There are four conservation areas – Church Cobham, The Tilt, Downside and Plough Corner, where many old character properties have been retained.

The thriving village centre has a good range of individual shops, many run by owner-shopkeepers, and there are two supermarkets. There are many long-established businesses in Cobham and you can find most of the goods and services you will need within its boundaries.

An important attraction of Cobham’s location is that it has good road, rail and air links, being close to the M25 with access to the south west. It is equidistant between Heathrow and Gatwick Airports. The local station, some 1.5 miles from the village centre, is Cobham and Stoke D’Abernon with regular train services to Waterloo lasting 38 minutes.

Cobham has an active community, and several sports and social clubs. There is a well-used Village Hall, Recreation Ground, Leg-of-Mutton Field with allotments. Other local amenity services include good Sheltered Housing and a Day Centre for senior citizens, Cobham Cottage Hospital and Health Centre, Post Office and Fire Station. Cobham has the benefit of assigned local Community Police Officers who work within its boundaries. There is a good range of mixed housing.

Cobham has one of the highest per capita incomes in the country and the Cobham postcode was recently ranked among the top ten most expensive places to live in the country.

The local state school for 3-11 years is St Andrews C. of E. School and there is a good range of private schools for all ages. Cobham has a particularly high international population due to the presence of American and Dutch schools nearby. There are many good restaurants offering different styles of cuisine and hotel accommodation is also available. The surrounding areas offer good theatres, cinemas, golf clubs, health clubs, Wisley RHS Garden and more.

Cobham Past

Cobham is a community steeped in history. Or, perhaps more accurately, three communities – Church Cobham, Street Cobham and Downside – which is how Cobham began (click on the map for a larger view). It was once described as a ‘creature of the Mole’ and the river has given the place its reason for being as well as providing the rural atmosphere which can still be found, despite Cobham’s proximity to London.

The earliest settlement in Cobham was at the Iron-Age community on Leigh Hill. Evidence of Roman occupation was found at a bathhouse excavated at Chatley Farm in 1942. By the time of the Domesday Book, Cobham had moved to its present position and recent research seems to indicate that the Abbot Chertsey, who owned the manor, laid out a planned village in early medieval times. This planned settlement was developed around the ancient parish church St. Andrew, Cobham’s oldest building which dates from the 12th century and which contains a unique brass of the nativity.

The settlement grew through the centuries, each one of which has left its mark, from Cobham Mill, one of the few working water mills in Surrey, to the glorious Painshill Park and the restored semaphore tower on Chatley Heath. In the 17th century Cobham was home to Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers a group of political activists with a surprisingly modern manifesto.

In the 19th century Cobham was home to the poet Matthew Arnold and other famous residents have included Mrs Earle who wrote ‘Pot-Pourri From a Surrey Garden’ and other books, Miss Caroline Molesworth who compiled the Cobham Journals, and the Revd Dr John Trusler who wrote a number of books in the 18th century on topics ranging from farming to etiquette.

Another noted Cobham resident was the 19th century lawyer Vernon Lushington who lived at Pyports. He was a friend and patron to the Pre-Raphaelites and included William Morris, Charles Darwin, Mrs Gaskell, Thomas Hardy, the composer Sir Hubert Parry, and many other well-known literary and artistic people among his friends.

Cobham’s ‘big house’ is Cobham Park, built in the 1870s for Charles Combe by Edward Middleton Barry, RA on the site of an earlier house.

Perhaps Cobham’s best-known historic house is Church Stile House dating from the early 17th century and standing as its name implies next to the parish church. Other historic properties include Ham Manor, Cedar House, The Old Mill House, Cobham Court and Cobham Lodge. Benfleet Hall on Cobham’s Fairmile was the second house designed by Philip Webb after he completed the famous Red House for William Morris.

For further information on Cobham’s history see our Further Reading page in the Learning & Discovery section.