Sheerwater

Sheerwater
Shire county		Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Woking
Postcode district	GU21
Dialling code	01932
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Woking
List of places UK England Surrey 51°19′48″N 0°31′48″W / 51.330°N 0.530°W / 51.330; -0.530

Sheerwater is a residential neighbourhood or small suburb of

, includes diverse green spaces to north and south, and covers 92 hectares (230 acres).

History and geography

Sheerwater or Sherewater, Pyrford

Sheerwater was also spelt Sherewater until about 1900. Since the

Boundaries

Sheerwater's farm became divided from Woodham by the Basingstoke Canal in about 1790 and from Pyrford by the South West Main Line in about 1838. Sherewater or Sheerwater Farm was approximately where the pond stood in 1911, just north of the railway.^[5]

To the east the area is bounded by the

, Sheerwater Road, and to the west the boundary is Monument Road.

Sheerwater is a

in the central area and 30m at Sheerwater Bridge on the eastern boundary.

The Basingstoke Canal and the Rive Ditch are the only water features in the neighbourhood. There is just one lock on the Sheerwater section of the canal, just west of Sheerwater Road. The Rive Ditch enters Sheerwater at Monument Road and leaves at Sheerwater Road, it roughly follows the path of Albert Drive but has been routed completely underground since the area was developed in the 1950s.

Transformation by planned development

Sheerwater was designed as a new neighbourhood by the London County Council and approved by the local Urban District Council, allowing nearly 1,300 homes to be built in the early 1950s and over 5,000 people to settle in the neighbourhood.

In April 2017 Woking Borough Council approved the first phase of the redevelopment of the central part of Sheerwater. The first phase will comprise the construction of a leisure centre in the grounds of the Bishop David Brown School and the construction of a number of new homes on the land currently occupied by the athletics track.

Amenities

Dartmouth Avenue is the main parade of shops which include two convenience stores, several fast food outlets, a cafe, a post office, a pharmacy and a glass/glazing business.^[6]

A large Asda superstore opened on Albert Drive in October 2014.

There is a church, St Michael's, on Dartmouth Avenue. It is shared by

There was also a Catholic church situated between Albert Drive and Dartmouth Avenue, but this closed in 1995. A small mosque opened in June 2017, also on Dartmouth Avenue.

Sheerwater had one pub, The Birch and Pines.^[9] This closed in April 2017.

.

There is an allotment between Albert Drive and the South West Main Line.

There are no listed buildings in the neighbourhood.^[11]

Sport and leisure

Sheerwater Recreation Ground was created as part of the development of the area by London County Council in the 1950s. Ownership was transferred to the Urban District Council of Woking (now Woking Borough Council) on 26 September 1961 with the covenant that the land be used only as a recreation ground, children's playground or public open space. Part of the area is now an international size oval running track, home to Woking Athletics Club.^[12]

Sheerwater has a Non-League football club Sheerwater F.C. who play on the Sheerwater Recreation Ground.

Sheerwater has a Scout group^[13][14] and a Gardening Association.^[15]

The towpath of the Basingstoke canal is on the Sheerwater side, which provides a traffic-free pedestrian and cycle route to Woking town centre in one direction and to West Byfleet in the other.

Local band

Three teenage residents formed the band The Jam in the 1970s while attending Sheerwater's secondary school including Paul Weller – the remainder of the band he led also attended the school.

Economy

The Kingswey Business Park has been split into Optimum and Genesis Parks and others. Equally Woking Business Park adjoins the Oriental Road part of central Woking, at the north of Maybury and these fall within the neat boundaries of the Sheerwater suburb. Their businesses generally simplify their address to the post town of Woking, which has significant trade, distribution, professional services, scientific research and industry in medium-size business parks.

Local government

Sheerwater was a

, Tahir Aziz, shared with Maybury. He is the only Labour councillor in the borough.

At Surrey County Council, one of the 81 representatives represents the area within the Woking North division.^[17]

Woking Borough Councillor

Election		Member[16]	Ward
	2011[18]	Muzaffar Abdullah Ali	Maybury and Sheerwater
	2015[19]	Tahir Aziz	Maybury and Sheerwater

Surrey County Councillor

Election		Member[20]	Electoral Division
	2013	Ben Carasco	Woking North

Demography

In 2001 Sheerwater's population was 3,522 living in 1,420 households.

The

, at its most detailed reporting level split a new version of Sheerwater in two between local authority 'super output areas' 004E and 004F, the north-west and south-east respectively. The new definition excludes Arnold Road and Eve Road as well as cul-de-sacs next to these, instead being placed within Maybury's super output area.

Sheerwater is an ethnically diverse area, with around 57% in 004E and 52% in 004F coming from a White British background. The proportion of households in the two divisions of Sheerwater who owned their home outright was 10% above and 23% below the national average respectively. The proportion who owned their home with a loan was within 3% of the national average in both areas. The data showed in the second area a higher proportion than average of rented residential property and of

and national averages.

2011 Census Key Statistics

Output area	Population	Households	% Owned outright	% Owned with a loan	hectares[1]
004E	2,038	694	20.5	35.4[1]	50.3
004F	1,565	627	7.2	20.9	31.4[1]

References