Woking Hotels

Hotels in Woking are often required for tourists who need accommodation in the English Town. Some may want accommodation that offers good quality, luxury. Some may want a hotel that offers good prices and good parking. Some may want a hotel that has a good reputation. Some tourists may want a hotel that offers good facilities, and is good in status. Many may need a hotel for tourism so need a base in town. Some may go to Woking for commuting, work, study, or to see a sports, entertainment or cultural event.

Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, England. It functions as a dormitory town of the London commuter belt and is located 23 miles south west of Charing Cross in central London.

Though Woking's earliest written appearance is in Domesday Book, it is mentioned as the site of a monastery in an 8th century context, as Wochingas. In Domesday Book it appears as Wochinges, being held in 1086 by King William the Conqueror, Walter FitzOther, constable of Windsor Castle, and Ansgot and Godfrey from Osbern FitzOsbern, then bishop of Exeter.

Modern Woking formed around the railway station, built over 150 years ago at the junction between lines to London, the south coast, and the south-west of England, and the private railway to Brookwood Cemetery, which was developed by the London Necropolis Company as an overflow burial ground for London's dead. As a result, the original settlement became known as "Old Woking". Later, Woking was home to the first crematorium in the United Kingdom (St Johns), and the first mosque in the UK (on Oriental Road). The Shah Jahan Mosque was commissioned by Shahjehan, Begum of Bhopal (1868-1901), one of the four female Muslim rulers of Bhopal who reigned between 1819 and 1926 giving rise to the town's significant Asian community.

The War of the Worlds (1898), by H. G. Wells, based in Horsell common in Woking is an early science fiction novel which describes an invasion of England by aliens from Mars. It is one of the earliest and best-known depictions of an alien invasion of Earth and has influenced many others, as well as spawning several films and radio dramas and a television series based on the story. The 1938 radio broadcast caused public outcry against the episode, as many listeners believed that an actual Martian invasion was in progress, a notable example of mass hysteria.

Woking appears in written materials which, though created in the 12th century at Peterborough Abbey, formerly known as Medeshamstede, reliably describe earlier events. The earliest of these is the grant by Pope Constantine (708-715) of privileges to a monastery at Wochingas. Later in the 8th century a charter of King Offa of Mercia granted further privileges, freeing this church from numerous standard liabilities. This charter is paraphrased in a 12th century interpolation to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle's entry for 777 AD, also written at Peterborough:

In the time of [King Offa of Mercia] there was an ealdorman called Brorda who petitioned the king for love of him to free a church of his called Woking, because he wished to give it to Medeshamstede and to St Peter and the abbot that then was, who was called Pusa. ... And the king freed the church of Woking from all obligations due to king and to bishop and to earl and to all men, so that no one should have any authority there, except St Peter and the abbot [of Medeshamstede]. This was ratified in the royal manor of Freoricburna.

Woking appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Wochinges. Its description there is complex, since it was then held as three estates, by King William the Conqueror, Walter FitzOther, constable of Windsor Castle, and Ansgot and Godfrey from Osbern FitzOsbern, then bishop of Exeter.

Woking Palace

A building was first recorded on the site of Woking Palace in 1272. In 1466 Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII and grandmother of King Henry VIII, and her third husband, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, obtained by royal grant the former Beaufort manor of Woking. They lived in the manor house at least until Henry Stafford's death in 1471. The modern Beaufort School in Goldsworth Park is named after Lady Margaret. Henry VII took the manor from his mother and began the process of converting the manor house into a palace. His son Henry VIII continued this process when he succeeded his father in 1509, and the palace became a favorite residence of the king. In 1490 a treaty with Austria, known as the Treaty of Woking, was signed at the Palace by Henry VII.

By 1620 the ownership of Woking Palace had passed by King James I to Sir Edward Zouch who abandoned the palace and built himself a new manor house at Hoe Bridge Place. Thereafter the buildings fell into decay and the original park surrounding the palace was turned over to agriculture.

In 1651 the Wey Navigation Canal was opened for traffic from Guildford to the River Thames passing through Woking. Over a century later, in 1791, the canal from the Wey Navigation Canal to Basingstoke opened as far as Horsell. Then in 1792 the Basingstoke Canal opened as far as Pirbright. Navigation on the Brookwood Canal stopped in 1947. In 1991, the Basingstoke Canal was formally reopened along its whole length following renovation by volunteers.

In 1661 James Zouch, grandson of Sir Edward Zouch, obtained the Market Charter for Woking. A few years later in 1669 James Zouch from Woking was Sheriff of Surrey (1669-1670). In 1760, James Turner bought from the Earl of Onslow, owner of Woking Manor, some land in the Tithing of Goldings.

In 1849, Necropolis (cemetery) was first proposed for Woking Parish by the Board of Health. Whilst in 1879 St John's Woking Crematorium was built to be used for the first time in 1884 when the first cremation in the UK was performed.

H. G. Wells wrote his book The War of the Worlds whilst living on Maybury road in Woking in 1898. Many scenes from the story are set in Horsell, Woking and the surrounding area.

The 1850s saw the first building of the 'New Woking', with the construction of the Albion Hotel. In 1862, the Royal Dramatic College opened in Maybury on the site which is currently occupied by the Lion Retail Park. The college then closed in 1877. The Oriental Institute opened on the site in 1884 but closed in the 1890s.

The 1880s saw the opening of the Woking Police Station in 1887; then in 1889 Woking Football Club was formed. This year also saw the opening of the Woking Mosque. Sultan Shah Jahan, Begum of Bhopal donated money to help build it and it is now called the Shah Jehan Mosque in her honour.

The Victoria Hospital opened in 1899.

Woking obtained electricity in 1890 and gas in 1891. In 1899 Woking's sewerage system was built.

The railways came to Woking in 1838 when the London and Southampton company (renamed London and South Western Railway in 1839) railway opened as far as Winchfield. Woking Common Station (Now Woking Station) opened.

woking hotels

In 1894, the 'Woking News' was first published from offices in Chertsey Road. Each copy cost 1d. In 1895, the 'Woking Mail' was first published from offices in Goldsworth Road. Each copy cost ½d. Later, these papers merged to become the 'Woking News and Mail'.

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