Audio tourChertsey Town

This walking tour through the streets of Chertsey looks at some of the historic buildings which survive today and tells their stories.

Instructions: the walk starts and ends near Chertsey Museum, KT16 8AT. Whilst there is no museum parking, there is free street parking. On the museum side of Windsor Street there is no time limit, whilst opposite parking is restricted to 2 hours. There is also parking in Alywns Lane, Colonel's Lane and Staines Lane.

Archaeological evidence shows that the area we know as Chertsey was occupied for many millennia before it is first mentioned in written records. It was with the founding of Chertsey Abbey in 666 that the town really began to develop. The name Chertsey means “The Isle of Cerot” and it is likely that Cerot was the original owner of the land used for the Abbey site. There is a separate walking tour of the former abbey site if you would like to explore this.

After the dissolution of the abbey in 1537 Chertsey thrived as a market town due to the arable landscape producing fine market gardening, and its proximity to London. During the latter half of the 18th century Chertsey, and the surrounding countryside, became the fashionable place to live for the London gentry, thanks to the Whig politician, Charles James Fox, who lived in St. Ann’s House on nearby St. Ann’s Hill.