Whilst still very much having a village atmosphere, Thorpe is a little too large to do in one walk. This walk takes us along Norlands Lane into the village.
Instructions: Parking in Thorpe is limited everywhere, so for this walk the best options are in Norlands Lane or Holland Gardens. The walk starts on the corner of Holland Gardens/Norlands Lane.
Neolithic pottery and Bronze Age weapons found in Thorpe are evidence of its early history. In particular, at Thorpe Lea, Iron Age circular post-built structures have been excavated.
The first written evidence for Thorpe comes in 675 when there is mention of a re-affirming of a Royal Grant from 666, for the lands for the support of Chertsey Abbey. This reference is only known from 13th century copies of it in the Chertsey Cartularies, not from the original document. As this reference pre-dates the Viking invasions in the area it is unlikely that Thorpe is a Scandinavian name. The name can also derive from Old English meaning ''a smaller village''. The village was listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as Torp.
With the Dissolution of Chertsey Abbey in July 1537 Thorpe land was divided in to two parts: one part was leased to the de Thorpe family who built a manor house on it called Hall Place, whilst the other was worked through a bailiff or leased out to other tenants was called The Manor or Thorpe House.
Life in Thorpe was fairly peaceful, although there was always intense rivalry between the families in the two large houses which continued up until the mid 20th century. During the First World War Thorpe lost 18 young men in the fighting, from a total population of only 500 people. It was shortly after the War ended that the then owner of Hall Place, or Thorpe Place as it had become known, decided to sell off some of the land to a gravel extractor company. This was the start of a process that would drastically alter the village, and would ultimately lead to the building of Thorpe Park in 1979.
Thorpe Place itself was sold in 1930 to an order of Anglican nuns, the Convent of St Mary the Virgin, who remained in Thorpe until 1955 when the building was bought by Mary Crist Fleming, daughter of prominent American educators, who founded TASIS. In 1977 the school bought Thorpe House as well.
The building of the M3 and M25 motorways as altered the nature of Thorpe forever, in fact some homes and other historic buildings were demolished to make for the M25.
Thanks go to Thorpe resident Jill Williams for generously giving up her time to help write this walk.
Further information is available from Chertsey Museum or Egham-by-Runnymede Historical Society
