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Smooth Guide to Sunbury on Thames and District 
      About the site ...

 

This site will show you some of the local amenities in and around this ancient riverside settlement.

 

Lower Sunbury, beside the river, has retained its village atmosphere, while Sunbury Common to the north is now divided into two areas - Lower Sunbury and Sunbury Common. 

 

Sunbury has rail links to Charing Cross and Waterloo.  It is situated at the beginning/end of the M3, and is also close to Heathrow Airport.

Fascinating Historial Sunbury Facts:

 

  • The earliest evidence of occupation in Sunbury is provided by the discovery of Bronze Age funerary urns dating from the 10th century BC. It is mentioned in the Sunbury Charter in AD 962.

 

  • The Saxon Chief Sunna settled here and it became known as Sunnanbyrig, with nearby Scepertune (Shepperton) and Hamptone (Hampton).  The name Sunbury now refers to an area covering three ancient manors - Charlton, Sunbury and Kempton.

 

 

  • French Street was named after the Huguenot refugees who settled there after fleeing religious persecution on the Continent.

 

  • Admiral Lord Hawke retired here after his victory over the French Navy at Quiberon Bay in 1759.

 

 

  • George III and the Prince Regent enjoyed the tranquil settings of Sunbury. Edward VII often visited Sunbury when he was the Prince of Wales.

 

  • Sunbury House was demolished after World War II and its grounds are now Sunbury Park, incorporating a walled garden.

 

  • A purpose-built gallery was opened in Lower Sunbury in 2005 to hold the Sunbury Millennium Embroidery. Designed in 1990, and completed 10 years later, the 9 panels of embroidery celebrate the riverside town of Sunbury in the year 2000. Read more ...

 

 

 

  • Sunbury is also the home of Kempton Park - 'London's Racecourse'. 

 

  • The annual Swan Upping commences on the river at Lower Sunbury.

 

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  • The riverside St Mary's Anglican Church - and the Ferry House nearby - are mentioned in the book 'Oliver Twist' by Charles Dickens.

 

  • Sunbury's islands and the ardour of rowing up Sunbury backwater (weir stream) to access the public riverside, are mentioned in 'Three Men in a Boat' by Jerome K. Jerome.

 

  • Sunbury is the setting for the 1890 novel 'Kit and Kitty' by R. D. Blackmore.

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