St Johns ~ Woking ~ Surrey ~ GU21 8PU
St Johns - History
The area was still heavily wooded in 1630 but by 1709 a map shows shows Brick Kilns established in the area, these kilns expanded rapidly following the construction of the Basingstoke Canal in the early 1790's. The origin of St Johns as a community can be taken as the opening of the Rowbarge Public House and the establishment of the Wharf at Kiln Bridge between 1788 and 1792. The community was known as Kiln Bridge until the building of St John the Baptist Chapel in 1840, however St John's Parish was not established until 1883.
Nurseries have been in the area since Goldsworth Nursery had been founded in 1760 by James Turner and the Waterer Family of Knaphill switched from Farming to the Nursery Business in the 1790's. At about the same time William Jackman founded Jackmans's nursery and in 1810 expanded from his Mayford property to on the area now known as St John's Hill, the business boomed providing employment to men in the area and by 1851 was growing on 90+ Acres. The Goldsworth Nursery passed to the ownership of Robert Donald before being sold to Walter Slocock a protege of the Waterers, the Slocock family retained ownership until the Goldsworth Property was sold for Housing development in the 1970's, Martin Slocock used the proceeds to buy the Waterer's Knaphill Nursery where his Grandfather had learnt his trade. The Jackman family sold the St Johns nursery in 1893 and concentrated on running the Mayford Nursery, which was only recently renamed.
The digging of the Railway cutting between St John's Lye and Hook Heath occurred between 1834 and 1838, It is interesting to ponder what St Johns would now look like if the establishment of a Railway Station in the Cutting had gone ahead when it was proposed by the Nursery men of the area in 1883. We are only left to wonder as we cross the Pedestrian Bridge and peer into the Chasm! Presumably something similar to Weybridge station would have resulted and the village would be far more used by Rail Commuters. It certainly wouldn't do any harm to the property prices if the concept was revived?
St John's Lye was established in 1854 as a 60 acre Common land in Perpetuity by excluding it from the sale of the Lordship of Woking by the Onslow Family by the London Necropolis Company who used the land it obtained to establish the Brookwood Cemetery and sold the remainder for Commercial use and Development. Part of this land was used for the building of the Prison at the Hermitage and the Asylum at Brookwood, those 2 establishments and the Jackman Nursery on St John's Hill brought much employment to the area and a lot of Terraced housing appeared along the Canal and a number of small Villas for the Middle class appeared in Copse Road and Prison Path (now known as Barrack Path). More luxurious housing was spread liberally across St John's hill, however the sale of the 40 acre Jackman Nursery at the top of the hill in 1893 created another "housing boom" with markedly "upmarket" Dwellings appearing.
In 1858 the Government obtained over 60 acres of land from the Necropolis Company and built a convict Prison, which opened in 1860, One wing was devoted to the Criminally Insane whilst the other wing was occupied by Prisoners previously help on ex Navy ships on the Thames at Woolwich. A second Prison Block was commenced in 1867 for Female Prisoners and opened 2 years later, however by 1886 the decision was made to close the Prison and transfer the buildings to the War Department for use as Barracks. The Insane Prisoners were transferred to Broadmoor, and the sane to other prisons in the region. The arrival of the Army in the area with their heavy equipment necessitated the reconstruction of the Kiln Bridge in 1899, but by 1955 the Barracks were largely redundant due to the establishment of the BAOR (British Army of the Rhine) and were eventually sold for redevelopment as housing.
The St Johns Crematorium was established in 1878 as the first such establishment in the UK, but the first legal cremation of Human Remains did not take place until March 1885. The Crematorium was rebuilt in 1889 in the rather curious style variously described as "early Gothic" or even Medieval!
By 1900 St Johns had been connected to the Woking Municipal Sewerage system, feeding the new works near Woking Palace, and house building continued apace. By 1901 the population of Woking Borough had increased from the slump caused by the Industrial Revolution when it showed 5,000 souls in 1851, by 1901 it had quadrupled to 21,000 and was more populous than Guildford, The growth did not slow there as by 1921 the population was over 30,000, 35,000 by 1931, 46,000 in 1951 and has nearly doubled again since then.
Study of OS maps has shown the following
Village in 1897
The building now occupied by the Vojon Restaurant was the Post Office
Barrack Path was still known as Prison Path
The Cricket Ground was much further into the Lye than it is currently situated between the Stream and the Railway.
Village in 1916
The position now occupied, by the Car Park between Bellini's and the Chemist was the Village smithy, the building now occupied by the Vojon Restaurant had become a Bank and the Post Office had crossed the road to the current position and the Site now occupied by the Car Sales business was a Wesleyan Baptist Chapel.
