Facts about Sunbury-on-Thames
Sunbury-on-Thames History
Eevidence of occupation in Sunbury is provided by the discovery of Bronze Age funerary urns dating from the 10th century BC. There is an important scheduled monument in Rooksmead Road, a prehistoric bowl barrow, known as Cloven Barrow, situated on low-lying ground that was formerly part of the flood plain of the River Thames, now around 1 km to the south.
Cloven Barrow was mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon document, known as the Sunbury Charter, which has been dated to around AD 962. Many years later the arrival of Huguenot refugees gave the name to French Street. The place-name ‘Sunbury’ is first attested in a Saxon charter circa 960-2, where it appears as Sunnanbyrg. Another charter of 962 lists it as Sunnanbyrig.
General Info
Sunbury-on-Thames is a town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne, approximately 13 mi southwest of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, it was transferred to Surrey in 1965. Sunbury adjoins Feltham to the north, Hampton to the east, Ashford to the northwest, and Shepperton to the southwest.
Walton-on-Thames is to the south, on the opposite bank of the Thames. The town has two main focal points: Lower Sunbury is the older part, adjoining the river. Sunbury Common is to the north and surrounds the railway station and the London end of the M3 motorway. Lower Sunbury contains most of the town’s parks, pubs, and listed buildings, whereas Sunbury Common is more urban and includes offices and hotels.
