Camberley: A History

The town of Camberley was built on a grid laid out by an ex-Sandhurst gentleman cadet in 1860. This former heathland, part of the manor of Frimley, had been planted with fir trees after the Enclosure Act of 1801. These were harvested when Captain Charles Raleigh Knight laid out the 'new town' opposite the Staff College being built north of the London Road. The northern half of Frimley manor had been largely uninhabited, but the work of building and manning the Royal Military and Staff Colleges drew people to the area and provided it with opportunities to develop. Entrepreneurs erected a few dwellings before selling on but, with the bankruptcy of the first railway company, Camberley had an uncertain start. Men trained in the military colleges were attracted back to the town, however, and for a while it was known as 'Colonelstown;. Following the Second World War, land sold piecemeal by the Ministry of Defence was used to build estates for residents of the metropolitan boroughs of Surrey. Factories were built, town centre properties were requisitioned and a new shopping centre opened. With the arrival of the M3 new private estates were built on the outskirts of town. The Atrium, recently developed west of Park Street, has been built over the site of some of the earliest working-class houses erected by Captain Knight. This beautifully illustrated and informative narrative traces the development of Camberley from Mudd Town of 1851 to the present. It will be enjoyed by all those with an interest in Surrey history.