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Upper Halliford is a small village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, England approximately west of central London. It is part of the Shepperton post town and is in the Metropolitan Green Belt. The closest settlements are Shepperton, Charlton, Walton on Thames, and Sunbury-on-Thames to the east. St Andrew’s Baptist Church is in the southern part of the village and the settlement is in the ecclesiastical Parish of Sunbury on Thames. The conservation area surrounds the village green.

The village is partially bypassed by the A244 which alternates here between a dual carriageway and a single carriageway. Upper Halliford railway station is on the Shepperton branch line and train services to London Waterloo are run by South Western Railway.

History

Etymology

The Old English equivalents of the Germanic word heili(g)/(ch) included the words that later became fixed in English lexicon as hallowed and holy. The meaning of the two-component word is therefore without doubt and reflected in the crest and motto of Halliford School: vadum sanctum. Oral tradition among some of the villagers said that the halliford describes the ford that crossed the Ash before Gaston Bridge was built, where a holy man lived during Anglo-Saxon times and performed miracles.

In the 14th century a windmill stood at Upper Halliford, later to be replaced by a windmill at Lower Halliford. though they have been much altered. Upper Halliford and at that time also included Charlton.

A halt at Upper Halliford along the Victorian railway to Shepperton was not opened until 1944, to serve the factories of the Sunbury Industrial Estate in World War II and was still a halt until at least 1962.

In 2001 Halliford gave a population figure of 3,011.

Elevations, Soil and Geology

Elevations range between 12m AOD which applies for most of the village, with a maximum of 12.4m excluding bridge in the west, to 10.8m AOD in the residential road closest to one of the River Colne's many distributaries, the River Ash.

In regards to geology, the former flood plain and river course has shaped the almost flat former and present flood plain landscape from just north Heathrow Airport, as far west as Windsor, Berkshire to Brentford, Greater London with free draining alluvium and organic deposits forming a wide area of soil including Spelthorne, underlaid deeper with a mixture of gravel aquifers and London Clay which gives rise to two types of soil of free and poor drainage across all of the lower-lying parts of the London Basin.

Soil across Spelthorne is categorised as "free draining slightly acid and loamy".

Landmarks

thumb|The Goat

thumb|Hawthorn flowers and leaves, Halliford Park – geograph.org.uk – 172048

thumb|Great log in Halliford Park's large woodland part.

Upper Halliford Green and the Upper Halliford Conservation Area

Much of the bypassed Upper Halliford Road area including the main section of its green is a conservation area. This has recognised since 1993 the large number of buildings and structures pre-dating 1900 and the historic road pattern centred on the village green. In this area are seven buildings dating to before 1800.

The Goat

The Goat is a pre-1800 built public house that is the only public house (as well as carvery and other restaurant) in the village centre.

Shopping parade

A convenience shopping parade provides services including a small post office, hairdressers, a café and dry cleaning.

Other

The Baptist church pictured above, opposite the green is also within the bypassed section of main through road and near the flats and shops at the centre of the village. Another pub once known as The Bugle is beside the combined single carriageway to the north and by the village park below.

Sport and park

A large recreation ground takes up a minority of Halliford Park to the north of the main village (mainly woodland) and to Shepperton.

Walton-on-Thames has more frequent services, as a mid-tier priority stop on the South West Main Line, and a 20-minute service to London Waterloo.

Both are served by South Western Railway.

;Pavements and footpaths

All of the schools in Lower Sunbury and Shepperton can be reached by pavement, along Nursery Road and Green Lane; those in Lower Sunbury can also be reached via the green and public footpath.

;Bus

  • Hallmark Connections' routes:
  • 555 from/to Heathrow Central bus station via Heathrow Terminal 4 serves a stop east of Squires and its main local stop at Gaston Bridge Road; also linking to Shepperton, Walton, Walton-on-Thames railway station, Hersham and usually Whiteley Village; the route is circuitous for airport commuters having two detours into Sunbury and Ashford/Stanwell Tesco Extra stores, whose workers and business the route assists heavily.
  • 18 buses per weekday from this point, each way. Not served by most pre-05:45 buses.
  • 557 from/to Sunbury Tesco Extra serves the whole village street; also linking to Addlestone Tesco Extra via Shepperton, Chertsey and St Peter's Hospital.
  • 13 buses per weekday, each way. Served by every bus. No Sunday services run.

References

;Notes

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