IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Gresham Park Road, WOKING, GU22 9DT

The new built apartment blocks of this development on the River Wey

Demolition works are in progress at the rear of Image

Redevelopment of the Gresham Mill site is in progress. The mill is being turned into 70 private apartments and 18 townhouses. The remains of the building can just be seen on the far right of the photo.

It's extraordinary that there are hardly any references whatsoever on the internet to this massive former works building. The tablet above the main entrance door in this façade is dated M.D.CCC.XCVI which I read as 1896, while the large tablet beneath the clock in the central pediment reads:- UNWIN BROTHERS LTD THE SAINT MARTHA PRINTING WORKS. It was evidently built on a braid of the River Wey to provide a water supply to the printing works and the water still gushes out of the structure on its downstream side. The works appears to have been defunct for some time and is currently being demolished for housing development by Linden Homes, although hopefully this particular building will be incorporated into any new scheme. Postscript: Having written the above I have now looked at the Ordnance Survey's historic maps, and the 1872 Edition shows a cluster of buildings at this location with a remarkably similar footprint to the current ones. The buildings are however marked as Woking Mill (Paper), so the need for a source of water would have been the reason why the paper mill was built here in the first place. Presumably Unwins converted some or all of the existing paper mill to their printing works rather than selecting this location for a new build of a printing works. It appears also that Unwins' printing works in Ludgate Hill in London suffered from a major fire in 1894, so maybe they were having to look for new premises immediately afterwards.

The footbridge over a drain with the construction site of Gresham Mill in the background.

"Unwin Brothers Ltd. The Saint Martha Printing Works" reads this plaque below the clock on the brick gabled wall. The old works sits on the River Wey and is currently undergoing demolition - hopefully this wall will remain. Linden Homes on the sign gives away the intended change of land use.

Broken windows at the former Unwin Brothers' Printing Works on the River Wey upstream of Old Woking. Linden Homes are now active on the site.

Former Unwin Brothers works on the River Wey south of Old Woking. The brick building is now under demolition by Linden Homes - but hopefully this gabled facade will remain.

The buildings, which once were Unwins Printing works, have now been converted into desirable apartments.

Overgrown football pitch. You know Brian, I think Mr W might just have a point about this one.