Side Panels
The side panels depict different aspects of Sunbury's history and character. Each panel measures 1.0m x 0.6m.
For information on each panel, simply hover your mouse over the picture to reveal details.
Archeology Panel
The background is an extract from the Sunbury Charter... which is King Eadgar's Charter, granting land at Sunnanbyrig (an Anglo-Saxon spelling of Sunbury) to his kinsman Ælfheh in AD. 962.
Spear Heads
Bronze Age rapier and spear heads found in the Thames at Sunbury. (2000-500 B.C.)
The Sunbury Hoard
The hoard consists of 300 coins cast from tin and bronze and copying Greek designs. They had been buried in a simple pottery bowl and were found in 1950 in Laleham Road, Shepperton. Believed to have been buried in the first century B.C. they are now in the Museum of London.
The Cloven Barrow
A Bronze Age burial mound now in the garden of a private house
Conservation Panel
The village Conservation Area includes part of the river frontage, the Walled Garden and Sunbury Park as well as much else.
The Wisteria on Kings Lawn
The unusual and long established standard Wisteria used to grow in the garden of Weir View, an early 19th century house, which partly collapsed into the river before being demolished in 1962. The garden of the house was absorbed into Kings Lawn.
The Lendy Lion
The Lendy Memorial was erected in 1895 in memory of the Lendy brothers, both Captains in the Army, who died in West Africa in 1894. The memorial was originally a drinking fountain which stood on Kings Lawn. It was damaged by a bomb in the Second World War and moved for a period to Benwell House before being relocated in its present position in the Walled Garden
Regatta Panel
Sunbury Amateur Regatta is held on the second Saturday of August on Rivermead Island.
Traditional Events
First staged in 1877 the Regatta provides traditional events for Skiffing and Punting Clubs as well as an opportunity for local organisations to raise funds. The days activities are rounded off in the evening with a spectacular firework display.
The Fair
The Regatta events are accompanied by a Fun Fair on Orchard Meadow.
Tradition Panel
Swan Upping dates from the 15th century, as a means of recording and marking the river's swans.
Swan Upping
The ancient ceremony begins in Sunbury in the third week of July. New cygnets between Sunbury and Pangbourne are marked with notches on either side of the beak to distinguish ownership.
There are now three owners of the swans. Two City Livery Companies, The Vintners and The Dyers and Her Majesty the Queen.
Shallop
A shallop is a light boat used for rowing in shallow water. The one illustrated was built at Turks Boatyard in Thames Street and shows how the old boat building skills and traditions survived for many years in Sunbury.
Archeology Conservation Regatta Tradition
The Community Panel
Schools
Each school produced a canvas worked square of its badge, and these Are incorporated in the logos and hassock pattern element of the embroidery. Some of these badges are illustrated below. Schools and local businesses sit very much at the centre of the community.
Shops
The Village is fortunate in the friendly and personal service provided by its many shops and restaurants. The shops especially find themselves under constant threat from large local competition. It is important for all that these continue to succeed in this new millennium.
Wartime panel
Sunbury at War
Sunbury not only provided soldiers for the front, as did other towns and villages throughout the country, but because of its good road and rail links also functioned for the war effort in other ways. Kempton Park served during both wars, first as a marshalling yard from 1914 to 1918, then as a prisoner of war camp during the Second World War.
1939-1945
Bombs fell on Sunbury as they did on much of Middlesex, some in the river, others in Sunbury Park. On the river however the Upper Thames Patrol, a sort of water-borne Home Guard, wearing the 31st Middlesex shoulder badge, watched and acted when required. The panel shows one of the manned launches, whilst bombers rend the sky above. The small boats collected from Sunbury Reach are remembered by one of their Dunkirk plaques.
Tarnsport Panel
Sunbury has grown steadily as a transport intersection of the railway in 1864 to the building of the M3 in the 1980s.
Sunbury Clock
Long before the M3 was built, Sunbury Clock announced one's arrival at Sunbury. Erected in 1897 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria the clock was originally sited at the junction of the five roads at Sunbury Common
Air Travel
On a daily basis the passage of aircraft makes us realise that people pass through Sunbury, not just by train or on the bus, but overhead. Helicopters & the occasional airship emphasise the presence of the aerial travellers and the proximity of Sunbury to Heathrow
Concorde was a notable sight at the time of the construction of the embroidery
The Kempton Panel
Present day Sunbury is made up of the manors of Sunbury and Kempton.
Kempton Manor
In the 13th century Kempton manor was the site of a royal residence. Several subsequent houses were built on the site, but none of them now remain.
The manor of Kempton now exists only as the racecourse. A number of public houses associated with it or close by it, reflect this racing activity.
Horse Racing
The famous racecourse was opened in 1878 by the Kempton Park Racecourse Company. Racing still continues today with a full programme of National Hunt meetings starting each October.
The New Stand
The recently rebuilt grandstand has placed a new and dramatic feature on the Sunbury skyline.
Community Panel Wartime Transport Kempton Park