By Monica Chard
Which county do you live in? I wonder how many of us would immediately answer Surrey? But Sunbury is very much in the county of Middlesex. Let’s go back… The name Middlesex dates from the Saxon period. Positioned as it was between the East and West Saxons, the region was in the “middle”. The earliest written record was in the charter of 704 when it was named Middelseaxan.
Middlesex is a vast county. It follows the northern banks of the Thames all the way from Essex to the borders of Buckinghamshire, and up to Potters Bar and South Mimms to the north. From early times Middlesex was dominated by the City of London, which in the 12th century obtained the right of appointing the sheriff of the county. For many centuries Middlesex was a chosen retreat for royalty and wealthy London merchants. Sumptuous palaces like Hampton Court, Osterley and Syon House are remains of those days.
So, having once been a name associated with wealth and areas of beauty, forests for hunting and stunning country houses, why is it that so many of us in Spelthorne have readily given up a 1300 year old heritage, identifying our place of residence instead as Surrey? When county councils were introduced in England in 1889 about 20% of the area of the historic county of Middlesex, along with a third of its population, was incorporated into the new administrative county of London and the remainder incorporated into the administrative county of Middlesex.
In 1987 Downing Street axed Middlesex County Council. It did not, however, axe the county of Middlesex. Margaret Thatcher herself stated so in a letter. Neither did the change affect our postal addresses which should still state Middlesex on our address.
Surrey only has a heritage of 50 odd years since the new County Council took over administration. So why do we adopt a name that has no bearing on our roots? Surrey started to take on a cachet. Maybe people adopted the name as an act of snobbishness. Middlesex’s star had waned. The county’s name had suffered. Some unhelpful local authorities (that replaced the county council) made matters worse, doing their best to airbrush out their Middlesex roots. Many in the uninformed media suggested that Middlesex did not in fact exist in any form any longer. So something had to be done!
A group of enthusiasts and historians are behind a drive and impetus to promote the truth about Middlesex and to raise its historic awareness. In May they celebrated Middlesex Day. The date was chosen to mark the date of the Middlesex Regiment took their heroic stand at the Battle of Albuhera. It was on the 16th May and this date has continued to be a double celebration of the county and its own regiment, known as Middlesex Day.
So let’s take pride in our Middle Saxon roots and proudly state we live in Middlesex. After all , we are in the borough of Spelthorne, the name of an ancient Middlesex local government district – the Hundred of Spelthorne If you want to support Middlesex and find out more about our heritage, do “like” the Middlesex Heritage page on Facebook. www.Facebook.com/groups/CountyofMiddlesex