Ashford, Surrey

Ashford
St Matthew's C of E parish church.
Church Road, Ashford's high street. The town clock installed in 2011 is on the right.
Ashford
Location within Surrey
Area6.71 km2 (2.59 sq mi)
Population27,382 (2011 census)
 Density4,081/km2 (10,570/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTQ065715
Civil parish
  • n/a
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townAshford
Postcode districtTW15
Dialling code01784
PoliceSurrey
FireSurrey
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament

Ashford is a town in Spelthorne, in Surrey, England, including some areas within the London Borough of Hounslow. The town lies 14 mi (23 km) west of central London. Its name derives from a crossing point of the River Ash, a distributary of the River Colne. Historically part of Middlesex, the town has been part of Surrey since 1965. Ashford consists of relatively low density low- and medium-rise buildings, none of them being high rise. If excluding apartments (at the last census 27% of the housing stock) most houses are semi-detached. In 2011 it had a population of 27,382.

Ashford railway station, on the Waterloo to Reading Line, is served by South Western Railway. Heathrow Airport is 2.5 mi (4 km) north of the town.

A leading gymnastics club, HMP Bronzefield and one of the sites of Brooklands College are in the town. Ashford Hospital, which began as a workhouse, is to the north of the town centre. Ashford Common has a parade of shops and is a more residential ward that includes part of Queen Mary Reservoir and all of its related water treatment works. The town is surrounded by some areas of green space including The Princes Club, Bedfont Lakes and Shortwood Common.