THE story of former Woking ironmongers and builders’ merchants Skeet & Jeffes has been followed by Peeps into the Past researcher Mark Coxhead.

The business had been established in 1891 when William Robert Skeet opened an ironmongers shop near the railway station.

In 1908, Harley Davey Jeffes joined him as a partner, followed by Alfred William Sharpe to manage the procurement of builders’ materials. This was around the same time the business moved to new premises in Chobham Road.

During the years immediately following the First World War, demand from the building industry was intense. Builders’ merchants were under pressure to give good service and had to expand to achieve this objective.

In 1930, Skeet & Jeffes decided to become an agency for HOPES steel windows. To do this effectively land was acquired in Board School Road where a workshop, a garage for eight lorries and a warehouse for the new department were built. There was space at the rear, and this was later used to build a substantial two-floor warehouse. All these buildings were demolished around 1990.

The office block roofing over the yard behind the Chobham Road premises was created, and the construction of display windows along the Church Street side of the building replaced a previously blank wall.

These changes culminated in 1938 with the rebuilding of two-thirds of the old warehouse in Church Street, while making provision for the completion of the remainder of it, by building forwards towards Church Street with offices and showrooms. This plan was cut short by the Second World War.

Together with many of the staff, the three sons of Mr Skeet, Mr Jeffes and Mr Sharpe went on active service while their fathers again faced similar problems to those encountered during the First World War.

During 1945 and 1946 a considerable number of staff returned, together with the three sons, to rebuild the fortunes of the firm.

The policy of expansion in Church Street was continued through the gradual purchase of cottages surrounding the street, and in Boundary Road, which then ran parallel with it, and at the rear of Church Street, thus giving accessibility to the site from two roads.   

However, by 1960 it had become apparent that before long, increasing traffic congestion, expanding trade in cramped conditions, new legislative requirements and town planning made a new building imperative.

Accordingly, the final purchases of cottages in Church Street and Boundary Road were sped up. By the summer of 1963, Scott, Brownrigg & Turner of Woking and Guildford, were invited to act as architects for the new offices, showrooms and warehouses.

It meant the whole of the premises in Chobham Road would eventually be vacated, leaving the way unblocked for progress in town development in the Commercial Road, Chobham Road and Church Street triangle. The seven story Crown House now stands on the site.

On 18 September 1968, a large, open-plan building was opened in Church Street. As the town centre expanded, Skeet & Jeffes also prospered. But by the mid-1980s, it became apparent the Church Street town centre site was no longer appropriate for its business model.

The firm looked for other accommodation, and after extensive negotiations with Woking Borough Council, it was agreed upon a scheme whereby Skeet & Jeffes would move to part of the former council depot in Monument Way East, while the Church Street site would be made available for redevelopment. 

In 1988, Skeet & Jeffes moved out of Church Street, and in the summer of 1989, Woking Library moved in, a temporary measure until a new library opened in the Peacocks development two years later. This site too has been developed and is now where the Double Tree Holiday Inn hotel is.

Skeet & Jeffes closed in 1998, after trading in Woking for 107 years.

If you have some memories or old pictures relating to the Woking area, call David Rose on 01483 838960, or drop a line to the News & Mail.

David Rose is a local historian and writer who specialises in what he calls “the history within living memory” of people, places and events in the west Surrey area covering towns such as Woking and Guildford. He collects old photos and memorabilia relating to the area and the subject, and regularly gives illustrated local history talks to groups and societies. For enquiries and bookings please phone or email him at: [email protected]