The Surrey town of Cobham grew up around two centres - Church Cobham, around the medieval church of St Andrew, which also developed as the main commercial centre of the town in Victorian times, and Street Cobham along the old London-Portsmouth road, characterised by several large eighteenth-century coaching inns. Further development followed the arrival of the railways, the station being built to the south-east of the town, beside today’s Chelsea FC training ground. At the other end of the town lies Painshill Park, a restored eighteenth-century landscape park.

In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries Cobham has seen a number of changes. Despite this, the town has retained its identity and many of its historical buildings. Using photographs from the private collections of six Cobham business families including an Edwardian professional photographer, many of which have never been published before, this fascinating selection of old and new images of Cobham will be essential reading for all those who know the town.