A settlement which became known as Yorktown
grew up around the gates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the
19th century. It grew in size with the arrival of the branch-line
railway (the main-line passes through nearby Deepcut but there is no
stop).
Later, the Staff College was established to the east of the Academy, and
a property speculator built the nearby Cambridge Hotel. The surrounding
area became known as Cambridge Town, but was renamed "Camberley" (by
analogy with neighbouring Frimley) in 1877 to avoid confusion with the
better-known Cambridge in Cambridgeshire. (An apocryphal derivation
cites the "River Cam" and "Amber Hill", but no features with these names
exist in the area.)
Camberley grew to become the largest town in the area, and Yorktown is
now regarded as part of Camberley.
Most of Camberley's town centre is host to
the Main Square shopping centre, a late 80s redevelopment anchored by
stores such as House of Fraser and Woolworths. The most memorable
feature of the Main Square in Camberley is the large clock found in the
centre of the complex which also houses a lift up to a Café. - opposite
the newly opened Primark store. The High Street has a number of high
street shops as well as bars and clubs, many of the latter being more
recent additions. There are a number of secondary shopping streets
including Park Street, Princess Way and parts of London Road. The town
has its own public library, theatre (The Arts Link) and is home to the
Surrey Heath Council offices. The town's only cinema, owned by Robin's
Cinemas, and situated on London Road some distance from the town centre,
closed in 2003. The Arena, a sports/leisure centre and pool facility, is
found nearby.
The smaller town of Frimley, being so close
to Camberley, is often thought to be a part of the town by many visitors
to the area, although the two are clearly separated by the M3 motorway.
Frimley has its own town centre, a major regional hospital (Frimley
Park) and extensive suburban areas. In the 19th century, Yorktown and
Camberley were in the Ecclesiastical Parish of Frimley. The neighbouring
town of Blackwater, 3 km (2 miles) to the west is also considered by
some to be a suburb of Camberley, however, it is actually situated in
the Hart District of Hampshire.