The areas of Woodham and New Haw were, up until the early part of the 20th century, poor agricultural areas. The land was part of that given to Chertsey Abbey and so come of the agricultural produce would have gone to the Abbey in tithes.
The name of Woodham probably comes from the Wodeham family who were dominant in the area during the 12th to 14th centuries. Woodham was part of the administrative parish of Chertsey until 1902.
In 1806 the Enclosure Act for the Tithing of Woodham set aside approximately 8 acres of land for the poor of the area. They were allocated allotments where they were permitted to collect fuel. These poor allotments were situated at the Wey Navigation end of Common Lane.
The 1851 Census lists the population as being 444 people living in 86 houses. Most of the adult population were still agricultural labourers or employed in related occupations such as haybinding and gardening. It was shortly after this Census, in 1857, that gravel extraction started in Woodham. The gravel, used primarily for road building, was taken from pits, which are now part of Oak End Way.
In 1653 the Wey Navigation opened to carry traffic between London and Guildford. It was hoped that it would form part of a national highway to the sea, but this did not happen. This had quite an impact on New Haw as barges now travelled from Coxes Lock carrying coal, ash poles, gypsum and hurdles to Guildford. However, with the coming of the railway in c.1845, traffic on the Wey gradually declined.
Gravel extraction also took place in the area during the late 1880s just off Common Lane.
In 1873 All Saints School was founded as a school for Poor Persons, probably with a grant from John Marshall-Paine, who had previously lived at Sayes Court, Addlestone. The school opened in 1874 and included accommodation for 92 pupils. School records show that there were frequent absences during harvesting or at other times when help was needed on the farms. Conditions at the school were far from ideal. The schoolroom was often in need of some repair, and during the winter of 1906 temperatures plummeted to 1 degree centigrade (35 degrees Fahrenheit), and at one time the teacher of the infants was herself only 11 years old.
Woodham and New Haw started losing their rural feeling at the turn of the 20th century when, in 1908, planning permission was granted to build new houses and bungalows in the these areas.