The former Brooklands motor racing circuit is located just to the north, while to the east, across the River Wey, is the former Silvermere estate, now a golf club.

The urgent need to supply the Vickers Valiant V-bomber to the RAF led to the removal of the central section of the race track's Byfleet Banking when a new hard runway was built in 1951.

On 2 January 1945 a Vickers Warwick GRV, s/n PN773, flown by test pilot Bob Handasyde crashed beside Rectory Lane in Three Acre Field close to St Mary's Church and just missed road-sweeper Jack Smith with a wing-tip.

Great effects also took place in this part of the county: evacuees, British and Canadian soldiers and German prisoners of war were all accommodated locally and the Vickers factory on the east side of Brooklands was bombed with heavy loss of life on 4 September 1940.

By 2200hrs the following day, 21 barrage balloons with rope lines and other military defences were deployed locally including along the nearby Seven Hills Road.

The Hawker aircraft factory on the Byfleet side of the aerodrome was targeted two days later resulting in major damage to certain buildings but with no loss of life nor any serious disruption to Hurricane production.

A fatal accident in the centre of Byfleet on 24 September 1942 saw a Bren Gun Carrier operated by the Welsh Guards collide with the corner of The Plough pub killing a regular customer, Miss Edith Minnie Wyatt.

In 1944 many troops stationed locally departed for France on D-Day and older residents still recall a column of Canadian tanks and other military vehicles which passed through the village at that time with a long tail-back running for two days along High Road between the War Memorial and The Clockhouse.

Also post-war, Brooklands' engineer Francis Beart had a small workshop in High Road, from 1947 to 1956/57, specialising in tuning Norton motorcycles.

By 1911 the Tarrant Works covered c. 5 acres (2.0 ha) and included workshops for joinery, wrought iron and leaded lights, a stonemason's yard and a timber mill with drying sheds.

In 1928 a new Wesleyan Chapel was built opposite St Mary's School on the junction of High Road and Rectory Lane and in 1939 an impressive new Byfleet Methodist Church designed by Woking architects Kenneth Wood and Charles Rose was completed on land immediately south of this.

Built in typical Modernist style with a bright interior and stained glass windows designed and produced by the Thomas Camm Studio in Smethwick, this building survives in very original condition today.

In 1935, an existing vehicle garage and petrol station trading as "Byfleet Motors Ltd" in High Road was rebuilt in typical 'modern' style and featured an impressive white painted cement-rendered brick facade with a central clock tower, neon lighting and a well-equipped workshop at the rear.

One of several late 19th century laundries established in the Sanway area of the village, it moved during World War 1 to occupy part of the former Byfleet Brewery in High Road until closed and redeveloped c.1970 as 'The Willows' housing estate.

The memorial includes public benches, flower beds and a beautifully simple, yet empowering, stone wall with the name of each person who gave their life for justice and freedom.

The Clock House, in High Road, is an 18th-century mansion[12] extended and converted in the 1960s into a retirement communal home for the elderly before its latest renovation as flats for the over-fifties was completed in 2009.

Repainted in authentic 1970s airline colours, the model now sits proudly beside the junction of Wellington Way and Sopwith Drive as an impressive symbol of Brooklands' aviation and industrial heritage.

Recent Society projects include researching such subjects as Byfleet's numerous shops and businesses, village life in both world wars, the Stoop family and West Hall and, thanks to the support of Surrey County Council and many volunteers, finding and recording the gravestones and memorials for over 2,500 known burial locations in St Mary's Churchyard – resulting in a new interactive map and database launched and added to the Society's website on 29 March 2015.

[14] Thanks to a partnership of Brooklands Museum, the Byfleet Heritage Society and other local organisations, this historic building benefitted from some restoration work for potential heritage-related community use.

From 2008 to 2014 volunteers researched its history, secured grants and sponsorship, organised professional conservation and condition surveys, prioritised and carried out essential repairs, staged regular public open days and improved the building's internal and external appearance.

As a result of these latest efforts, Surrey County Council appointed Croydon-based contractors Knightsbridge Property Services to repair and restore the building in 2024.

Work started in July and hopefully will be completed in mid-December after which the premises are due to be leased to the Byfleet Fire Station Trust for community use.