 In particular buildings pre-dating 1850 form much of the core of the village centre which is a conservation area.Given the railway line and M25 in the far west of Thorpe, and the M3 to the south, much land use is designated road or buffer, and a considerable amount is taken up by one of the largest theme parks in England, Thorpe Park.This is also a watersports centre and one of its five main lakes can be accessed from boat landing stages from the village centre directly.