Witley
Witley | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | Godalming | |
Postcode district | GU8 | |
Dialling code | 01428 | |
Police | Surrey | |
Fire | Surrey | |
Ambulance | South East Coast | |
UK Parliament | ||
Witley is a village and
As a civil parish it is unusual in that it includes the small town of Milford in the north. Occupying its hills in the south-west are Sandhills and Brook.
History
Much of the history is described by way of its historical sites below.
Witley appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Witlei. Its domesday assets were held by Gislebert (Gilbert), son of Richere de L'Aigle. It rendered: 12 hides; 1 church, 15 ploughs, 3 acres (1.2 ha) of meadow, woodland worth 30 hogs, in the Godalming Hundred and rendered £16.[2]
In 1848,
In 1911 historian and factfinder for the
Witley Manor
Earl Godwin (father of the last largely Anglo-Saxon king Harold Godwinson) is the first known lord of the manor, albeit as ultimate overlord.[clarification needed] In 1086, it was held by Gilbert de Aquila, either the son or grandson of Engenulf de Aquila (L'Aigle), the only prominent Norman nobleman known to have been killed at Hastings. Then Richer de Aquila forfeited his land to the crown for complicity in the rebellion of William Clito against the crown. Malden reveals the legal term then used, one still used today, escheat.
William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, Gilbert's nephew by marriage, was granted it, who died in 1240.
Lea Park known as Witley Park
The early history of Lea Park (renamed Witley Park during the 20th century) is entwined with that of Witley Manor. Specific frequent appointments to the office of keeper occur in the
Oxenford Grange
This was within
Landmarks
- All Saints' Church is built from surviving Anglo-Saxon England stonework[citation needed] and later Norman architecture, demonstrating that the village has existed since at least Saxon times. The church building was transformed by the Normans and enlarged into a cruciform shape towards the end of the 12th century, when its tower was also erected. The church contains an inscribed stone, set in the chancel wall, bearing the name of the Duke of Clarence (see below), which is believed to be part of an unfinished memorial to one of his bailiffs.[6][7] The church is a Grade I listed building.[8] The graveyard has 13 war graves administered by the CWGC.[9]
- Witley Park, the home of Whitaker Wright, was built in the 1890s at a cost of £1.85 million. It was one of the most lavish private residences in the world. The grounds included a series of three interconnecting lakes and an underwater billiard room. The main building burnt to the ground in 1953. Today the grounds and remaining buildings are private family homes.
- Old Cottage and Step Cottage, dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, are close to the church.
- public house, is mostly Elizabethanand is said to stand on the site of a Saxon inn.
Semaphore/Telegraph Station
On Bannicle or Bannack Hill stood an Admiralty telegraph station which was built in 1822 as part of a
Geography
Witley is a village and
Witley Civil Parish contains the large village of Milford (arguably a small town to the north, which also has the next railway station on the line to London, however, which is closer to Wheelerstreet and Witley historic village along than to Milford)[n 3] and the localities set out in this article, all of which, apart from Culmer, Wormley, Sandhills and Brook are contiguous, linked by unbroken paved roads and development forming a wide arc surrounded by Witley Common or by the Witley Stream, Enton lakes and ponds.[13] The census area Waverley Middle Layer Super Output Area 12 (which excludes Milford but adds most of Hambledon, Thursley and Hascombe) gives a population of 6,619 in 2001, whereas the civil parish had a population of 7,703.[14] If the population of Thursley CP (654) is subtracted and those of Hascombe (241) and Hambledon CPs (765) from Area 12, Witley's habitually resident population, excluding the major settlement of Milford stood at 4,959.
Witley civil parish council has a website with sections for Witley and Milford. It consists of 16 councillors; unpaid as with all civil parishes, and the rest of Waverley is likewise entirely parished, each parish charging a small annual precept on
Witley Common
Witley Common, which belongs to the National Trust, directly adjoins many localities of the village.[16] It is bisected by the A3 dual carriageway.
Localities
Five can be named first which form a loose cluster, though some smallholdings and playing fields buffer them: Cramhurst, Wheelerstreet, Crossways, Witley (historic centre) and Culmer.
Also in the parish are Sandhills, Brook and most of Wormley.
Education
- Witley Infants School, opposite the church, is a fine example of a 19th-century school constructed in 1836.
- King Edward's School is a private school due south of the village centre.
Transport
- The village is served by Portsmouth Direct Line.
Notable people
- Peter II, Count of Savoy (1203-1263), Lord of the Manor of Witley in the thirteenth century.
- Edward IV, was lord of the manor of Witley. Other owners included Godwin, Earl of Wessex, father of King Harold; Peter of Savoy; and Edward I's wife, Queen Margaret, who commissioned oak from the village to make shingles for the roof of the King's Hall at Westminster.
- Herbert Pease (1867–1949), British politician, was created Baron Daryngton, of Witley in the County of Surrey, on 12 February 1923.
- David Lloyd George (1863–1945), prime minister, had a house Timbers, which he would visit whenever he needed to escape from the stress of high office.[citation needed]
- Terry Scott (1927–1994), comedian who starred in the BBC domestic sitcom Terry and June with June Whitfield, lived in the village.
- Myles Birket Foster (1825–1899), artist, is buried in the churchyard.
- Whitaker Wright (1846–1904), mining entrepreneur, was found guilty of fraud at the Royal Courts of Justice and committed suicide shortly afterwards. He is buried in the churchyard beneath an imposing marble slab.
- George Eliot (1819–1880), English novelist, spent her final years in the village.
- Gertrude Mary Tuckwell(1861–1951), trade unionist, social reformer and author, lived the last years of her life in Little Woodlands, Combe Lane.
- James John Joicey (1870–1932), amateur entomologist and owner of the Hill Museum.
- Frederick Williamson (1835–1900), visual artist known for his paintings of landscapes featuring sheep, is buried in the churchyard.
- Raymond Frederick Brown, founder of Racal and arms merchant for the British government
- East Hoathly, Sussex, England), founding member and keyboardist of the progressive rock group Genesis.
Demography and housing
Output area | Detached | Semi-detached | Terraced | Flats and apartments | Caravans/temporary/mobile homes | shared between households[1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(Civil Parish; includes town of Milford in the north) | 1,187 | 982 | 491 | 501 | 10 | 2 |
The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.
Output area | Population | Households | % Owned outright | % Owned with a loan | hectares[1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(Civil Parish) | 8,130 | 3,173 | 36.2% | 36.7% | 2,776 |
The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).
In popular culture
James Bond's visit to Shrublands health farm in Thunderball was inspired by author Ian Fleming's own 1956 stay at the Enton Hall Natural Health Resort in Witley.[17][18]
Enton Mill was the subject of a painting, Sheep washing, by the 19th century artist, William Hull.[19]
See also
Notes and references
- Notes
- ^ The living of Aston Cantlow was of the same form; holders of land that was the glebe when it converted from a rectory may be liable for chancel repair liability if claimed by the church; they were in 1848 the impropriators listed by Lewis.
- ^ See the original source for more details
- ^ Milford Station has direct access from Wheelerstreet along Rake Lane and from Witley along a straight track behind the school and beside the railway
- References
- ^ United Kingdom Census 2011 Office for National StatisticsRetrieved 21 November 2013
- ^ Surrey Domesday Book Archived 30 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f g H.E. Malden, ed. (1911). "Parishes: Witley". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ^ Morris, Marc, The Bigod Earls of Norfolk in the thirteenth century, (The Boydell Press, 2005), 31.
- ^ "Witley Park". Lost Heritage. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
- ^ All Saints (Church of England community website)
- ^ The Church of England – All Saints Church, Witley
- ^ All Saints, Witley – Grade I – Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1260732)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
- ^ "Witley All saints". Church of England. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
- ^ Historic Environment RecordHER 3504 – Admiralty Telegraph Station circa 1822 (Site of)
- ^ William Cobbett Rural Rides Penguin English Library 1967
- ^ Grid reference Finder measurement tools
- ^ Map created by Ordnance Survey, courtesy of English Heritage
- ^ UK Census search by Waverley Middle Layer Super Output Area 12 and by Parish
- ^ Witley Parish Council
- ^ National Trust
- ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
- Tindle Newspaper Group. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
Enton Hall was a leading spa, made famous by James Bond author Ian Fleming, who wrote about his own 1956 stay there in Thunderball, referring to it as Shrublands.
- ^ "Enton Mill and Enton Mill West". Historic England. Retrieved 22 April 2021.