Normandy, Surrey
Encyclopedia
Normandy is both the name of a civil parish
in the borough of Guildford
in Surrey
, England
and the name of the largest village in that parish. It lies close to the western edge of the county of Surrey close to the border with Hampshire
and just north of the chalk hill known as the Hog's Back
. The parish has been home to a number of notable residents, including William Cobbett
.
, Willey Green, Wyke
, Flexford
and Pinewoods. With the exception of Pinewoods, the hamlets of the parish, although distinct, are strung together a continuous line of largely residential properties. Pinewoods remains separated by much open land and is close to Ash
.
It lies on the A323 between Guildford
and Aldershot
. In the south of the parish, between Normandy village and Flexford, stands Wanborough railway station
, so called because the owner of the land in which the station was built in fact lived in Wanborough, Surrey
, a small village very close to Normandy but in the adjoining parish. Development locally is restricted as the village lies within the Metropolitan Green Belt
. Normandy Common lies to the north of the village; to the south there is mainly arable
farmland.
, father of King Harold Godwinson
. Later, the Domesday Book in its account of the manor of Henley (now represented only by the Henley Park manor house) records that the manor covered large parts of what is now Normandy, as well as Ash; Normandy though was not mentioned by name, the name not being known in the records until 1604. The lands remained within the ancient manor of Henley until the end of the 14th century. At this time the manor of Cleygate began to be carved out of the manor of Henley. As a manor, Cleygate is first mentioned when Henry VI
granted the manor to his uterine brother, Jasper the Earl of Pembroke. After Jasper was attainted by Edward IV his lands were forfeited, but were passed back to him in 1485 when his attainder was reversed. After that, the Manor passed through a number of hands, reverting to the crown on more than one occasion.
As a parish, the history of Normandy is the combined history of its constituent hamlets which in modern times include Christmas Pie, Flexford, Willey Green, Wyke, Pinewoods and Normandy proper. Wyke appeared in the Domesday Book
as Wucca, a hide (approximately 120 acres) held by Godric from Earl Roger. The Domesday Book mentioned a hall which is thought to have been where East Wyke Farm now stands and where remains of Surrey White Ware pottery have been found. Names such as Wuccha, Wicca, Week and Wick have been used, some of which are preserved in place names in the hamlet (such as Weekwood). Finally Wyke was settled upon, and this too is the name of the ecclesiastical parish that has covered Normandy since 1847, that of St Mark's Wyke. Flexford was once called Flaxford, itself a corruption of "flax vard", meaning flax meadows by a stream. The ancient industry here was the creation of linen from flax. Christmas Pie is the name of the southwestern hamlet of the parish and is named after the Christmas family, who are named often in the court records of the Manor of Cleygate from 1513 onwards. Pie is derived from the Saxon term "pightel" meaning a small piece of arable land. Prior to 1920 there was no hamlet here but there was a field called "Pie Field" near the crossroads of Westwood Lane and Flexford Lane, once owned by the Christmas famiy, hence the name of the hamlet was derived. Pinewoods developed around the beerhouse called the Nightingale in the far west of the parish in the nineteenth century. The woods from which it derives its name are only to be found to the north of the hamlet and this hamlet developed in isolation from the rest of the parish and is still separated from the other hamlets by open land. The buildings of the Nightingale pub remain but now house an Indian restaurant. Willey Green is situated at the lowest point of the parish and was once prone to flooding. Being so located made this area damp and ideal conditions for willow trees to grow and this is where the hamlet derives its name, as the place where willows grow. Now the easternmost part of the hamlet, until the twentieth century it was the westernmost portion of the neighbouring parish of Worplesdon
. Ironically, the derivation of the village name of Normandy itself is the least sure. The public house called the Duke of Normandy, built in the 1860s, is named after the village rather than a similar source to the village name. It has been suggested that the monks of the Abbey of Waverley named the village after their homeland in northern France because it resembled Normandy's countryside in appearance. However, the Abbey's lands did not extend to Normandy. The court records of the Manor of Cleygate, dating from 1513, first mention Normandy in 1604 when referring to the Normandy Causeway, which had previously been called the Frimsworth Causeway. In the same year a garden in Normandy is referred to. Frimsworth was an older recorded settlement name, and had also been known as Frymsworth and Frymlesworth. However, it coexisted for some time with the village of Normandy and historians are satisfied that the two names referred to different parts of the parish. Frimsworth itself no longer exists as an appellation for any area of the village, but was located between Normandy and Willey Green. Normandy originally referred to the area around Normandy Common and the manor house known as Normandy Farm, once leased to William Cobbett
. Local historians have suggested that Normandy Common may be the same common referred to in Cleygate records as a part of the Manor in the north and west "lately called Noebodies Common." Such an appellation would be applied because the area was on the boundary of two manors and as such might also be referred to as "No Man's Land" which they speculate has been corrupted to Normandy.
By the time the final part of the Manor of Cleygate was sold to the War Department
in 1876, most of the Manor had been sold to private individuals, and that included much of what is now the parish of Normandy. The three private estates making up the parish were those of Henley Park, Westwood and Normandy Park. Normandy Farm was the final home of the early 19th century radical reformer and agrarian William Cobbett
, the author of Rural Rides.
Into the twentieth century Normandy retained is agricultural base. The locality of Normandy was considered for the site of a "New Town
" to be called "New Norman" in the 1943 Town and Country Plan produced by the Surrey Federation of Labour Parties. However, this did not come to pass and the village into the twenty-first century remains protected within London's green belt
.
(DEFRA) confirmed that cattle on farmland within the parish were found to be infected with foot-and-mouth disease
. This was the first outbreak of its kind in the U.K. for six years.
Normandy Tennis Club,
Normandy Train Club,
Normandy Historians http://www.normandyhistorians.co.uk/,
Normandy Cricket Club,
Normandy Football Club,
Normandy Scouts http://1stnormandy.org.uk/ and
Normandy Archery.
Normandy lacks any shops for the purchase of food and other essentials, following the closure of several village shops in 2002. However, the village is home to one pub, the 'Duke of Normandy' http://www.thedukeofnormandy.co.uk/ and also boasts a professionally-renowned music and lighting shop, Session Music http://www.sessionmusic.co.uk/index.asp, billing themselves as "the UK's No.1 karaoke specialists", as well as a Hyundai car dealer, 'Normandy Garage' http://www.normandygarage.co.uk/.
. Since 2010 the MP has been Jonathan Lord, a Conservative
. For the purposes of borough council elections (also known as district elections) Normandy is a ward in the Guildford Borough Council
area. Since 1999 the borough councillor has been Diana Lockyer-Nibbs, a Conservative
, who was re-elected in May 2011. In the Surrey County Council Normandy's representative is Nigel Sutcliffe, also a Conservative
. There is also an elected Normandy parish council comprising seven members.
In May 2011 an Independent Candidate David Bilbé stood for election to the Borough Council. He gained 516 votes, thereby reducing the Conservative majority from 590 in 2007 to 15 in 2011. Bilbé stood on a wide range of local issues including Infringement of Green Belt, local village amenities and the impact of the Localism Bill.
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the borough of Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and the name of the largest village in that parish. It lies close to the western edge of the county of Surrey close to the border with Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
and just north of the chalk hill known as the Hog's Back
Hog's Back
The Hog's Back is a part of the North Downs in Surrey, England, that lies between Farnham, Surrey in the west and Guildford in the east.-Name:Compared with the main part of the Downs to the east of it, it is a narrow elongated ridge, hence its name....
. The parish has been home to a number of notable residents, including William Cobbett
William Cobbett
William Cobbett was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist, who was born in Farnham, Surrey. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters" relentlessly...
.
Location
As well as the village of Normandy situated around the crossroads of the Guildford-Aldershot Road (the A323) and Hunts Hill Road and Glaziers Lane, the parish also includes the villages of Christmas PieChristmas Pie
Christmas Pie is a hamlet, in the parish of Normandy in the borough of Guildford in Surrey, England. The curious name of Christmas Pie, which has excited much humorous comment, owes its name to property owned by a prominent local family named Christmas...
, Willey Green, Wyke
Wyke, Surrey
Wyke is a hamlet in Surrey, England. Formerly within the parish of St Peter, Ash, it is now its own ecclesiastical parish , and lies within the civil parish of Normandy....
, Flexford
Flexford
Flexford is a hamlet, in the parish of Normandy in the borough of Guildford in Surrey, England. It has a population of 1,163. Flexford is part of one of two wards that are within the Guildford borough but are represented by the Member of Parliament for Woking....
and Pinewoods. With the exception of Pinewoods, the hamlets of the parish, although distinct, are strung together a continuous line of largely residential properties. Pinewoods remains separated by much open land and is close to Ash
Ash, Surrey
Ash is a village and civil parish in the borough of Guildford, Surrey, with a population of 17,549 according to the 2001 census. It is at the far west of the Guildford borough, and the urban development in the parish runs directly into Aldershot, which is on the western side of the River...
.
It lies on the A323 between Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
and Aldershot
Aldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
. In the south of the parish, between Normandy village and Flexford, stands Wanborough railway station
Wanborough railway station
Wanborough railway station is situated in Flexford in Surrey, England and serves the village of Normandy to the north and Wanborough to the south. The station is served by South West Trains, who manage the station, and by First Great Western...
, so called because the owner of the land in which the station was built in fact lived in Wanborough, Surrey
Wanborough, Surrey
Wanborough is a small hamlet in Surrey approximately 6 km west of Guildford on the northern slopes of the Hog's Back. Neighbouring villages include: Puttenham and Christmas Pie...
, a small village very close to Normandy but in the adjoining parish. Development locally is restricted as the village lies within the Metropolitan Green Belt
Metropolitan Green Belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It includes designated parts of Greater London and the surrounding counties of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey in the South East and East of England regions.-History:The...
. Normandy Common lies to the north of the village; to the south there is mainly arable
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
farmland.
History
There is evidence on the parishes eastern border of Romano-British occupation in the form of temple remains. In late Saxon England the lands were within the holdings of Earl GodwinEarl Godwin
Earl Godwin is the name of:* Earl Godwin , American radio newsman, commentator, and announcer* Godwin, Earl of Wessex , one of the most powerful lords in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great and his successors...
, father of King Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England.It could be argued that Edgar the Atheling, who was proclaimed as king by the witan but never crowned, was really the last Anglo-Saxon king...
. Later, the Domesday Book in its account of the manor of Henley (now represented only by the Henley Park manor house) records that the manor covered large parts of what is now Normandy, as well as Ash; Normandy though was not mentioned by name, the name not being known in the records until 1604. The lands remained within the ancient manor of Henley until the end of the 14th century. At this time the manor of Cleygate began to be carved out of the manor of Henley. As a manor, Cleygate is first mentioned when Henry VI
Henry VI
Henry VI may refer to:* Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor .* Henry VI of Luxembourg, Count of Luxembourg, * Henry VI of England...
granted the manor to his uterine brother, Jasper the Earl of Pembroke. After Jasper was attainted by Edward IV his lands were forfeited, but were passed back to him in 1485 when his attainder was reversed. After that, the Manor passed through a number of hands, reverting to the crown on more than one occasion.
As a parish, the history of Normandy is the combined history of its constituent hamlets which in modern times include Christmas Pie, Flexford, Willey Green, Wyke, Pinewoods and Normandy proper. Wyke appeared in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as Wucca, a hide (approximately 120 acres) held by Godric from Earl Roger. The Domesday Book mentioned a hall which is thought to have been where East Wyke Farm now stands and where remains of Surrey White Ware pottery have been found. Names such as Wuccha, Wicca, Week and Wick have been used, some of which are preserved in place names in the hamlet (such as Weekwood). Finally Wyke was settled upon, and this too is the name of the ecclesiastical parish that has covered Normandy since 1847, that of St Mark's Wyke. Flexford was once called Flaxford, itself a corruption of "flax vard", meaning flax meadows by a stream. The ancient industry here was the creation of linen from flax. Christmas Pie is the name of the southwestern hamlet of the parish and is named after the Christmas family, who are named often in the court records of the Manor of Cleygate from 1513 onwards. Pie is derived from the Saxon term "pightel" meaning a small piece of arable land. Prior to 1920 there was no hamlet here but there was a field called "Pie Field" near the crossroads of Westwood Lane and Flexford Lane, once owned by the Christmas famiy, hence the name of the hamlet was derived. Pinewoods developed around the beerhouse called the Nightingale in the far west of the parish in the nineteenth century. The woods from which it derives its name are only to be found to the north of the hamlet and this hamlet developed in isolation from the rest of the parish and is still separated from the other hamlets by open land. The buildings of the Nightingale pub remain but now house an Indian restaurant. Willey Green is situated at the lowest point of the parish and was once prone to flooding. Being so located made this area damp and ideal conditions for willow trees to grow and this is where the hamlet derives its name, as the place where willows grow. Now the easternmost part of the hamlet, until the twentieth century it was the westernmost portion of the neighbouring parish of Worplesdon
Worplesdon
Worplesdon is a village in Surrey, England, located three miles north of Guildford. Worplesdon is also the name of the parish that also includes the settlements of Fairlands, Jacobs Well, Perry Hill, and Wood Street Village. Nearby villages include Pirbright and Deepcut, with significant military...
. Ironically, the derivation of the village name of Normandy itself is the least sure. The public house called the Duke of Normandy, built in the 1860s, is named after the village rather than a similar source to the village name. It has been suggested that the monks of the Abbey of Waverley named the village after their homeland in northern France because it resembled Normandy's countryside in appearance. However, the Abbey's lands did not extend to Normandy. The court records of the Manor of Cleygate, dating from 1513, first mention Normandy in 1604 when referring to the Normandy Causeway, which had previously been called the Frimsworth Causeway. In the same year a garden in Normandy is referred to. Frimsworth was an older recorded settlement name, and had also been known as Frymsworth and Frymlesworth. However, it coexisted for some time with the village of Normandy and historians are satisfied that the two names referred to different parts of the parish. Frimsworth itself no longer exists as an appellation for any area of the village, but was located between Normandy and Willey Green. Normandy originally referred to the area around Normandy Common and the manor house known as Normandy Farm, once leased to William Cobbett
William Cobbett
William Cobbett was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist, who was born in Farnham, Surrey. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters" relentlessly...
. Local historians have suggested that Normandy Common may be the same common referred to in Cleygate records as a part of the Manor in the north and west "lately called Noebodies Common." Such an appellation would be applied because the area was on the boundary of two manors and as such might also be referred to as "No Man's Land" which they speculate has been corrupted to Normandy.
By the time the final part of the Manor of Cleygate was sold to the War Department
War Department
War Department may refer to:* War Department * United States Department of War - See also :* War Office , a former department of the British Government...
in 1876, most of the Manor had been sold to private individuals, and that included much of what is now the parish of Normandy. The three private estates making up the parish were those of Henley Park, Westwood and Normandy Park. Normandy Farm was the final home of the early 19th century radical reformer and agrarian William Cobbett
William Cobbett
William Cobbett was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist, who was born in Farnham, Surrey. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters" relentlessly...
, the author of Rural Rides.
Into the twentieth century Normandy retained is agricultural base. The locality of Normandy was considered for the site of a "New Town
New towns in the United Kingdom
Below is a list of some of the new towns in the United Kingdom created under the various New Town Acts of the 20th century. Some earlier towns were developed as Garden Cities or overspill estates early in the twentieth century. The New Towns proper were planned to disperse population following the...
" to be called "New Norman" in the 1943 Town and Country Plan produced by the Surrey Federation of Labour Parties. However, this did not come to pass and the village into the twenty-first century remains protected within London's green belt
Green belt
A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...
.
Foot-and-mouth outbreak
On 3 August 2007 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom...
(DEFRA) confirmed that cattle on farmland within the parish were found to be infected with foot-and-mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease or hoof-and-mouth disease is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids...
. This was the first outbreak of its kind in the U.K. for six years.
Within Normandy
Normandy with its rural setting has many footpaths, bridleways and other small roads suitable for horse riding, cycling and walking. It is the start point of the Christmas Pie trail which leads you into Guildford via a trail through woods, commons and meadows. Normandy also has many things to do with many clubs (especially sport) set up throughout the Village. This includes:Normandy Tennis Club,
Normandy Train Club,
Normandy Historians http://www.normandyhistorians.co.uk/,
Normandy Cricket Club,
Normandy Football Club,
Normandy Scouts http://1stnormandy.org.uk/ and
Normandy Archery.
Normandy lacks any shops for the purchase of food and other essentials, following the closure of several village shops in 2002. However, the village is home to one pub, the 'Duke of Normandy' http://www.thedukeofnormandy.co.uk/ and also boasts a professionally-renowned music and lighting shop, Session Music http://www.sessionmusic.co.uk/index.asp, billing themselves as "the UK's No.1 karaoke specialists", as well as a Hyundai car dealer, 'Normandy Garage' http://www.normandygarage.co.uk/.
Events in Normandy
Normandy has an annual Guy Fawkes Night firework display located in a field http://www.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=51%C2%B015'3.36%22N+0%C2%B039'47.15%22W&sll=53.981935,-4.042969&sspn=14.214301,39.111328&ie=UTF8&ll=51.25093,-0.663106&spn=0.007373,0.019097&t=h&z=16&iwloc=A at the back of The Elms Centre on Glaziers Lane. Car parking is available at The Elms Centre car park during this time. The event usually takes place on the 5th November every year. During the event, volunteers would parade down a bridleway next to the field holding torches, and would throw the torches onto the large bonfire to light it. The fireworks are all set off by hand, not by electronics.Education
Wyke Primary School, founded in 1875, is a school for boys and girls aged 4–11. It is situated on the outskirts of Normandy village and welcomes children from the local community and from the surrounding areas.Politics
Normandy falls within the Woking parliamentary constituencyWoking (UK Parliament constituency)
Woking is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
. Since 2010 the MP has been Jonathan Lord, a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. For the purposes of borough council elections (also known as district elections) Normandy is a ward in the Guildford Borough Council
Guildford (borough)
Guildford is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. It is named after Guildford where its council is based....
area. Since 1999 the borough councillor has been Diana Lockyer-Nibbs, a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, who was re-elected in May 2011. In the Surrey County Council Normandy's representative is Nigel Sutcliffe, also a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. There is also an elected Normandy parish council comprising seven members.
In May 2011 an Independent Candidate David Bilbé stood for election to the Borough Council. He gained 516 votes, thereby reducing the Conservative majority from 590 in 2007 to 15 in 2011. Bilbé stood on a wide range of local issues including Infringement of Green Belt, local village amenities and the impact of the Localism Bill.