Westhumble
Encyclopedia
Westhumble is a village
situated 2 km (1.2 mi) north of Dorking
in Surrey
, England
. Neighbouring villages include Mickleham
and Great Bookham
. The census area Mickleham, Westhumble and Pixham has a population of 1,932.
The area is served by Box Hill & Westhumble railway station.
With large country fields, meadows and National Trust
landmarks, such as Box Hill
and Polesden Lacey
close by, Westhumble is a focus for ramblers. The Mole Gap Trail
runs through the village, the North Downs Way
runs less than 0.25 mi (0.402335 km) to the south and the railway station is the end point for the Thames Down Link
from Kingston upon Thames
.
Fanny Burney
, the 18th-century novelist, built a house in the village in 1797 with her husband, the French general, Alexandre D'Arblay.
The physicist and astronomer Sir James Jeans and his wife, the organist Susi Jeans
lived at Cleveland Lodge. Susi Jeans hosted an annual music festival at Cleveland Lodge from 1954; initially known as the Mickleham and Westhumble Festival, it was renamed the Boxhill Music Festival in 1966. The final festival was held in June 1992 a few months before her death in January 1993.
period, which was discovered in 1952 during building work in Burney Road. The discovery of a Flint Mine at East Horsley and flakes of flint found at Fetcham
and Headley Heath of the same period, suggest that this part of the North Downs
had been settled by the late Stone Age (10 000-3000 BC).
The earliest mention of the village is in the Assizes Rolls
of 1248, in which it appears as Wystumble. The name is thought to derive from the Old English wice meaning wych elm and the Middle English
stumbel meaning tree stump. The village is not explicitly mentioned in Domesday Book
, however there are two separate entries for the Parish of Mickleham
, in which much of the village is located, and it is probable that the second of these refers to Westhumble. The medieval village was centred on the present-day mid-point of Adlers Lane with gently sloping fields to the north and south. The identity of the manor house is unclear, however there are repeated references to Hadlers Hall and later Audlers Hole in the Court Roll
records. It has been suggested that the hall was the original manor house. There is no trace of the house today.
The oldest building is the ruined chapel at the extreme west end of the village, of which only the west gable and parts of the east end remain. The chapel was probably not part of the medieval manor of Westhumble, but was located in the manor of Polesden (centred on Chapel Farm, which is of medieval origin). Reference is made in the Surrey Feet of Fines
during the reign of King John 1199-1216 to "Adam the canon in Fecham and Polesdene" a subordinate of the Prior of Merton
and it is probable that the chapel was the responsibility of this Canon
. The chapel is thought to have been built during the late twelfth or early thirteenth century for the use of villagers, particularly when floods prevented them from reaching the Parish Church
in Mickleham. Six skeletons were found during an archaeological survey in 1937 and the manner in which they were interred suggests that they were ordinary local burials. Clay cooking pots and jugs dating from around 1300 and a silver penny dating from 1544–1547 during the reign of Henry VIII
were also found on the site. The chapel was probably abandoned as a place of worship during the mid-sixteenth century, although part of it was probably used as a farm outbuilding for some time. Repairs to the remaining walls were carried out during 1938 and the site is now owned by the National Trust.
Much of the early history of the village is uncertain, because the manorial records were deliberately destroyed by fire in 1776. During the late Middle Ages and Early Modern periods, it would appear that the focal point of the village shifted half a mile eastwards from Adlers Lane to Westhumble Street. The shift in position may have reflected the growing importance of the north-south road through the Mole Gap and the relative decrease in importance of the east-west route along the North Downs
. Although the turnpike
through the valley was not completed until 1755, the route was regularly being used to transport goods including charcoal and poultry to Kingston and London by the 14th century. For much of the winter the ford across the River Mole would have been impassable and so a secondary route on higher ground along the western side of the valley was used, of which Westhumble Street formed the southernmost part. The name Westhumble Street is first recorded in 1736 (some 19 years before the construction of the turnpike) and the use of the word street in the context of a village of this period, suggests that the road surface was improved with metalling. It seems likely that the villagers sought to take advantage of the passing trade and the movement of the village centre was confirmed with the construction of the new manor house, Camilla Lacey, north of Chapel Lane in 1816.
Much of the modern village dates from the two decades following the breakup and sale of the Camilla Lacey estate in 1932 following the death of the owner Victor Freeman. By the outbreak of World War II, most of the houses in Pilgrims Way had been built although those in Burney Road, Adlers Lane and Pilgrims Close were not constructed until the late 1940s.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
situated 2 km (1.2 mi) north of Dorking
Dorking
Dorking is a historic market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately south of London, in Surrey, England.- History and development :...
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...
. Neighbouring villages include Mickleham
Mickleham, Surrey
Mickleham is a village and civil parish between the towns of Dorking and Leatherhead in Surrey, England covering . The parish includes the hamlet of Fredley.-History:Mickleham lies near to the old Roman road known as Stane Street...
and Great Bookham
Great Bookham
-Today:The village has a high street, located in Great Bookham, which is, as its name suggests, the larger of the two villages. It has two butchers, a family run fishmongers and two traditional greengrocers...
. The census area Mickleham, Westhumble and Pixham has a population of 1,932.
The area is served by Box Hill & Westhumble railway station.
With large country fields, meadows and National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
landmarks, such as Box Hill
Box Hill, Surrey
Box Hill is a summit of the North Downs in Surrey, approximately south west of London. The hill takes its name from the ancient box woodland found on the steepest west-facing chalk slopes overlooking the River Mole. The western part of the hill is owned and managed by the National Trust, whilst...
and Polesden Lacey
Polesden Lacey
Polesden Lacey is an Edwardian house and estate. It is located on the North Downs at Great Bookham, near Dorking, Surrey, England. It is owned and run by the National Trust and is one of the Trust's most popular properties....
close by, Westhumble is a focus for ramblers. The Mole Gap Trail
Mole Gap Trail
The Mole Gap Trail is a official walking route alongside the River Mole, linking the Surrey towns of Dorking and Leatherhead. The trail is marked on Ordnance Survey maps. The trail runs through Norbury Park, the village of Westhumble and across Denbies Wine Estate.-See also:*Long-distance...
runs through the village, the North Downs Way
North Downs Way
The North Downs Way is a long-distance path in southern England, opened in 1978. It runs from Farnham to Dover, past Godalming, Guildford, Dorking, Merstham, Otford and Rochester, along the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Kent Downs AONB.East of Boughton Lees, the path splits...
runs less than 0.25 mi (0.402335 km) to the south and the railway station is the end point for the Thames Down Link
Thames Down Link
The Thames Down Link is a official walking route linking the Thames Path and the North Downs Way. It starts at Kingston upon Thames and finishes at Box Hill & Westhumble railway station.-See also:*Long-distance footpaths in the UK*Thames Path...
from Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
.
Fanny Burney
Fanny Burney
Frances Burney , also known as Fanny Burney and, after her marriage, as Madame d’Arblay, was an English novelist, diarist and playwright. She was born in Lynn Regis, now King’s Lynn, England, on 13 June 1752, to musical historian Dr Charles Burney and Mrs Esther Sleepe Burney...
, the 18th-century novelist, built a house in the village in 1797 with her husband, the French general, Alexandre D'Arblay.
The physicist and astronomer Sir James Jeans and his wife, the organist Susi Jeans
Susi Jeans
Susi Jeans , otherwise Lady Jeans, was an Austrian-born organist, musicologist and noted teacher. Born in Vienna, she was the oldest child of Oscar and Jektaterina Hock. Initially, she trained as a ballet dancer by the modernist teacher Gertrud Bodenwieser, but growing rather rapidly, switched to...
lived at Cleveland Lodge. Susi Jeans hosted an annual music festival at Cleveland Lodge from 1954; initially known as the Mickleham and Westhumble Festival, it was renamed the Boxhill Music Festival in 1966. The final festival was held in June 1992 a few months before her death in January 1993.
History
The earliest archaeological evidence for human activity in the village is a large axe, typical of a "rough-out" axe produced during the NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
period, which was discovered in 1952 during building work in Burney Road. The discovery of a Flint Mine at East Horsley and flakes of flint found at Fetcham
Fetcham
Fetcham is a village in Surrey, England. It is west of Leatherhead, on the other side of the River Mole and Mill Pond springs and the associated nature reserve....
and Headley Heath of the same period, suggest that this part of the North Downs
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...
had been settled by the late Stone Age (10 000-3000 BC).
The earliest mention of the village is in the Assizes Rolls
Assizes (England and Wales)
The Courts of Assize, or Assizes, were periodic criminal courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the Quarter Sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court...
of 1248, in which it appears as Wystumble. The name is thought to derive from the Old English wice meaning wych elm and the Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
stumbel meaning tree stump. The village is not explicitly mentioned in 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...
, however there are two separate entries for the Parish of Mickleham
Mickleham, Surrey
Mickleham is a village and civil parish between the towns of Dorking and Leatherhead in Surrey, England covering . The parish includes the hamlet of Fredley.-History:Mickleham lies near to the old Roman road known as Stane Street...
, in which much of the village is located, and it is probable that the second of these refers to Westhumble. The medieval village was centred on the present-day mid-point of Adlers Lane with gently sloping fields to the north and south. The identity of the manor house is unclear, however there are repeated references to Hadlers Hall and later Audlers Hole in the Court Roll
Manor court
The manor court was the lowest court of law in England . It dealt with matters over which the Lord of the Manor had jurisdiction. Its powers extended only to those living in the manor or who held land at the manor-Basic functions:Each Manor has its own laws listed in a document called the Custamal...
records. It has been suggested that the hall was the original manor house. There is no trace of the house today.
The oldest building is the ruined chapel at the extreme west end of the village, of which only the west gable and parts of the east end remain. The chapel was probably not part of the medieval manor of Westhumble, but was located in the manor of Polesden (centred on Chapel Farm, which is of medieval origin). Reference is made in the Surrey Feet of Fines
Feet of Fines
A Foot of fine is the archival copy of the agreement between two parties in a medieval English lawsuit over land. In the reign of Henry II of England, the royal justices first began the practice of registering the settlement of disagreements over land by having both parties bring a suit before the...
during the reign of King John 1199-1216 to "Adam the canon in Fecham and Polesdene" a subordinate of the Prior of Merton
Merton Priory
Merton Priory was founded in 1114 by Gilbert Norman, Sheriff of Surrey under Henry I. It was located in Merton, Surrey, England at the point where the Roman Stane Street crossed the River Wandle....
and it is probable that the chapel was the responsibility of this Canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
. The chapel is thought to have been built during the late twelfth or early thirteenth century for the use of villagers, particularly when floods prevented them from reaching the Parish Church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in Mickleham. Six skeletons were found during an archaeological survey in 1937 and the manner in which they were interred suggests that they were ordinary local burials. Clay cooking pots and jugs dating from around 1300 and a silver penny dating from 1544–1547 during the reign of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
were also found on the site. The chapel was probably abandoned as a place of worship during the mid-sixteenth century, although part of it was probably used as a farm outbuilding for some time. Repairs to the remaining walls were carried out during 1938 and the site is now owned by the National Trust.
Much of the early history of the village is uncertain, because the manorial records were deliberately destroyed by fire in 1776. During the late Middle Ages and Early Modern periods, it would appear that the focal point of the village shifted half a mile eastwards from Adlers Lane to Westhumble Street. The shift in position may have reflected the growing importance of the north-south road through the Mole Gap and the relative decrease in importance of the east-west route along the North Downs
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...
. Although the turnpike
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
through the valley was not completed until 1755, the route was regularly being used to transport goods including charcoal and poultry to Kingston and London by the 14th century. For much of the winter the ford across the River Mole would have been impassable and so a secondary route on higher ground along the western side of the valley was used, of which Westhumble Street formed the southernmost part. The name Westhumble Street is first recorded in 1736 (some 19 years before the construction of the turnpike) and the use of the word street in the context of a village of this period, suggests that the road surface was improved with metalling. It seems likely that the villagers sought to take advantage of the passing trade and the movement of the village centre was confirmed with the construction of the new manor house, Camilla Lacey, north of Chapel Lane in 1816.
Much of the modern village dates from the two decades following the breakup and sale of the Camilla Lacey estate in 1932 following the death of the owner Victor Freeman. By the outbreak of World War II, most of the houses in Pilgrims Way had been built although those in Burney Road, Adlers Lane and Pilgrims Close were not constructed until the late 1940s.