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Silk Mill Cottage is a Grade II listed building (6th June 1978). It is only accessible from the A3 and shares a driveway with Warren Mere. Silk Mill Cottage at the time of its sale in 1978 Silk Mill Cottage was once part of the Warren Mere Estate. The pdf below contains details of the sales of Warren Mere and Silk Mill Cottage over the past 100 years or so:

The house dates back to the 16th Century and was extensively remodelled in the Arts and Crafts style in 1897 and extended in 1909 by Sir Edwin Lutyens. It is a Grade II listed building (3rd May 1973) This article covers the involvement in the house and garden by Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll: "Warren Lodge" Estate for sale in 1920 This pdf contains sale particulars and contracts for the sale of Warren Mere and Silk Mill Cottage over the last 100 years: Newspaper article about the sale of the house in 2015/16 Country Life's headline to the article below Country Life article dated April 16, 2019: https://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/one-lutyens-first-country-houses-mere-two-miles-away-family-home-194948 Sales brochure, undated, for Warren Mere: Warren Mere has been a wedding venue: https://www.whiterabbit-events.co.uk/exclusive-wedding-venues/warren-mere/ The property is currently (March 2024) available to rent from Savills: https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gbfarefal220025l

The History of Thursley Society mounted an exhibition of the history of weddings in Thursley Church since 1613. Stories of weddings appear in the pdfs and photographs below but also some appear as separate blogs and can be found by searching Wedding Belles. With the launch of the website, we have taken the opportunity of adding weddings both before and after 2007. If you were married at St Michael's and All Angels and would like your wedding featured, please send photographs and a description via the website. Early Weddings The Squarson: The wedding of Francis Gooch & Catherine Paine, 28th April, 1868 Sir Alfred Giles's daughters: 1872, 1885 and 1887 The Fosberry family weddings: 1873, 1894 and 1949 A Farm wedding: George Warner & Edith Keen, 5th June, 1909 The weddings of the Reeds: 1909, 1957, 1960 and 1963 Father of the Bride: the wedding of Gerard Staveley Gordon & Marjorie Worsley Smith, 10th November, 1920 The Rapleys: the wedding of Vernon Rapley & Margaret Walters, 20th September, 1923 Mr Henry Walters and his daughter, Margaret High Society: the wedding of Richard Henry Anstruther Morris-Markham & Miss Iris Rose Sophia Larking, 22nd June, 1929 Three Wedding Gems: 1939, 1953 and 1971 The wedding of Leonard Raggett & Elizabeth Keen, 23rd March 1940 One Wife or Two? The wedding of Lawrence Pink & Evie Hayter, 1st October 1941 Canadian Union: the wedding of Charles Campbell Graham & Helen Elizabeth Keen, 17th August 1943 Robbie and Eddie: the wedding of Robert Patterson Morgan & Edna Madeleine Hall, 8th June 1946 The wedding of Bertram Webb & Joan Good, 1st September 1956 The wedding of Stephen Waters & Maureen Cottle, 16th August 1961 The wedding of Richard Timberlake & Anne Jobson, 23rd April 1966 The weddings of the Ransons of Bowlhead Green 1969, 1974 and 1992 The wedding of John Gunner & Kay Cottle, 26th September 1973 The wedding of Andrew Constable & Mary Lintott, 6th July 1974 Wedding at The Corner: Harry McNeilly and Jane Watson, 29th May 1976 A highland wedding: David Corbett & Peggy James, 26th September, 1976 The wedding of Peter John Goble & Teresa Ellen Boxall, 17th October 1981 The wedding of Michael and Debbie Spencer, 22nd May 1993 The wedding of Andrew Storey and Jillian Bird, 31st July, 1993 The Vicar's View The wedding of Philip & Angela Traill, née Burry, 11th September, 1993 The wedding of Stephen and Julie Langley, 9th September, 2000 The weddings of the Hall Brothers: 16th October 2004 & 1st April 2005 The Wakeley Weddings, 2006, Joe and Melissa The wedding of Simon Treadwell and Anne Finnerup, 23rd May 2015 The wedding of Peter and Jacqueline Rickenberg, 30th June 2018 The Ultimate Wedding Gift... On the 16th July 1702, Thomas Francis married Sarah Wheeler in Farnham. Two days beforehand on the 14th July 1702, a document was signed which was a marriage settlement (dowry) on Pitlands Farm (now Punch Bowl Farm) where Nicholas Wheeler has given Thomas Francis, Pitlands Farm "and all tenements, messuages, stables etc" on his daughter Sarah Wheeler. Beats being given a toaster!

This article written by Jackie Rickenberg was published in the Thursley Parish Magazine, August 2024 If you haven’t yet checked out the Wedding Belles exhibition on our website, it’s really worth a look. It was put on over the course of a weekend in 2007 and was a collection of photographs and stories of couples married in our beautiful church of St Michaels and All Angels. If you or anyone you know has been married in the church since 2007, and would like to have a photograph included, please send all the information to: davidjohnyoung51@hotmail.com Of course, there were and are lots of people living in the village who did not get married here and this story is one such example. It is the romantic wedding story of a young couple, Captain Alastair Banks MC RHA and Corporal Ann Crichton WAAF, during World War 2, who then at some time in the future moved to Thursley (Springs in Pitch Place to be exact) and lived out the remainder of their lives here. Both were born in 1920 and Ann died in 1998 and Alastair in 2002. Both were very involved in village life for many, many years and are buried in Thursley churchyard. Their story was given to Sally Scheffers, by them, to be included in the first VE/VJ Day exhibition in 1995, celebrating 50 years. Prudent timing as we have just celebrated the 80th anniversary, plus also, their wedding took place in this month, the 12th August 1944. “By 1944 standards it was no ordinary wedding. The Second World War had been raging for five years. Two months earlier, the Allies had finally opened the Second Front with the invasion of France on D-Day. The 23-year-old Captain Alistair Banks, who had been attached to a Royal Marine Commando unit, had gone ashore at Ouistreham on June 6th – to be welcomed by a German shell. He left France fairly sharpish, with fragments of metal in his legs and head. He was sent to convalesce at Somerley Park, a large house near Ringwood, Hants. By August he was up and about but still on crutches. Meanwhile, Corporal Ann Crichton WAAF, his fiancée of six months – also 23 – was stationed at RAF Rudloe Manor near Box, where she worked in an underground bunker as a plotter. When she heard that Alastair had been wounded, she went AWOL (absent without leave) – but that’s another story. During July, she and her great friend Flight Sergeant Eleanor Higgins hitch-hiked several times to Ringwood to see the wounded soldier. During these visits it became clear that Alastair was going to be sent back to his unit in France within a month, so they decided to get married as soon as possible. Easier said than done in wartime. There were shortages of all kinds. Food was seriously rationed – one egg a month, one ounce of butter a week; clothing could only be obtained with coupons which were hard to come by; and film (for wedding photos) was rare as hens’ teeth. Those weren’t the only problems facing the young couple. There were fatherly objections to the match from both sides. Dr Banks said the marriage would impede Alastair’s regular army career. Officers were not expected to marry before they were thirty – and, if they did, the army wouldn’t give them a marriage allowance. Dr Crichton thought that Alastair’s head wound was likely to send him potty. However, in the spirit of the times, the forced on regardless. The formidable Granny Banks, then living at Burstall near Ipswich, moved into action. She decided that Bath Abbey possessed the requisite social cachet for her grandson to get married there. She had lived in Bath during the First World War; her sons Ian and Ronald had been born and christened there. She began to telephone the relevant people in Bath – the Archdeacon, for example, and the manager of the Pump Rooms where the reception was to be held. Meanwhile, just as it looked as though Granny Banks was going to hijack the whole affair, Ann ran into her cousin “Rockhouse” Jim and his wife Patricia, who had been living in Bath since they were married a couple of years previously. When the capable Patricia heard that Ann was getting married, she immediately offered to help. For a start, she lent Ann her wedding dress. It had to be taken in a few inches but where else does an impecunious WAAF corporal get a wedding dress in wartime Bath? There was no time for banns to be called, and the couple had no money for a special licence. So, some jiggery-pokery was called for. The only legal way of achieving the desired result was for Ann and Alastair to go through a Registry Office in Chippenham. In those days, Registry Offices were not like today’s more elegant premises. The Chippenham one was dingy and there appeared to be boxes of kippers stacked in one corner. The witnesses were Eleanor and one of Alastair’s Royal Marine comrades. Owing to the emotional nature of the occasion, Alastair and the Marine had fortified the inner man and as a result were running fractionally behind schedule. Ann had her rollers in under her WAAF hat. The mists of history have closed over some of the ensuing events. Suffice to say that A) they were duly – and officially – married, B) there was an altercation over a highly polished Sam Browne belt, and C) a brand-new wedding ring found its way – temporarily – into a gutter in Chippenham. The sun, as Alastair is forever reminding his children, always rises again tomorrow, as it did on this occasion. Chippenham was forgotten, and Bath Abbey awaited. There hadn’t been any time for proper invitations. It was almost impossible to get time off. And, even if you could get leave, it was almost impossible to travel. So, the guest list comprised only very close family, Ann’s WAAF friends, and Alastair’s Royal Marine colleagues who by coincidence were quartered next door to the WAAF camp at Box (the fence between the two camps had a substantial number of person-sized holes in it!). It was the time of Doodlebug raids on London. Some braved the horrors of wartime travel to get to the wedding. Ann’s sister Liz, nobly travelled on a train from Scotland, standing all the way. She couldn’t even stay for the reception as she had to get back to her WAAF unit the same day. Ann’s friend Diana Miller came up from Devon to be Matron of Honour. Alastair’s Best Man was going to be his battery commander (also recovering from wounds received in Normandy) but, almost at the last moment, brother Peter arrived literally out of the blue, having flown over in a Mustang fighter from his forward airfield in Normandy. So, he became Best Man. Peter had arrived in the flying gear he stood up in, so an urgent request went out to the Royal Marines for a pair of boots. The boots – size 13 – duly squeaked fiendishly all the way down the aisle. Granny Banks meanwhile had whisked Peter into Moss Bros or the equivalent and hired a service uniform for the occasion. The wedding in the Abbey, conducted by the Archdeacon himself, was stupendous. On one side were the light blue uniforms of the bride’s WAAF friends, and on the other side were the dark blue uniforms of the bridegroom’s Royal Marines. For the reception, the resourceful Patricia scrounged food supplies from friends, and her husband and Grandpa Banks organised booze from nowhere. Granny Banks talked the local newspaper into sending a photographer to take one or two pictures, and Ann’s WAAF friends contributed one clothing coupon each towards her rather fetching French blue going-away outfit. After the reception in the famous Pump Rooms, Peter beetled off to fetch his Mustang and returned to circle the Abbey at an alarmingly low level, doing a victory roll and weaving round its towers – much to the dismay of Granny Banks and others. He later explained that there were no markings on his plane so he knew he could get away with it. The happy couple caught the train to Cornwall for the honeymoon, standing wedged in the corridor all the way to Plymouth. Alastair had a fortnight’s leave but Ann had only one week. The second week was punctuated by telegrams from the RAF, ordering Corporal Crichton to return to duty immediately. Ann – or Corporal Banks, as she now was – gaily tore them up, knowing that her unit was no longer playing a vital role in the war effort. On return to duty, however, she was put on a charge for going AWOL (again!) but got away with it by weeping copiously when up before the Wing Commander. Her punishment? – the word “Admonished” stamped in her paybook. Almost immediately after the honeymoon, Alastair was posted to 6th RHA in Norfolk, and finally after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing rejoined his own regiment, 4th RHA. Ann and Alastair didn’t meet again until after the German surrender in May 1945 when she was reunited with him in Germany where he was stationed. For 50 years, they shared their lives, the majority of it in Thursley”.

Photographs only of this Grade II listed building (28th October, 1986) Hedge Farm in 2002 Photograph by Sean Edwards The current owner has expanded and renovated the property since 2002. It enjoys this spectacular view: Photographs taken in 2024:

On Thursday, 20th February 2025, at 7:30pm Marion O'Brien and Amanda Flint-Roberts will be giving a talk in the Church. This article, written by Jackie Rickenberg, first appeared in the Parish Magazine in February 2025 St Michael and All Angles, John Hassell 1824 Please, if you haven’t already done so, could you put Thursday the 20th February into your diaries. Marion O’Brien and Amanda Flint-Roberts will be giving a talk in our beautiful church about …...our beautiful church, as it approaches it millennium. It starts at 7.30pm and the History Society will be collecting donations on the door. No need to book, just turn up to learn more about the amazing history of this ancient building at the centre of our village.   Our archives have recently moved (I could tell you where but …) and it has given us an opportunity to delve deep into its contents. Now and again, amongst the deeds and the official documents, a little piece of magic is unearthed and this is one such piece. It is a photocopy of an original hand-written record, not particularly old, but nonetheless, intriguing. It is not signed or dated and it is in little random paragraphs, full of past church life.   “The churchyard wall along the road used to have iron rings set in it at intervals, for horses to be tied to during services. Now, alas, all have disappeared. Lionel Rapley told me that when he was a young man attending a funeral, the gravedigger had dug the hole too small, so that during interment the coffin got stuck and nothing would free it. The gravedigger then jumped up and down on it and bashed it with a shovel, to no more avail than was the highly infunereal language he used throughout. He had to get down to it and dig the hole properly! Lionel Rapley told me that one Sunday when he was a young man, the congregation wondered why the vicar was so late for Matins, and the reason was that since he drove like a bat out of hell, he had overturned his coach in The Street on the way up to the church. A year before the bells were recast and overhauled we were forbidden to ring them because of their dilapidated state, as there was a real danger that they would break from their head stocks and descend to the floor of the nave. During the ministry of Bill Mills a bird flew into Matins one morning. After teasing the vicar considerably, it settled on the steps of the pulpit during the sermon. The vicar, a better cricketer than footballer, took a kick at it and missed. During the last hymn it settled on Mr Rapley’s head as he played the organ, and in fending it off he dislodged the fall, which being extremely heavy, descended on his hands. This brought the service to an unconventional close. Before the advent of the fundraising scheme known as Christian Stewardship, the finances of the church were in such poor shape that only the most pressing fabric repairs could be undertaken and the school, now in the village hall, was sold to the council because the church could not afford to keep the roof repaired. In those days the only way of raising money was by a Day of Gifts when a bucket was placed beside the font for donors to use. Strict anonymity was observed and the total raised was not very large. Some time ago the weather vane on the church steeple had for many years been stationary. This annoyed Christopher Watson, who lived at The Lodge, so much, that eventually he financed its removal and had it repaired to its present operational condition. For many years there was a line of elms along the south side of the churchyard, which shut out the sun and made the “new” part of the churchyard constantly damp and dark. The trees were felled about twelve years ago, making the bright and attractive end to the churchyard we have today. Since elms have a way of raising up as saplings after felling, it is much to be hoped that they will be kept clipped. The crocuses just inside the churchyard gate were planted by Mrs Malins who lived with her daughter and son-in-law, Mr Jobson, at Foldown. Though she has gone, her crocuses are a constant delight to us all in the Spring. On the altar there used to be two brass candlesticks which were part of a matching set which included the cross. The candlesticks were both stolen about ten years ago. Other vandalism from time to time has included smashing of the stained-glass windows in the chancel and North Aisle, smashing open the organ and vestry with attempts to open the safe, and immeasurable attempts on the alms box, as the many jemmy marks on the surrounding stonework testify. The best way of guarding against such damage is by unpremeditated visits, and restricting entry of the church to all and sundry”. It would seem that there have been many dramas in our church’s life throughout the years but we’re delighted to report that it is currently in a healthy financial position and that any repairs are dealt with promptly by our marvellous Clerk of Works, Simon Treadwell. The current Parochial Church Council, headed up by our wonderful Rev Hannah, oversee all Church matters and we are delighted and appreciative that this historic church is open daily for villagers and visitors alike.

This interesting document shows who lived where in 2002. If you are relatively new to the Parish, you might like to know who once lived in your house... This shows the addresses covered in the document An example of a page

On major occasions, Thursley History Society sometimes produces exhibitions which are invariably displayed in the village hall. The photographs below are of the display boards for an exhibition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War 1, July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918. Beneath these is a list of Thursley villagers who went to war and photographs of headstones of some of the fallen provided by The National Archive. See also 'Thursley Remembers'. These three posters, produced for the exhibition, are A3 size so there are pdfs below should better clarity be required: The following articles were written by the then Incumbent, the Reverend Charles K Watson, for the September and October 1914 issues of the Thursley Parish Magazines.

The garage was situated on the old A3 opposite the The Red Lion. It was owned for many years by Reg Cottle who recorded many of the tragic accidents that not only occurred along the A3, especially alongside the Devil's Punch Bowl, but also literally impacted his garage and the pub opposite as can be seen from the articles and photographs below. NB: All of these documents and also the ones referred to in Reg Cottle and the Red Lion Garage are in the physical archive in a box marked "Red Lion Papers". And here are two of Reg Cottle's photographs of the vehicle above being recovered: On the rear of the second photograph, Kay Gunner has written, "Before they built a bank round the Punch Bowl bend, cars used to go over and down into the bowl. The breakdown is parked on the footpath and the rear view is of Don Keen". 1950s. Reg kept an album recording many of the tragic accidents and the wrecks that he recovered over the years. Here are some examples and the entire album is in the pdf below: The press reported on these tragic accidents as can be viewed in the pdfs below: Unfortunately, many of the cuttings do not include either the source or date but the pdf below featuring the death of a husband and wife was from the Farnham Herald, May 5th, 1967: And this was from the Surrey Daily Advertiser, September 6th, 1974 Reg liked all sorts of mechanical tool, instruments and engines and this extended to short wave radio which helped to catch a thief!: April 27, 1954 More details are in the attached pdf:

Tuesday 1st October 2019 On their first visit to the UK, The American Lutyens Trust selected Thursley, where Lutyens grew up, to start their tour and view his early architectural work. Many were architects in their own right and were enchanted by both the village and its hospitality. Coffee was served in Sallie Roles barn followed by a walk through the village, accompanied by Martin Lutyens, past Prospect Cottage (The Institute) , Street House (where Lutyens grew up), through the gardens of Corner House (his first architectural commission) and up to the Church and Luytens's connections in the graveyard. This was followed by a delightful lunch in the pub, much enjoyed by everyone. One of the party had a small piece of glass and a sharpened piece of soap, the tools used by Lutyens in his teenage years wandering around the local countryside, who demonstrated how Lutyens copied the local architecture to provide him in later years with a source of architectural details. Christmas card sent to Mr and Mrs Anthony Langdale in 2024

Reg Cottle was the proprietor of the Red Lion Garage on the Old Portsmouth Road from 1934 until his retirement in 1980. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was called up by the Royal Tank Corps. However, the farmers of Thursley made such a clamour at the loss of the one man who could keep their farm machinery running that the authorities hastily released him. The documents below show the trajectory of his work and challenges running the Red Lion Garage and end with tributes from his family. NB: All of these documents and also the ones referred to in The Red Lion Garage, Reg Cottle and many road traffic accidents are in the physical archive in a box marked "Red Lion Papers". Reg covered a radius of about 20 miles and worked very long hours, mostly 7 days a week. It was often difficult to obtain spare parts for the farm tractors, machinery and generators, but Reg was such a resourceful man that he would often make them himself. His garage petrol pumps were commandeered for military use, so Reg had to drive to Godalming for his petrol. Many tanks churned up the forecourt of the Red Lion Garage and each one had to be refuelled by manually turning the pump handle. Not the most popular job in those days! More photographs: Licence to keep Petroleum Spirit, 1934 Compulsory Purchase 1938: Licence to keep Petroleum, 1939 Rating Notice, 1947: Signage - Reg faced a number of planning issues over the years: Reg Cottle recovered many damaged cars from the A3 and the Devil's Punch Bowl but his garage was not immune from accidents: Rent increase, 1958 Site Plan 1958: Reg Cottle acquires the Red Lion Garage in 1959: Compulsory Purchase Orders and Opinions 1969 - 1972; there are 28 pages of documents in the pdf below: Undated Red Lion site plan: Correspondence relating to signage for the garage between The Right Honourable Maurice Macmillan, MP, and The Right Honourable Anthony Crosland, Secretary of State for the Environment. The letter below to Reg Cottle shows the disappointing result: Closure and sale of the business; Reg Cottle retires: Reg Cottle, a tribute by Maureen Waters (daughter), Chalie Waters (granddaughter), John Gunner (son-in-law) and Jamie Banks (friend A eulogy (unattributed) for Elsie Cottle: Growing up in Thursley by Maureen Elsie Cottle: The scans above can be found together in this pdf:

Published by The History of Thursley Society in October 2008 and written by Edmund Haviland and many others, see contents list below. Read here...