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January 1960 November 1967 April 1981

WORK IN PROGRESS: See separate entries for Upper Highfield, Lower Highfield, Hedge Farm, Hall Farm Barns, Hill Farm House Photograph by Jill Fry Photographs by Sean Edwards Highfield Bungalows 1 Highfield Bungalows, the home of Adrian, Teresa and George Linegar in 1997 2 Highfield Bungalows, this photograph of Ray and Peggy Stokes was taken in 1993 4 Highfield Bungalows, Eddie Gale photographed in 1997 These, more recent photographs, were taken by Sean Edwards: Hill Farm Cottages The Briary Brian and Mary Sharp, 1997 Hill House David and Catherine Phillimore, 1997 Ronary Ronary Bungalow was built in 1994 and named after Mary Rapley's original home nearby Mary Rapley, 1994 Hilldown Home of the Smarts and the Emersics in 1997 Anne Marie Emersic lives there now Upper Highfield Cottage Sale particulars prepared by Knight Frank in 2024:

In 1981, as part of the pipeline Esso built to carry products from Fawley to Purfleet via Gatwick airport, a trench was dug across Thursley Common. The article below describes the project. From Esso Magazine Number 188 Summer 1981

These walks were created in 2008 and may not now be accurate!

This pamphlet was published by the Nature Conservancy Council: And this by English Nature: PDF of contents below: reference to fires at Thursley SSSI on pages 10 and 11 From Nature Conservation Review Volume 2, 19 77 From Nature Line, Spring 1992

With thanks to Sean Edwards and Jill Fry. Also includes Excavation of Two Mounds on Thursley Common in 1959 Hydon's Ball section and simplified list of strata: 5 Sandstone 6 Large Paludina 7 Sandstone h1e Weald Clay h2a Atherfield Clay h2b Hythe Beds h2c Sandgate Beds These 3D models were made by Sean Edwards in the 1960's and built on a 2' x 1' plywood base, with polystyrene contour layers cut with a craft knife, the steps filled with plaster of Paris, smoothed by hand and painted with acrylic paint. Unfortunately only black and white photographs now exist and the models, borrowed by the 'Fight the Red Route' A3 group, have never re-appeard. The circular pin-head on the Puttenham (Sandgate) beds marks the position of the Three Horseshoes. This article was written in July 1981 by Jill Fry, BSc, as a result of the Esso Pipeline installation across Thursley Common: Soil Profiles Exposed in pipeline Trench July 1981 The article is reproduced in full in the PDF below. Unfortunately the annotated slides no longer exist. PDF of contents is below:

This article was sent to the History of Thursley Society by Francis Haveron of the Surrey Industrial History Group on 18th August 1996. It mentions Silk Mill Cottage, Hammer Pond, Pudmore Pond, Ockley Common and other familiar locations. For further reading on the Wealden Iron industry, we are grateful to David Streeter for these comments, "The Wealden iron industry is extremely well-researched.  The classic work is Ernest Straker's Wealden Iron (1931) which Francis Haveron refers to but the current standard work is Henry Cleere's The Iron Industry of the Weald (1985). It includes several references to Thursley including an establishment date of1608 which accords with the lease date of 1610 quoted in the article as 'lately erected and built'.  However, by far the best recent general account of the industry is Jeremy Hodginson's  The Wealden Iron Industry (2008). It's a less academic book than Cleere, designed to appeal to the  general reader as well as the archaeological minded." When did the Wealden Iron industry final stop in Surrey?  Straker, in his classic book “Wealden Iron” (1931), states that although Ashburnham Forge in Sussex worked till 1820, The last Surrey site seems to be that of Thursley which was working in 1767.  Most writers follow Straker in quoting Thursley as the one but usually say it closed down round about 1800.  A number of leases and legal documents in the Percy Woods Collection* in Godalming library tell us more about the change of ownership of the site in the early 19th C and explain the perhaps surprising name of the house at the site – “Silkmill Cottage”. (SU 918408).   The following is a summary from Straker of the known early history of the Thursley furnace and forge.   “It commences in a lease on May 14th, 1610 as ‘lately erected and built”, probably the last to be set up in Surrey.  There is a mortgage of December 17th 1617 and a deed of March 19th 1623 in which Sir George More of Losely demises the mill to Henry Bell of Milford and in 1641 a suit in Chancery largely concerned with fishing rights in the ponds.  In 1666 the works were leased for two years, at £10 per annum, to Willian Yalden of Blackdown, a considerable ironmaster, with a very detailed inventory which shows there was a furnace as well as a forge.   Roque’s map of Surrey 1762 shows the Portsmouth Road as running between the two large ponds with awkward bends.  Apparently when the road was straightened, it was taken across another pond, not now in existence.”   Deed 129 of the Percy Woods Collection is dated September 24th 1812 and in it Mary Webb of Milford house leased to Robert Brettell Bale, rather surprisingly described as a mathematical instrument maker of the Poultry in the City of London, “the Forge lately converted into and used as a Mill for the manufactory of Crape plus the four ponds plus the Upper Hammers or Hammer Alehouse”.  The words ‘lately converted’ might well be significant though they do not give us the date when the iron working ceased.  Of some minor interest is another concession in the least to Bale – the right to cut ‘thirty two thousand of peat from the Pudmore, being part of the Waste or Common Lands within the Manor of Witley.”  Pudmore Pond is on Ockley Common at approximately SU 907416.   In 1918 Bale gave up his lease which was reassigned to Archibald, John and Hugh Herron, described as merchants, of Mitre Court, Milk Street, Cheapside.  When that lease’s term of years expired in 1824, Philip Barker Webb leased for 21 years to John and Hugh Herron, “Warren Lodge that building previously called the Forge but now converted int a Mill or Mills for the Manufactory of crapes … together with the four ponds called the Upper Hammer Pond, The Foul Pond, the Lower Hammer Pond and the New Pond”.  One wonders whether the ‘Foul’ meant polluted or inhabited especially by birds.  Could it refer to what is now called ‘Forked Pond’?   Straker’s reference to the straightening of the Turnpike Road affecting the Thursley site is illuminated by another agreement, No 132 of the Percy Woods Collection, dated April 16th 1828 between the Trustees of the Turnpike from Kingston to Sheetbridge near Petersfield and John Herron, “Silk manufacturer of Thursley”, to buy land called Pen Mead so that the road could go from the foot of Rodborough to the public house at the end of Road Lane.  Pen Mead Copse is marked on my 2 1/2” OS map as lying south of the A3 at SU919401, and it was probably here that the road went across the pond which Straker mentions.  The Trustees also agreed to take down the existing pub call the Half Moon which , rather oddly, was in the occupation of Mrs Frances Moon and rebuild it by the new road, together with stabling for 14 horses.  They also agreed to dig a well and instal a pump, fuelhouse and privy.  No doubt many people still remember the Half Moon beside the road at Thursley which ironically was demolished a few years ago for the widening of the Portsmouth Road, though the actual site of the pub has not been built upon.  I wonder if the well is still there?  Certainly “Silkmill Cottage” still occupies a key site between the Hammer Ponds and enshrines the memory of the Herrons who fished in these waters.  Some Questions still remain, however. Why choose Thursley as a place to make crape and how was it made? Why such a remote location for silk making, an exotic fabric which presumably was imported from the East?  Even though the main road from Portsmouth to London ran beside the mill, it still seems an odd location.   But what was the ’crape’ referred to in the deed of 1812? The American Fabrics Encyclopedia of Textiles (1972)defines it as “a lightweight fabric of silk, rayon, cotton, wool, synthetic or a combination of fibers.  Characterised by a wrinkling surface obtained either by us of 1) hard twist yarns, 2) chemical treatment, 3) weave, 4) embossing.”  The Handbook; of Textile Fibres by J Gordon Cllo (1963, Merrow Publishing Co., Watford) defies crape as yards with a very high twist, as many as 30 – 70 to the inch.  “They are used for crepe fabrics and chiffon and for knitting into hosiery.”  The first definition, therefore, points the search in the direction of the hosiery trade, a speciality of the Godalming area during the late 118th and 19th centuries.  There is a yet third possibility – “the process of crowding a sheet of paper in a roll by means of a doctor”.  A doctor, you will be relieved to hear , is a “thin plane or scraper of wood, metal or other hard substance placed along the entire length of a roll or cylinder to keep it free from paper, pulp, size, etc., and thus maintain a smooth, clean surface.” (‘The Dictionary of Paper’, American Pulp and Paper Association, 1965).  This aspect of the manufacture of crepe puts the usage of Thursley Mill within the context of the paper industry of the Surry and Hants areas.  Thursley Mill in its early 19th century phase could be seen as an interesting half-way house bridging two local industries, the hosiery trade and the making of paper.   Francis Haveron Surrey Industrial History Group 18th August 1996   The Percy Woods Collection: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/dd74bcc6-72ce-4521-a92b-0337f84e322c https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealden_iron_industry From the WEALDEN IRON RESEARCH GROUPDATABASE: http://www.wirgdata.org/searchsites2.cgi?siteid=664 This website provides more information on the Wealden Iron Industry beyond Thursley: http://www.hammerpond.org.uk/index.htm The Wealdon Iron Industry: https://www.wealdeniron.org.uk/history/ The Historical Metallurgy Society: 15th Annual Conference - The Weald-Sussex 1979 The full contents are in the pdf below:

Photos only. For further information: https://www.facebook.com/ThursleyCricketClub/ A Thursley Cricket Match, possibly Thursley Cricket Club v Thursley Village in 1992 Back row from right to left : Robert Ranson; Richard Leet-Cook; Alan Traill; Malcolm Coles; Mike Spencer; unknown; Paul Gubby; Barry Rapley; unknown; Alan Staves; John Puttock; Julian Watt; Tony Tilson; Aubrey Karn; Alan Wells, Tony Cheeseman and Brian Karn Front row from left to right : two unknowns; Peter Goble; Peter Andersen; Anthony Langdale; Ant Hodges; unknown; Simon Treadwell; unknown; Tim Wakeley

Only photographs of this event plus Mr Lowe, Thursley Taxi Driver

https://earth.google.com/web/@51.1398953,-0.68751104,112.63724356a,4518.48894138d,35y,72.17247331h,0t,0r/data=OgMKATA A view of the Chapel taken from Corner Cottage in the early 1920s. Holly Cottage, formerly Yew Cottage can be seen. It belonged to Heath Hall, the estate of the Yalden Knowles and used to be two cottages. A view of "Timbers", which used to be two cottages. The Gale family once lived in the right hand side, which had two bedrooms. The Walkers lived in the left hand side. A view of Forge Cottage which dates from the 16th Century and an anvil stands outside as a memento of the forge site. Forge Cottage was the home of the Gale family from 1932 to 1938. Miss Fulford built the extension for the Gale family. The little shed housed the engine for the pump of the well of Corner Cottage. A group by Bowlhead Green's village seat taken in the late 1930s. On the left is Margaret (Mag) Gale and Bill Cooper who married her. He was Parish Clerk from 1948 to 1983. He was also responsible for the Thor sign. On the right are friends of theirs from London. The oldest part of Emley Farmhouse which can bee seen on the right hand side. It was a four-bay timber framed house with many characteristics of immediately post-medieval period called the smoke bay period, i.e. 1550 - 1590. The house featured in an episode of "Foyle's War". Emley Farmhouse in the early 1920s. The wisteria on the front can be seen and the bay tree on the left. It was lived in by Colonel and Mrs Vesey. Mrs Vesey was the daughter of the Loring family who lived at Emley from the early 1800s. The Veseys lived at Emley until 1929. The herbaceous border of Emley Farmhouse which once boasted the best garden in Surrey. Unfortunately, in 1948 it was let to Mr Pentcheff, a Bulgarian diplomat. He completely ruined the garden by allowing poultry, ducks and pigs to free range. Emley Farmhouse showing the chimney from the bread oven. The bread oven is one of the best preserved and has an iron door hinged at the bottom. The building on the right was built to house. a pair of mongoose given to the Lorings in 1914. The barns at Emley Farm. The extensive farm buildings show that in the past a traditional mix of arable and pasture farming was practised. The driveway of Emley Farm leading to the garage and cart shed, the old granary can also be seen. Holly Tree Cottage Soldiers from the Royal West Surrey Regiment resting in Bowlhead Green Ian and Gill Mclellan, Blackhanger Farm, 1996 Tom and Grace Ranson, Bowlhead Green Farm, 1997 Ian and Aly Warner, The Old Post House, 1997 Emley Hill House and its garden (below), 1997 Robin Hill The Clockhouse, 2024 with sales particulars below https://www.knightfrank.co.uk/properties/residential/for-sale/bowlhead-green-godalming-surrey-gu8/GLD012219749

This remarkable collection of old postcards was put together over many years by Kay Cottle. Her husband, John Gunner, has bequeathed the collection to the Haslemere Museum. In the main, the back of the postcards are blank but occasionally, when the message is legible or interesting, it has been reproduced. Bowlers (now Bowlhead) Green; Brook Cottage and Horn Cottage; Broom Squire's Cottage; The Camp Churt Road to the Pride of The Valley; The Clump; Thursley Common; Cosford House; Cosford Mill Thursley Cricket Field; Devil's Jumps; Devil's Punch Bowl Devil's Punchbowl; The Dye House; Entrance to Thursley; The Four Brothers; View of Thursley; Greetings from Hindhead; Greetings from Thursley; Greetings from Witley Camp Greetings from Witley Camp; The Half Moon, Thursley; Hammer Pond; Heath View; Hill Farm; The Hindhead Story (aka The Sailor's Murder), a collection of hand coloured postcards Hindhead, Devil's Punch Bowl; Hindhead, Devil's Punch Bowl, Keeper's Cottage; Huts Corner, Hindhead; The Institute; Kettlebury, Thursley; Lea Park House; Lea Park Lake; Lea Park; Lea Park, The Fountain; The Lookout, Hindhead; Milford Camp, 1903 Milford Camp; Old Dame School; Old Parsonage; Peperharow, Yew Hedge; Pitch Place, Portsmouth Road Post Office, Thursley; Punch Bowl Farm; Red Lion Inn; Red Lion Inn, Thursley, The Garden from the South; Red Lion, Thursley; Red Lion Inn and Portsmouth Road; Red Lion Inn and Red Lion Garage, 1925; The Ridgeway; Rocky Lane, Thursley The Royal Huts Hotel; The Sailor's Stone, Hindhead; Sailor's Stone and Gibbet Hill; Sailor's Stone and Devil's Punch Bowl; The Sailor's Tombstone, Thursley Churchyard; Scenes of Beauty in and Around Thursley (Brook Cottage and Horn Cottage); Smallbrook Farm, Thursley; The Stream, Thursley; The Street, Thursley. The Street; The Three Horseshoes; Thursley - view; Thursley Church Thursley Church; Thursley Common, Pathway to Moat; Thursley War Memorial; Thursley, In Denvil Copse; Thursley Sign; Thursley - views; Thursley, The Firs; Thursley, The Hollow; Thursley - view; Truxford The Vicarage; View at Brook; View at Thursley; View from Devil's Jumps; View from Gibbet Hill; View near Gibbet Hill; View from Gibbet Cross; View from Thursley Church; View in Thursley; "Peace" in Thursley Views of Thursley; Village Hall; The Street; Village, Thursley; Village, Thursley; White Horse, Hindhead; Winding Road, Hindhead; Witley Camp, "I'm Thinking of You Everyday; Witley Camp Post Office Witley Camp Witley Park

Thursley Institute , now Prospect Cottage, was originally built as a working men’s club. The Parish register states – ‘the site for the institute was given by Captain H Rushbrooke, the architect was Sir Edwin Lutyens , the builder was Mr W K Fosberry. The building was formally opened and given to the Parish Council on February 11th, 1901’. Captain Rushbrooke paid for much of the building itself and took a paternal interest in the running of the club. Reg Fosberry gave Thursley History Society one of the original Lutyens architectural drawings, as shown below, now in their Archives. The Institute with The Lodge in the distance The   Institute comprised a reading room, a billiards and games room and accommodation for the caretaker. Until 1914 one of the bedrooms was used by the Thursley Parish Nurse. The institute was disbanded in 1959 and was sold for residential use in 1968. The, then, conditions of sale included an interesting clause, presumably inherited from the rules of the institute, forbidding the purchaser to use the building for the ‘discussion of political or religious subjects ….or for the consumption of intoxicating liquors’ . Prostpect Cottage and Barbara Richmond, 1997