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The Young Lutyens And His Thursley Houses by Wing Commander D. Q. Watson. *Former name of Thursley History Society Contrary to some local belief, Edwin Lutyens was not born in Thursley but in London, His parents were living at 16 Onslow Square when Edwin, their tenth child, was born in March 1869 and they did not move to Thursley until some seven years later. Lutyens' father, Charles had been an ambitious artillery officer: he had invented an instrument for judging distances called a Stadiometer which was used by the Army for nearly forty years. However, early in his career, he found that he preferred painting to being a soldier and he retired from the Army in 1859 when he was only twenty eight. Three years later the first of his paintings was accepted by the Royal Academy and he exhibited there regularly until 1903. The house Charles Lutyens leased in Thursley was called “The Cottage”; it was built for the Knowles family in Regency times and was probably so called because it was considerably smaller than the near-by mansion which was their main home. Although The Cottage was a fairly substantial house with a large garden it was not, as claimed by Mary Lutyens in the biography of her father, “by far the largest house in the village”. Charles Lutyens did much of his painting from his Thursley home. His principle subjects were racehorses and portraits but he also produced a number of small watercolours of putti*, possibly as pot-boilers, for his financial state deteriorated as the years went by and his eyesight weakened. Several of his paintings can be seen at Goddards, the house at Abinger Common built by Frederick Mirilees as a rest home for “ladies of small means” and now the headquarters of the Lutyens Trust. Charles died in 1915 but the Lutyens family continued to rent The Cottage for many years and several Thursley inhabitants still remember “Miss Lutyens”. She was Aileen, one of Charles' numerous daughters who, amongst other things, ran a kind of club to keep the young boys of the village occupied in their spare time. She held that girls, with their domestic duties and their sewing, were well able to look after themselves, but that boys, unless suitably guided, developed into hopeless drifters. Aileen Lutyens died in 1926 and the house was then let for a while to various tenants including army officers from Aldershot. It was afterwards sold, first of all to a Mrs. Patricia Peto, a widow, who soon re-married and in 1956 it came into the possession of Captain R. G. Tosswil RN. By then it had become “Lutyens House” as it was thought that the former name was inappropriate. In 1970 the property was bought by a Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Charrington who were then living at The Dye House, a short distance to the west. The Charringtons added an additional wing increasing the size of the house by twenty to twenty five prercent. Street House The work was sympathetically done and the external symmetry was in no way spoilt. Nicholas Charrington was not, however, a lover of Lutyens' work, so he gave the property the rather boring name of Street House. Edwin Lutyens, always known to his family as Ned, was a delicate boy and not sufficiently robust to go to a boarding school. Instead, most of the time he shared his sisters' governesses and supplemented his education by meandering through the Surrey countryside on a bicycle, looking at old buildings and comparing them with the new ones going up. He is said to have carried with him a small pane of glass and, with a small sliver of soap, drawn the outline of any building he found interesting. He also spent hours in the carpenter's shop, then owned by “Old Tickner” of Milford, watching him at his craft and questioning him on why he did things in a certain way. By the time he was fifteen it was clear, both to himself and to his father, that architecture was to be his profession. The family still leased the house in Onslow Squre and in 1885 Edwin was sent to the South Kensington School of Art to study architecture, He did not finish the course: after two years he decided he had learnt all that the school could teach him and in 1887 he became an apprentice in the practice of Earnest George. With hindsight this may be considered a strange choice as George's style was very different from that of Edwin's architectural heroes at that time: Norman Shaw, then in his classical period, and William Morris of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Whilst he was still apprenticed to George, Ned Lutyens worked at night on his own designs and it was presumably during one of his visits to his parents that he succeeded in interesting Edmund Gray, then living at The Corner, the house opposite the Lutyens' family home in Thursley. He commissioned young Ned, still only about nineteen years old , to design a drawing room for The Corner, with two bedrooms above it. To this day Edmund Gray remains something of a mystery. In the first place the house was not his property; it was owned by William Karn Fosberry, the local builder, and leased for twenty years to a certain John Gray, who was possibly Edmund's son. A conjecture is that Edmund, after his wife's death, came to live with his son, the house having to be enlarged to accommodate him. It had originally consisted of two joined cottages, built about 1700, one of which contained the village shop. These had been made into a single building some time before John Gray leased it. The Corner The original plans and a photograph taken when the work was almost complete, show that Lutyens' design was accepted without alteration. The Grays were obviously satisfied with it as, in 1895, Ned was asked to draw up plans for a morning room and a bedroom above to be built on the southern side of the house, and for four smaller rooms to be added to the west. These extensions were grandly described as “two additional wings”. They were duly completed about 1896, the work having been carried out by the building's owner, W. K. Fosberry, who had also built the first extension. Since the turn of the century, apart from a narrow bay being added to the drawing room, there have been no changes to the exterior of the house. Lutyens' only other building in the actual village of Thursley is what is now known as Prospect Cottage. It was originally built as a working mens' club, and the Parish Register held in the chuch, contains the following record “the site for the institute was given by Captain H. Rushbrooke, the architect was Mr. E. L. Lutyens, the builder was Mr. W. K. Fosberry. The building was formally opened and given to the Parish Council on February 11 1901”. Actually it seems that Captain Rushbrooke, who lived nearby at Cosford House, did rather more than just give the land; he is said to have paid for much of the building itself and to have taken a paternal interest in the running of the club. Plan for The Institute The institute comprised a reading room, a billiards and games room and accommodation for the caretaker. Until about 1914 one of the bedrooms amd the sitting room were used by the Thursley Parish Nurse, thereafter the whole of the private part was used by the secretary, his wife who was also the caretaker, and their family. Prospect Cottage, formerly The Institute The institute was disbanded in 1959 because the building needed more money spent on it than the Parish Council was in a position to pay. There was much controversy in the village as to the future of the building but it was eventually sold in 1968, planning approval having been given for conversion to residential use. The 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”. The building was bought by a Mrs. Le Marx, who instructed local architects to modernise the interior and this has been further improved in recent years but the exterior still retains virtually all of Lutyens' original design. Edwin Lutyens first met Gertrude Jekyll in 1889 when he was still returning fairly frequently to the village. Robert and Barbara Webb, who lived at Milford House, befriended the rather shy young architect and it was they who introduced him to Miss Jekyll who was, of course, many years his senior. Their work together in later years is well chronicled and although there is no known collaboration between them in Thursley, when the garden of The Corner was remodelled between the wars, several of the features appear to have been copied from examples in the neighbourhood. In Thursley churchyard, not far from the grave of the poet John Freeman, is a cross designed by Edwin Lutyens, bearing the names of his parents and his sister Aileen. Nearby is Edwin's memorial stone to his nephew, Derek Lutyens, who was killed in 1918 whilst serving in the Royal Air Force. Warren Mere Apart from the buildings in Thursley village already described, on the outskirts of the parish Lutyens designed two lakeside boathouses for Whitaker Wright in Witley Park. This was probably in 1890 when he was still studying under Earnest George. In 1901 he built the cottages at Warren Lodge and in 1909 he planned alterations to the main house there. Many of his more famous houses are in the neighbourhood, for example Munstead Wood (1896) and Tighbourne Court, Witley (1899). Munstead Wood and Tigbourne Court In later years of course, Lutyens achieved great fame, particularly with his designs for the Viceroy's House and other buildings in New Delhi and for the Cenotaph in Whitehall. Only the crypt was completed of what he considered his finest design, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool, on which he worked, off and on, for fourteen years (1929 – 1943). He died in 1944, believing that this vast building would be built when the war had ended. *Putti is the plural of putto (Italian) meaning the figure of a child, especially a cherub or cupid-like. It is usually used in connection with Rennaissance paintings.

Anyone who was up late on Friday, 10th May 2024, will have seen the spectacular and very rare sight of the Northern Lights lighting up the skies above Thursley and most of the UK. The photographs below were taken by Rich Owen on an iPhone 13. This photo which features Guildford Cathedral was taken by MatSnaps:

This account was contributed by Mr Michael Jupe of the Well House. Since it was established by the Local Government Act of 1894, Thursley’s Parish Council has no doubt seen many periods of varying activity; the recorded minutes through its first 50 years leave very much to the imagination. However, there can be no doubt that the activity during the past 20 years has steadily intensified. The present council was elected on 13th May 1965 and consists of seven members, namely Messrs J H L Bozward (businessman), S J Hall (farmer), Mrs F G Jupe, Messrs M L Jupe – Chairman (Member of the Stock Exchange), C Petersen (solicitor), Mrs C M Williams and Mr B W Wonham (Post Office). The Clerk is Mr B A Ashley (school master). This council succeeds to a period in which the major interest was the acquisition of the former village school building to serve as a new Village Hall. In regard to the latter, the council serves only as a trustee but has been greatly involve in the negotiations and has a continuing concern for the effective establishment of the “new” hall as a village centre offering the widest possible range of facilities. A Parish Council’s powers are limited to a relatively humble field of interests and even within this field its activities are limited by its finances as it may, in general, spend only a four-penny rate; this may be increased to an eight-penny rate by reference to a parish meeting. At present, in the parish of Thursley, a one-penny rate yields approximately £100. Even so, our Council finds enough business to necessitate approximately monthly meetings throughout the year. One of its most important, if unspecified, functions is to receive and transmit to the higher authority requests and complaints about matters of local concern. For instance, complaints about the irregular running of the school bus which is organised by the County Education Authority. The Parish Council has no official powers in the field of planning, but it is being increasingly accepted that the Parish Council is a useful watchdog and has most useful local knowledge, and in the Rural District outline details of all planning applications are now referred to the parishes for comment, if desired. The parish extends well over 5,000 acres to Gibbet Hill, Hindhead, almost to Elstead, and from the Churt Road to Brook, with a population of approximately 650. This area lies substantially within the officially designated Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is probable that, later in the year, the region will be subject to visitation by the Local Government Commission which has powers to recommend sweeping changes in the regional boundaries. As Thursley lies near the county boundary, it is possible that it may be affected if any changes are recommended. If not, at this stage the possibility exists at a later stage when the County Council will review internal boundaries. Members of the council are conscious of a general lack of public interest in their activities. The election this year occurred with no apparent topic of contention as a background and the top candidate received 106 votes from an electorate of 453. The highest poll in recent years has not exceeded 35 per cent and this was very high compared with the average. The council is a member of the Surrey County Association of Parish Councils which is affiliated to the National Association, the latter body having been responsible for much enhancement of the status of the parish council generally.

To compare Thursley now, visit Google maps

This account was contributed by Mrs Malins. On May 31st 1965, the Queen gave a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the WI. One member from each Institute was invite – about 9,000 in all. I was lucky to be drawn in the ballot to represent Thursley. Fortunately except for one short shower the day was fine though cold. A large number of WI members went by special train or coach, others by car, etc. The vehicles were given a large X to display on the windscreen so that the police would give them pride of place. We drove through the main gates and alighted in the outer forecourt. We then went in two processions on either side across the inner court and thence round to the gardens. As we were allowed entrance well in advance of the Queen’s arrival, it enabled us to have a good look round the grounds. The big pond in the centre with the pink flamingos attracted much attention. Unfortunately, the roses were not fully out but rhododendrons and azaleas were still blooming. We also saw the caravan used by the Royal children. There were two large tea tents – one for the Royal party and their chief guests and the other for us. Promptly at 4:00pm the band played the National Anthem and the Queen and the Duke and their party came out on to the terrace and were introduced to the important members of the WI. They descended and with the Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Marina and Princess Alexandra circulated among the crowds and made their separate ways to the Royal tea tent. I found myself quite close to the Duke who chatted freely to all and sundry near him. The Queen, who was dressed in a very pretty shaded pink costume and pink hat, was proceeded by six Gentlemen at Arms with the tall halberds. The Duke came up in the rear with cheery words to us all. We were a crowd – practically all women in gay costumes and hats which was most colourful. We then made our way back going this time up on to the terrace and through the Palace and so home. Thus ended a most enjoyable and unforgettable day. Many thanks to Her Majesty for giving members of the WI such a wonderful party.

This account was contributed by Mrs Dunlop, the present President of the Thursley Women’s Institute and a member of the Village Hall Committee. The membership of the Women’s Institute for 1966 is 45. This was achieved through an energetic recruiting drive which was necessary to counteract the decline in membership during 1965 which had been caused by an unusually large number of members leaving the district. As an experiment during the past year, a letter was sent to all members about a week before each gathering to bring to their notice such items as the programme for the meeting, competitions, Bring and Buy stalls or future outings and it was hoped that this would keep members in touch with the various activities. There are many elderly members who are on the outskirts of the village who certainly seem to have benefited from this idea. Money raising efforts have included a Jumble Sale in May, donations to the Betatron Fund and also the Cancer Relief Fund. Highlights of the Women’s Institute Golden Jubilee Year included the County Dinner Party at Guildford, Mrs Malins’s visit to Buckingham Palace and a splendid revue performed by members of the Surrey Women’s Institute at Dorking called “Jubilee Spotlight”. The biggest thrill of all was when our Institute won a Gold Star for their exhibit in the co-operative section of the Women’s Institute Jubilee Year Handicrafts Exhibition at Godalming in March. Six members contributed articles which were for 21st birthday presents for three sets of boy and girl twins. The items were a mosaic lamp, a dressing gown, an embroidered cocktail tray, a patchwork sewing holdall and two Fair Isle ski jerseys. The whole colour scheme was in black, white, gold and dark red. A photograph of the exhibit was shown in the local newspaper. To mark the occasion ourselves, a magnolia tree was planted in the Village Hall grounds, and at our December meeting a special celebration tea with a magnificent ‘Jubilee Cake’ which had gold trimmings and 50 gold candles, was made by Mrs Elsie Warner. Two successful outings were accomplished: a coachload visited Frogmore Gardens at Windsor in the spring, the day was fine and a pleasant tea in the town rounded off the day nicely; also in the spring a few members had a delightful day at Wisley. There have been enthusiastic requests for a Drama Group and an Art Group to be formed and those are in the process of being organised. Mrs Loarridge gave a demonstration of mosaic work on lamps and tables etc, at the Handicrafts Demonstration Day at Dorking in January 1966. This work has created a lot of interest in our Institute and a splendid number of lamps were entered in a special class in the October Produce Show. The Institute have done some useful work towards the conversion of the Village Hall. The making of the curtains and the cheerful colour scheme for the main hall and the kitchen were thought out by members of the Institute. The Bring and Buy stall, which is held at each monthly meeting, is going towards new chairs – this is, of course, in our own interest as the monthly meetings are usually held in the Village Hall and the old chairs are somewhat uncomfortable. The Village Hall held a Christmas Fair and as there was no point in having two similar events competing, the Institute suggested they joined forces with the Village Hall. It was agreed that £20, which was the approximate amount we made the previous year be given towards our funds. The Institute was thanked by the Village Hall Committee for their wonderful effort in helping to raise £300 and everyone thought that our £20 had been justly earned. The Cosford Cup and the Alice Cup are presented each year to the two members who have won the most points at the Produce Show events. The Institute basked in the reflected glory of Mrs Bennett’s (our 1965 President) appointment as Principal of St Hilda’s College, Oxford. Thursley Women's Institute 1955 Thursley Women's Institute Garden Party - undated

This introduction was contributed by Mrs Bennett of Rock Cottage, Thursley Women’s Institute President from 1963 to 1965. In the sixty-five years of this century, Thursley has changed much less in outward appearance than many other villages within 40 miles of Hyde Park Corner. We have no industries and no housing estates. There has been very little private building except for two shortish roes of council houses, Homefield (built between the wars) and Streetfield (built after World War II), three pairs of bungalows opposite the church, originally meant for old people, and the new old people’s flats that stand in what used to be the school playground, the village looks much as it did – only tidier and better painted – when the older of us were children. Perhaps it is this comparative lack of outward change that gives us the historical sense that comes out so clearly in the following contributions to our Jubilee book. We all set out to give an account of what we are doing now: we almost find ourselves starting from what we used to do, so this is very largely a picture of the present as it has developed from the past. How will our present seem a generation hence? For although the village may look much as it did, it has probably changed socially more in our lifetime than in all its previous history. None of us can remember very well the time when there was no drainage and no electricity, when one or two cottages did not even have ovens, and when it was still possible to see a farmer sowing broadcast, pacing from one end of the field to another with the rooks behind him. Now houses are comfortable and well equipped and farms highly mechanised. Then children went to the village school on foot often wearing their elders’ cut-down or patched clothes. Now, nicely dressed, they go off to Milford on the school bus. Then most of the land and buildings belonged to one landlord, and most of the village made its living in one way or another from farming. Now a great many people, and all the farmers, own their own property, and people who live in Thursley, practise, or have retired from, many different occupations. Then there was an active smithy. Now many people – perhaps most – have cars. And so on. Will the next generation see changes comparable to those we have seen? Perhaps this record of Thursley in 1965 will help them to find out.

The History of Thursley Society's exhibition, Wedding Belles, celebrated the history of weddings in Thursley church from 1613 - 2007 when the exhibition was held   Sir Roger Stevens came to Thursley with his wife Constance after eight years living abroad. They were looking for a house to rent and wanted to live in the country. They travelled through the Home Counties and were sent to Thursley by a Godalming agent to view Tudor Cottage (now “Boxalls”).   Mrs. Olive Winter let them in and as they waited by the fireplace they were aware that a rather elegant woman was viewing them closely. She was in fact the departing tenant. She then addressed Sir Roger, “I see you don’t remember me. You took me to a dance in Sussex fifteen years ago: my name was then Carton de Wiart” .   She was now Anita Thompson. On November 4th 1933 Walter Hugh Thompson, a quiet bachelor living at “Boxalls” married Anita Carton de Wiart, who was living as a guest of Miss Marshall Hall at Millhanger.   According to Mary Bennett, “It seemed a most incongruous match for Hugh, as he was known, was a shy, gentle naturalist (so reluctant to meet anyone, it was said, that rather than risk it by walking through the village he would go to Thursley Common by the diagonal path from Rack Close to the Red Lion) while Anita had been brought up in what remained of Vienna noble society, moved on the edges of what would now be called the jet set and built her life largely round her splendid old Italian cavalry horse, “Fenicio”. Her features were too strong for beauty (though she had melting brown eyes) and I expect that her plaintive society drawl irritated a good many people but she carried herself like a princess (which on her mother’s side [her mother was a Fugger, of the banking family ennobled in the sixteenth century], she more or less was) even when she was scrubbing the “Boxalls’” doorstep and had the sort of vitality that can raise the temperature of a room. Some of Hugh’s more intellectual friends, such as my cousin Daisy Woods who had been quick to appropriate him when he became her neighbour, lamented the marriage, and some found Anita hard going: she told me that whenever she sat next to my father (H.A.L. Fisher), he always asked her whether she preferred riding on sand or on turf and that though she sometimes said one and sometimes the other she never discovered which was right, But I liked her very much. We amused each other, and I enjoyed her absolute transparency, for she was forthright to a degree. She had no use whatever for village organisations but was on the best and easiest terms with such individuals as she liked whatever their origins, among them our rather sad neighbour Jack Keen whom she must have done a good deal to cheer in his last illness. Her father was a First War V.C. who between the wars vanished into the Pripet Marshes (situated in sothern Belarus and Norther Ukraine) to shoot duck but reappeared in 1939 when we briefly met him in Oxford. He and Anita were not on speaking terms – some obscure quarrel connected with her moving from Roman Catholicism to Anglicanism – but were I suspect very like each other and very proud of each other. I remember how much pleased she was when she heard that he had said to her sister “at least she has married a very nice man”, as indeed she had. Hugh was both nice and in his field not undistinguished: occasional observations of his can be found here and there in the Witherby Dictionary of British Birds and he was a member of the ornithological team to be sent to the Galapagos Islands in the 1930’s.   When the Thursley house became too small for Hugh, Anita and their two daughters they moved to Churt, where we went on seeing them (for my husband liked Hugh as much as my father had): the buyers of the house were Roger and Constance Stevens and it was they who christened it “Boxalls”.   Which is where our story began.       In the wedding register Anita lists her father, Adrian Carton de Wiart, as “soldier” which is quite an understatement. Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, V.C., K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. was from a high ranking Belgian family, born in 1880 and came to England when his father became a naturalized British citizen. He was educated in England and went up to Balliol to read law, living the life of a wealthy indulgent undergraduate. However, the Boer war awakened a primeval desire in him to fight and was the start of a dazzling military career. During the campaign in South Africa he was twice wounded. He returned to a privileged life of hunting, racing, polo and travelling around Europe for shooting parties. He married, in 1908, Countess Frederike Maria Karoline Henriette Rosa Sabina Franziska Fugger von Babenhausen. They had two daughters, the eldest being Anita born in 1909.   “The Times” November 6th , 1933 In 1914 he sailed for Somaliland to fight “The Mad Mullah” and his Dervishes where he was severely wounded, losing his left eye. From that point on he gained the nickname, “Nelson” and went on to fight in France, being wounded eight times including losing his hand at Ypres. He was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1916. In 1923 he retired from the military and left England with a Polish A.D.C., Prince Charles Radziwill who had inherited an estate of 500, 000 acres in the Prypet Marshes on the borders of Russia. Prince Charles provided a house for his friend on its own private island where General Carton de Wiart enjoyed shooting, riding and Polish hospitality for the next fifteen years.   Hitler had other plans for Europe and the world and so the peace of Poland was shattered and General Carton de Wiart was lucky to get out. Naturally, he was keen to offer his services again, despite being sixty years old. In April 1940 he commanded the Central Norwegian Expeditionary Force which he found dull and unsuccessful. In 1941 he was ordered to go to Yugoslavia to form the British Military Mission, however as they flew in they crashed in North Africa and were captured by the Italians.   The Italians held Carton de Wiart at Castello di Vincigliata along with other high profile British officers including the Earl of Ranfurly whose wife wrote, “To War With Whitaker”. Like all Allied P.O.W.s, General Carton de Wiart, planned his escape and he managed an escape in Italy although he was only at liberty for eight days. He need not have troubled himself escaping, as the Italian Government later released him before anyone else to prove its desire for an armistice with the Allies. Once back in England, he became Winston Churchill’s personal representative to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. After the war General Carton de Wiart stayed with his friend, Brigadier C.L. Duke, in Rangoon. Unbelievably, he fell down the stairs breaking his back, survived by being encased in plaster of Paris, and was flown home to be nursed in the Royal Masonic Hospital. He recovered after much surgery to repair his back and to remove shrapnel still embedded after all those years. His long suffering wife died in 1949 and in 1951, aged 71, he married again, and they lived in Killnardish, County Cork. Adrian Carton de Wiart died in 1963, at the age of 83, having defied death since the age of nineteen.   The fearless gene, so amply exhibited by Adrian Carton de Wiart, continues down the line: Anita’s grandson, Anthony Loyd, is a highly respected war correspondent for “The Times”.

This marvellous presentation was given to the Thursley History Society by Sean Edwards in 2013. His talk was introduced by Peter Clake Sean covered these areas in his presentation and talk: THURSLEY HISTORY SOCIETY MEETING, 24 January 2013: THE THURSLEY TITHE MAPS PETER CLAKE: WHAT ARE TITHES? Peter Clake opened proceedings with a brief talk putting Sean’s talk into its wider historical context. The tithe was a system that had existed for over a thousand years in England before the Thursley Tithe Map of 1849 was produced. Originally it was a payment of one tenth of yearly profits from farming made by parishioners in the locality to support their local parish church and clergy. At first the payments were ‘in kind’, consisting of grain, wood, vegetables and other products. Tithe barns were built to accommodate them. Over the centuries some changes were made in the system – the most important being the substitution of money payments for payments ‘in kind’ in some areas. Also, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s, much church land passed into lay control and local lords of the manor took on the tithe rights. However the system was still functioning in the early nineteenth century and Thursley’s tithe map of 1849 was a direct consequence of the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836. This Act laid down that a money payment should be made in all parishes. It also appointed Tithe Commissioners to go round the country and get up to date evidence of the boundaries, acreage and the state of cultivation of each tithe area. This extensive survey led eventually to the drawing of official maps for each parish and the Thursley Tithe Map of 1849 gives us valuable insight into our area, as we were to learn from Sean’s talk. SEAN EDWARDS: A WALK THROUGH TIME CRITCHET FIELDS Sean explained how his interest started in 2005 from a reference to the ‘Critchet Fields’ somewhere in Thursley, mentioned in Walter de Gray Birch’s Cartularium Saxonicum (188593) as being part of the bounds of the Bishop of Winchester’s manor in 1150 AD. This meant a trip to the Surrey History Centre in Woking to see the Tithe Maps and their associated Apportionment of the Rent-Charge in lieu of Tithes volume. The maps gave only numbers but no names, which had to be found from the unindexed volume by a dip-stick approach – timeconsuming. But the reward was the wealth of information serendipitously revealed. The Critchet Fields were found running along Smallbrook Valley north of Brook Cottage, with the Upper Critchet Field being just below the Cricket Pavilion, prompting a bad joke about the origin of cricket in Thursley. In fact the name probably derives from the Saxon ‘Crudan Sceat’, meaning Cruda’s nook of land. BEAN LAND Other parts of Thursley looked at included the core of the village, Punch Bowl Farm, and the ‘Tweedsmuir Camp’ site, previously ‘Bean Land’. Field beans were probably grown there since their persistent roots help to protect against erosion on slopes in winter. Old photographs from the Thursley History Society archives provided lovely images from 1901, pre-Tweedsmuir and post-bean, including of the now-drained canal and ruined stone bridge. Much had evidently been well-kept parkland with the canal as a feature, where Thursley ladies in boaters elegantly desported themselves. DVDs AND WARPED LAYERS The publication in 2011 of the Tithe Maps and Apportionments on DVD, encouraged further work on the tithe maps from both Thursley and Elstead – present day Thursley includes parts of both 1849 parishes. Comparing the 1849 map with present Ordnance Survey maps showed both the astonishing accuracy of the tithe maps on a small scale, but a fairly large drift across distances – and also some lack of communication between the Thursley and Elstead mappers along the Smallbrook mutual boundary. The combined tithe maps were overlaid (as a Photoshop layer) onto one of several existing layered maps of Thursley that Sean had been working on, and re-sized and rotated to fit as well as possible. But the large-scale drift meant that when some parts were aligned, then other parts were fields adrift. So the tithe map layer was then ‘warped’ in Photoshop, like a stretchy table-cloth, area by area, so it aligned overall. The tithe map layer was then accurately redrawn. This layering – like overlaid acetate sheets – allowed direct comparisons between the tithe map and modern day maps. It also allowed comparison with the other layers, including geology, local names, footpaths, maps from other periods, and so on – 30 layers in the main mapset, with other layered mapsets at different scales. For maps of different dates, it allows fading from one time to another – a “walk through time”. The present extent of the transformed tithe map is from north of the Truxford Kink, south to include the habitations in the Punch Bowl. It extends east from Pitch Place, to beyond the old Red Lion pub. A similar sized extension to the north-east includes the Hammer Ponds. Further extensions are ongoing. THURSLEY COMMON Sean also showed his first Thursley mapping in 1967/8 (now digitized and incorporated as a layer), of 26 acres of the boggy vegetation of the Common; this required 6,000 triangulated points using an old army ‘pill-box’ prismatic compass. In 2006 he found that GPS made mapping of the big fire easier. Computers now enable accurate measurements – for example the fire, allowing for outliers and inliers, covered 565 acres. THE TOLL HOUSE We then looked closer at a few areas, including the old Toll House on the London/Portsmouth road. By comparing all available maps, the site of the toll house could be located to within a metre or so. It had stood on the north-bound side of the road, but the pre-tunnel A3 was moved further to the west and the site buried under the layby on the south-bound carriageway where the dualling ceased. When the tunnel was built, the road moved back east, with the site returning to the edge of the north-bound, just as it had started. The site, somewhat disturbingly, is almost exactly where the Bestival coach left the road on 10 September 2012, and for which no explanation has yet been confirmed. Photos were shown of our vice-president Michael O’Brien standing just above the site, with the oak tree that was hit, behind him. The presentation can be downloaded into a PowerPoint document: Here are Sean's lecture notes for the presentation and you can download the Thursley_Tithes_Lecture_Notes.pdf onto another device, such as your 'phone, to follow the talk with the slides. The slide-change cues are in the notes.":

A Wander Through Thursley was an event held on the weekend of 16/17th June, 1990, and was a great occasion in Thursley's history towards the end of the last century. The weekend was organised by Gil Buckingham who lived at Olde Hall and was a very keen gardener. The scheme was confined to Thursley village as there were too many problems in including the gardens at Bowlhead Green and Pitch Place. The event raised £2,000 for the village hall. 24 gardens took part proudly displaying the daisy sign on their gate. A special daisy bus service ran up and down Highfield Lane. There were also village cricket matches, home made cream teas in the village hall, donkey rides, rare breed sheep, plant stall, peacocks, vintage and classic car collections, and exhibition of old Thursley and organ recitals in the church. GIL BUCKINGHAM Gil moved to Olde Hall, Back Lane, Thursley in 1985. She had great plans for the house and garden and she started completely renovating the house in 1986, which was finally completed in 1990. As well as working on the house, Gil worked on creating her perfect garden: she believed the garden represented individual rooms in the same way as a house. She had a herb garden, a wild garden, an orchard and a formal garden which was used to entertain guests like a drawing room. Her knowledge of gardening was strengthened by two course she attended at Merrist Wood Agricultural College in Guildford. The first, in 1984, covered garden pests and diseases and the second, in 1986, dealt with general horticulture but concentrated on shrubs and flowers. Gil was an incredibly energetic and sociable person and threw herself into the life of the village. She sang in the choir, was Treasurer of the Fellowship, held the Christian Aid coffee mornings and was a member of the village hall management committee. It was for the last organisation that she co-ordinated "Wander through Thursley". Her great friend, Gail Leader had opened her garden and Gil loved the idea of gardens being open for everyone to enjoy. Sadly, shortly afterwords in July 1990, Gil becameill and after a long fight she died in January, 1992. From a conversation with Barbara Thorburn

This article written by Jackie Rickenberg was in the Parish Magazine in April 2024. See also 'Wedding Belles'. April 28, 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of the death of a Thursley war hero. Robert (Bob) George Sharland DFC was one of 55,573 men who died serving in Bomber Command during World War 2. His niece, Miriam Sharland, tells his story: Bob was born on Back Lane (now The Lane) in 1922, and moved with his family into the new council houses at Homefields in 1937. When war came, Bob served in the home guard with his father. Perhaps inspired by the pioneering aviators who occasionally flew over the village, Bob enlisted in the RAF in 1940, despite being underage. Bob dreamt of being a pilot, but like many working-class recruits, he became a rear gunner even though, at 5’10”, he was tall for the tiny gun turret. After graduating from gunnery school, Bob joined 51 Squadron in Yorkshire, flying night-time bombing operations on Whitleys. His first ‘op’ was to Bonn in December 1941. On op nights, his mother stood in the garden at Homefields, counting the bombers out, not sleeping until she’d counted them back in and knew if it had been a bad night. In January 1942, Bob was selected for a daring mission led by Wing Commander Percy Pickard, star of the Oscar-winning Target for Tonight. The aircrews carried paratroops to Bruneval, France, to capture a German radar station that made Allied bombers vulnerable to nightfighters. This was the first mission of what became the British Paratroop Regiment.  51 Squadron was briefly transferred to Coastal Command, where Bob flew air-sea rescues and anti-submarine patrols before returning to bombing duties, now on the new heavy bomber Halifaxes. Shortly before his 20th birthday, Bob was promoted to Pilot Officer and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, becoming the first Thursley man to be decorated. 1943, Bob completed his tour of 30 bombing ops, became an instructor, and was promoted to Flying Officer. Back in Thursley on leave, at a dance in the village hall, Lieutenant Colonel Rushbrooke presented him with an inscribed silver cigarette case. The Surrey Advertiser reported that Rushbrooke “expressed the village's pride in the heroic young air-man.” Perhaps this was when Bob met Beryl Jones from Elstead. Now a Flight Gunnery Leader, Bob taught fledgling gunners before being recruited into the elite Pathfinder Force, created to improve bombing accuracy. His new squadron, 156, flew Lancasters from Warboys, Huntingdonshire. Bob wrote home that he’d lunched with the King and Queen – “the Queen looked swell” – when they visited the base. Bob had 48 hours’ leave in April 1944 to marry Beryl at Elstead Church. Eighteen days later he flew to Friedrichshafen, an extremely successful op, with minimal casualties. Perhaps his mother counted the planes back in with relief. But the next day, a telegram arrived at Homefield: Bob’s plane had not returned. His death was later confirmed, and he now lies with his crew in Durnbach Military Cemetery, Bavaria. Bob was 21 years old. In 2022 Miriam cycled to Bob’s airbases. She’s writing a book about her, and Bob’s, journey. https://wartimememoriesproject.com/ww2/view.php?uid=240315 The wedding of Bob Sharland and Beryl Jones April 1944 at Elstead ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Over the years, Thursley’s history has been recorded in many ways. Family trees and stories have been passed from generation to generation, the previous occupants of and physical changes made to village houses are tales passed from seller to buyer etc. However, sometimes there is no obvious place for the information to be stored or it can get lost in the mists of times. This is how Thursley History Society has acquired a lot of the archives it stores in a locked room, somewhere in the parish (no names, no pack drill!). The majority of it, though, comes from villagers’ recollections - written, recorded and photographed, then carefully collated and stored over the years by members past and present of the Thursley History Society. Occasionally, in times of celebrations or anniversaries, exhibitions have been curated and these precious memories are shared for everyone to enjoy; the last one being Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. And then it all gets loaded back into the bunker, never to be seen again! One such exhibition was the Wedding Belles exhibition of 2007, which is definitely worth revisiting. Originally, the brief was to examine the register of births, marriages and deaths in the church, from its conception in 1613, and explore, exhibit and display some pertinent and interesting case studies.  It was very quickly realised that this was too monumental a task and a team, led by Sally Scheffers, narrowed it down to Thursley weddings 1613-2007. It was held in the village hall over a weekend in 2007 and was hailed as a fantastic success. Looking back, the collection of photographs and stories from it was just the most comprehensive and wonderful array of wedding ceremonies and parties through the centuries. Once the timeline reached the 1960’s though, the one thing that hits home is the number of people married in the church who still live in the village – up to sixty odd years later! Richard and Anne Timberlake, Robert and Sue Ranson, Peter and Teresa Goble, Michael and Debbie Spencer, Philip and Angela Traill and Stephen and Julie Langley to name but a few. Not all of them are celebrating their diamond weddings just yet, but our past chairman, Michael O’Brien and his wife, Marian, although not married in the parish, are indeed doing so this month! Very shortly afterwards, they moved to Thursley and so imminently celebrate sixty years in the village but more on this next month. Congratulations to them both! Below are photographs of the first and last weddings that were featured in the exhibition. The wedding of George Warner to Edith Keen 5th June 1909 In the barn field at Pit Farm (now Punch Bowl Farm) The wedding of Joe and Melissa (Wakeley) 23rd September 2006. This is just one example of the fascinating insight to the past that these archives can give. And now they are available for all to see, whether for genealogy purposes, to find out how things were celebrated and marked or just to browse past village life. The History Society will launch this new website, full of archives like this, in the village hall on Saturday 1st June. We hope as many of you as possible will pop in between 6-8pm to see examples of some sensational tales and plots as well as familiar faces in hilarious and joyful photos. Look for yourself; find out what you can about houses, events and people, listen to past residents talking about their life in Thursley. It promises to be an exciting evening with a few surprises thrown in! Refreshments will be served and all are welcome – villagers past and present, children and friends.   The importance of community and a shared understanding of our past is so precious, especially in these turbulent times. The current committee have taken on the monumental task of making these documents available on the website in order that the originals can be stored safely and securely in local museums, therefore safeguarding them for future generations. We hope to see you at the Village Hall on 1st June, 2024, 6-8pm.

Map by Rocque, 1768 Map by Mudge, 1816