From Wikipedia: 'Have a Go' was a BBC Radio show that ran from 1946 to 1967. Hosted by Wilfred Pickles and co-presented with his wife Mabel (née Myerscough), it involved the couple travelling to venues around the UK and speaking to members of the public, who were then invited to answer quiz questions in the hope of winning a small amount of money. It was the first quiz show in Britain to offer such a prize. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_a_Go By Rosemary Stockdale Did you know that the Village Hall in the 1950’s was located where the bungalow close to the pub now stands. It hosted a variety of events including Wilfred Pickles ‘Have a Go’ in 1958. Do you recognise anyone? Please get in touch if you do or if you have any other information to add to the archives. Thursley ‘Have a Go’ contenders 1958 …. And you can hear all of the programme, 28 minutes, on the Thursley History Society YouTube channel: https://studio.youtube.com/video/74CzJk-Oe44/edit Wilfred Pickles hosting… Sid Hall facing microphone with Wilfred Pickles in the 'Have A Go" radio show. The winner(s)…..? The winner was Mrs Messenger who was given £4, 10 shillings, a chicken and dinner for two at a local hotel The cutting above includes the information that Thursley residents' big grouse was the housing shortage as it was driving young people from the village.

Lower Highfield Farm was sold in 1952 as part of the break-up of the Cosford Estate. The entries below are from the auction catalogue. Lower Highfield Farm as it is today Previous owners of Lower Highfield Farm include: Treadwell The property has been on and off the market over the past couple of years and it reappeared in April 2026. The following were taken from the Knight, Frank sales brochure: https://www.knightfrank.co.uk/properties/residential/for-sale/highfield-lane-thursley-godalming-surrey-gu8-6qj/gld012228328

Thursley Horticultural Society has long been of importance in the village. According to records in the 1923 Parish Magazine, it was formed after a very successful Flower Show to “carry on the good work”. Various local dignitaries stood for election, and votes were counted while a musical programme, in the hands of Mr Lionel Rapley, played. The results of the election were that General Sir Joscelyn Wodehouse became President. The Treasurer was Mr J.H. Belcher and Secretary Mr H. Swallow. The committee comprised of Miss Lutyens, Mrs Blogg, Rev L.C. Wilkinson, Messrs Blogg, F. Fosberry. Hoare, T.Karn, L. Rapley. Robertson and H. Sharland. Many names that we recognise today! The Society went from strength to strength and played a central part in village life – with social events, fetes and farming as well as two or three shows a year shows being at the core. Between the wars and up until the 1950s there are records of long lunches, afternoon teas and evening dances following shows beginning at 5 o’clock! Events such as chicken plucking and tug of war were common place. Interestingly, the shows for a long while had different classes for those who in the village who had a gardener and those who did not – a social comment in itself. As travel, and the reasons to travel, were quite different from today, social life in Thursley was punctuated by the various events organised by the committee, as recorded in our minute books and through photographs and newspaper articles. Highlights over recent years have been the two Gardeners Question Time programmes made very successfully in the village hall by the BBC. Talks and visits have become and important part of the calendar, and the plant sales which were also in the village hall. Open Gardens in 2022 and 2023 have proved a huge success and shown what wonderful gardens, and gardeners, we have in Thursley. Recent years have seen the Society’s numbers fall and then rise again. There is a lot of support in the village for the Thursley Horticultural Society now, though we still look for committee members to reach the numbers of the 1923 committee! From an undated newspaper clipping. In 2023, the Society celebrated its centenary with the publication of this booklet which can be obtained from the Society: Contact Thursley Horticultural Society through email: thursleyhortsoc@hotmail.co.uk or find its Facebook page. The society also holds its own archive: THURSLEY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ARCHIVES JULY 2026 BOX 1: BOOKLET - TROPHY WINNERS 1973-1986 CASH BOOK 1957 -1973 MEMBERSHIPCARDS 1975-1982 SOCIETY MINUTES BOOK 1946-1959 (NB.MINUTES BOOK 1927-1946 IS IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE HISTORY SOCIETY). SOCIETY MINUTES BOOK 1959-1977 SOCIETY MINUTES BOOK 1977-1990 MINUTES 1990-2000 MINUTES 2000 -2010 MINUTES 2010-2017 BRIEF SUMMARY OF MINUTES 1927-2002 BOOK OF TROPHY WINNERS 1947-1973 TROPHY VALUATIONS TROPHY HISTORIES PARISH MAGAZINES OF 1970, 1973 & 2023 PRESS REPORT OF AUTUMN SHOW 1973 (A3 SIZE) AUTOGRAPHED "GARDENERS' QUESTION TIME" BOOK 2023 CENTENARY BOOKLET THURSLEY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ARCHIVES JULY 2026 BOX 2: PRESS CUTTINGS FROM 1970 SHOW SCHEDULES A5 FORMAT 1953-1969 (EXCLUDING 1954 & 1964) SHOW SCHEDULES A4 FORMAT 1989-2008 (2009 TO 2014 ARE MISSING) SHOW SCHEDULES A5 FORMAT 2015-2026 (EXCLUDING 2020) MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS OF INTEREST PHOTOS OF PAST FLOWER SHOW EXHIBITS PHOTOS OF PAST SOCIETY MEMBERS OUR FIRST PRESIDENT ANNUAL ACCOUNTS FROM 1968-2003 6 RHS BANKSIAN MEDALS 1932 & 1960's 6 CHALLENGE CUP SHIELDS 1960's MISC.CORRESPONDENCE 1988-2010 The following contemporary photographs are courtesy Valérie Ferris (VF), Andrew Kaplanovsky (AK) and Sean Edwards (SE): Plant sale in 2019 (VF) Autumn Show 2019 (AK) Autumn Show 2022 (AK) Spring Show 2023 (VF) Spring Show 2023 (AK) Celebrating 100 years of the Society at Lower House The following photographs of the 100 years event are by Sean Edwards: Open Garden, June 2023 Spring Show, 13th April, 2024 Mrs Nicky Cornell receiving the Marshall-Hall Plate from President Patricia Coles Autumn Show, September 2024 Photographs from Patricia Clake, Adam Gardner and Tim Walsh

The most visited entry on this website, by a considerable margin, is the one on Witley Park: https://www.thursleyhistorysociety.org/post/witley-park-1 This article is about the estate, its houses and owners over the past four centuries. Information has come from our own archives, newspaper cuttings and sales particulars supplied by Sue Ranson, Wikipedia, Chat GPT and DiCamillo. Many of the photographs have not been available until now. There is also coverage of the many outlying buildings, farms etc that have been sold over time. This entry inevitably covers similar ground to the article referred to above. Hidden within the wooded landscape between Godalming and Haslemere, Witley Park is today a private and elusive estate. Behind its gates lies a history that mirrors the changing fortunes of England itself - royal ownership, Victorian ambition, Edwardian extravagance, post-war decline, and 21st-century reinvention. It has been an estate of significance since medieval times when the estate originated as part of the medieval manor of Witley. Newspaper cuttings showing the enduring fascination of the Witley Park Estate. Medieval to early modern ownership up to the 18th century It was originally part of the manor of Witley and held in Domesday times by Norman tenants and later it became Crown property under Edward I. It passed through various aristocratic and gentry hands 17th – early 18th century Henry Bell owned it in the 17th Century. Then Anthony Smith also in the 17th Century and his family held it until 1763. Cartaret Webb family (1763 – c late 18thearly 19th century) By the 18th century it was known as Lea Park and associated with the Carteret Webb family having been acquired by Philip Cartaret Webb (1700 – 1770), who was a notable collector of manuscripts and antiquities who also served as an MP, in 1763. He probably lived in a modest Georgian house but no records of it exists. John Leech (Leach) (1820s – 1847) John Leech, was part of the local landed gentry class and at that time the property was known as Lea. He was a trustee of the Agricultural Employment Institution. At the 1832 UK general election, he stood for the Whigs in West Surrey, winning a seat. In Parliament, he argued in favour of the Corn Laws, and for reform of the church, in order to equalise the income of the various bishops. He served until the 1835 UK general election, when he stood down. LEA: The Seat of JOHN LEECH ESQ. William Henry Stone (1878 – 1890) William Henry Stone (1834 – 1896) was a Victorian politician, merchant, landowner and Member of Parliament for Portsmouth (1865 – 1874). He was also a Justice of the Peace for Surrey and Hampshire. He purchased Lea Park for £47,000 and commissioned a substantial half-timbered Queen Anne-style mansion designed by the architect, Richard William Drew (1834 - 1903), which was completed in 1881. It had 25 bedrooms and established Lea Park as a significant gentleman’s residence. However, he did not live there long and sold the property in 1890 to Colonel Samuel Sandys Davidson (1846 - 1921). Cover of sales particulars for the sale of the Lea Park Estate in 1878 The full sale particulars can be downloaded in the pdf below: Colonel Samuel Sandys Davidson (1890 – 1904) Colonel Samuel Sandys Davidson (1846 - 1921) , was a British Army officer, engineer, and inventor best remembered for revolutionising field ventilation and climate control - especially in colonial and military settings during the late 19th century. He, too, held the estate only briefly as he sold it to Whitaker Wright in 1896. It has also been reported that Wright acquired the estate from the Earl of Derby in 1890. Neither can be proved from existing records. Plan of new tennis courts & site for proposed new rose garden, 1891 The architect was John W M Hattie, Edinburgh, August 1891 Whitaker Wright (1896 – 1904) Whitaker Wright (1846 – 1904) was an English financier, mining promoter and company director for one of the largest corporate frauds of the late Victorian era. The fortune that he amassed and lost through speculative ventures is covered in the article referred to above. He died by suicide after being convicted of fraud in 1904. Despite his dubious methods, he was revered in Witley as he had provided a great deal of employment in the local area. Newspaper report from the New York Times, January 30, 1904 and his grave in All Saints' Church, Witley He purchased the estate 1896 for £250,000, approximately £27 million in 2019 inflation-adjusted values using the retail price commodity index, and massively enlarged the existing 18th century house. He transformed Lea Park into one of the most extravagant estates in England and acquired adjacent lands amounting to around 9,000 acres at its height. He commissioned the architect, H Paxton Watson who added two wings built of Bargate stone increasing the house to 32 bedrooms and seven reception rooms, 600 workers were employed and he spent over £1 million (approximately £113 million in 2019 values). A wall was constructed to enclose 440 acres closest to the house, and he created three artificial lakes and built the remarkable underwater ballroom and conservatory beneath one lake. Ornamental structures and landscaped grounds were on a grand scale making a statement of wealth and imagination. Construction of the so-called underwater ballroom which was more likely a smoking room The decoration was lavish and upstairs rooms had moulded ceilings, oriental carpets, Chinese furniture and Japanese silk pictures. The largest ground floor room was the ballroom, which had a floor area of 2,600 sq ft (240 m2), an oak and walnut dance floor, crystal chandeliers and a theatre stage at one end. At the end of the west wing was a glass-domed conservatory with walls built of Bath stone and at the opposite site of the building, at the end of the east wing was a copper-roofed observatory. The main dining room was 50 ft-long (15 m) and the kitchens were able to cater for up to 400 people. Other ground-floor rooms included a billiards room, a small private hospital and a velodrome. The cellars included underground strongrooms for storing valuable furniture and works of art. In 1904, his vast estate was broken up and sold, marking the end of its most flamboyant phase in the 20th century. Much of Hindhead, Witley and Thursley Commons including the Devil’s Punch Bowl were purchased by a committee of local residents and passed to the National Trust on 30 December 1905. Cover of sales particulars for the sale of the Lea Park Estate in 1904 The 20pp sales brochure provides extensive details of the land and properties sold at the 1904 sale: The fascination about Whitaker Wright has lived long after his death as these articles and book demonstrate: The whole of this undated magazine article can be dowloaded from the pdf below. Transcript of an article that appeared in The Guardian on 2nd February, 2004 and can be downloaded from the pdf below: The fall of a Midas From the run-down estates he transformed into a vast palatial home, to his lucrative mining interests, Whitaker Wright seemed t o have a golden touch. Which made the collapse of his empire and trial for fraud all the more spectacular. On the centenary of his conviction, David McKie recalls his most dramatic gesture of all. Ultimate Folly by Henry Macrory A gripping story of greed, treachery and ruthless ambition. Few people have led such an extraordinary life as Whitaker Wright. Few have died in such sensational circumstances. Beginning his career as an impoverished preacher, Wright crossed the Atlantic to prospect for gold, surviving a Native American massacre before he made his fortune. Then the bubble burst. Leaving behind a string of angry investors, he fled to England to start again. Soon he was one of the world's richest men. At his 10,000-acre estate in Surrey, he employed an entourage of seventy-seven staff, moved a hill that blocked his view and built an underwater glass smoking room. On his vast steam yacht, he entertained the Prince of Wales, the Kaiser and half of Britain's aristocracy. His downfall was as dramatic as his ascent. On the last trading day of the nineteenth century, his financial empire - which he had propped up by cooking the books - went belly up. This time, the trail of furious investors stretched all the way to the Prime Minister. With the police in hot pursuit, Wright fled to New York, but his escape was short-lived. At the end of what the press dubbed `the most dramatic trial of modern times' he was sentenced to seven years in jail. Minutes later, he sprang a last dreadful surprise... Other great swindlers have followed in Wright's footsteps, but none have surpassed him in daring and shamelessness. Drawing on family papers and archives from around the world, this compelling account of Wright's life reads like a thriller and offers an insight into the mind of the ultimate gambler and conman. Pirrie Ownership (1909 – 1924) William James Pirrie , 1st Viscount Pirrie (1847 – 1924), acquired the estate in 1909, renaming it Witley Park and maintaining it as a grand country residence. He was a leading Belfast industrialist and chairman of Harland and Wolff, the shipyard and a director of the White Star Shipping Line that operated the Titanic. His star insignia is still in evidence on many gates around the park. He is best remembered as the benefactor who gave land for the cricket ground at Brook, and had Pirrie Hall built next to it. After his death, the estate was further broken up and sold off in lots marking the end of its era as a single great private estate. William James Pirrie , 1st Viscount Pirrie (1847 – 1924) View of the house from the lake circa 1920s (image kindly supplied, and copyright of, F Frew) See also the entry for The Temple of the Four Winds: https://www.thursleyhistorysociety.org/post/temple-of-the-four-winds-at-hindhead-commons Interwar Period (1924 – 1951) Sir John Leigh Sir John Leigh, 1st Baronet (1884 – 1959) came from a Lancashire family with industrial and landed interests. He was a British mill-owner, newspaper proprietor and Conservative politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1922 to 1945 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Clapham. He changed the name to Witley Park, proabably to avoid confusion with his own name, and he preserved the house but made few major changes. The Esated was requisitioned by the Government during the Second World War and sold in May 1952. Sir John Leigh, 1st Baronet (1884 – 1959) Fire, Loss and Reconstruction On 11th October 1952 a catastrophic fire started in the Great Ballroom and destroyed the mansion. It was demolished shortly afterwards, ending the physical presence of Lea Park House. Ronald Huggett (1952 – 1955) Ronald Huggett purchased the estate in 1952 and sold off much of the land and in 1955 he sold it to Gerald Bentall. Cover of sales particulars for the sale of the Outlying Portions of the Witley Park Estate in 1952 Many of the local farms that exist today were sold in the 1952 sale: Bowlhead Green Farm; Emley Farm; Blackhanger Farm. Other farms sold outside this parish: South Park Farm; Grayswood Farm. Large scale map of the property which was part of the particulars prepared for the auction in 1952 Gerald Bentall (1955 - 1973) Gerard Bentall (1904 - 1971) farmed the estate and commissioned a new house, Witley Park House, designed by modernist architect Patrick Gwynne and completed in 1962. A new elevated site was chosen, with view towards the South Downs, rather than rebuilding on the original mansion footprint. The plan of the house is a V-shaped arrangement of three interlinked hexagons, with an angle of 120° between the two wings. The focal point of the house is the entrance hall, with a cantilevered staircase in white terrazzo. Together, the living and dining rooms form the hexagonal area at the west end of the house. This marked a shift from Victorian grandeur to modern architectural experimentation. After Bentall died in 1971, the estate was sold by his estate and was acquired by the property developer John Poulson. This detailed sales brochure runs to 69 pages and includes many photographs, not only of the house but also of the outlying properties. Here a just some examples of the photographs that are reproduced in the pdf below: Witley Park House from the 1973 sale brochure This aerial view, taken from the front cover of the 1973 sale catalogue, shows the situation of Witley Park House John Poulson (1973 - 1974) John Garlick Llewellyn Poulson (1910–1993) is a controversial figure in British history, best known for his role in the Poulson affair, a major corruption scandal that came to light in the early 1970s. His acquisition of Witley Park was part of his wider property dealings during that period. However, his ownership was short-lived. Following his conviction and imprisonment for corruption in 1974, his assets - including Witley Park - were disposed of. There is no clear chain of title as Witley Park passed through a distressed, corporate, and possibly multi-layered disposal process - not a simple private sale. John Poulson Ronald Stern (1974 - 1982) Photos: Robert Cooper for Classic Driver © 2017 Witley Park was sold by the receivers to Ronald John Henry Stern (born 1949). Stern is a property developer and prominent art and automobile collector who is known for preserving the early history of Ferrari from Enzo Ferrari's early life onwards. He went on to own the estate for a a number of years before being sold to Sir Raymond Brown. This undated sales brochure had limited particulars, we have only photos and a map, and it may have been produced for either the 1974 or 1982 sale. It contains the only colour photograph we have of the modernist Lea Park/Witley Park House. Sir Raymond Brown OBE (1982 – 2002) Sir Raymond Brown (1920 – 1991) - founder of the construction and waste-management group Raymond Brown Group - acquired the estate – then about 1,300 acres - in 1982, maintaining its privacy and continuity. He lived in the modernist house that was built in 1982 and modified the interior. In 2002, Lady Carol Brown (Sir Raymond’s widow) sold 450 acres of the Witley Park estate, including parkland and lodge, to Gary Steele. She retained parts of the estate finally divesting of it in its entirety in 2002. Sir Raymond Brown is buried in All Saints Churchyard, Witley During his ownership, Sir Raymond Brown OBE, offered Lea House as a conference centre. At some point, Witley Park House became Lea House. Gary Steele (2002 – 2018) The Architecture was by Adam Architecture 2008 - 2013 Gary Steele (Image: Supplied by Champion News) John Gary Steele (born 1959) is a British-born cyber security entrepreneur. He acquired part of the estate in 1991 and constructed a new mansion on the original site of the demolished Lea Park House. Steele commissioned the construction of a new, neo-Georgian mansion designed by Robert Adam on the site of Wright's residence. The construction of the new house required major planning negotiations and was one of the more notable uses of “exceptional design” planning permission (aka Gummer's Law) in Surrey. Steele turned the long-ruined site back into a functioning country-seat estate. Unlike previous owners, he kept a low profile. He sold the estate in 2018 for £30 million. Oleg Smirnoff (2018 to date) The Pool Hall was added in 2021 Oleg Alexandrovich Smirnoff (born 1966) acquired Witley Park with his wife Galina in 2018. His ownership is low-profile and private, with little documented change to the estate. He represents the modern pattern of discreet international ownership of historic English country houses. Subsequent developments have included: further estate restructuring; planning permissions for additions such as a helipad and new structures. The estate remains private and not open to the public. Evolution of the Estate c1780 to the present Outlying buildings on the Witley Park Estate The black and white photographs all come from the 1973 sale brochure The Main Entrance Lake Lodge, from sales particulars in 1973 Lake Lodge, April 2026 Three story cottage, from sales particulars in 1973 Thursley Lodge, the entrance to Stable Lake which overlooks Witley Common on the north side. Thursley Lodge, May 2026 Brook Grange, Brook, is situated opposite the Green and Cricket Ground Pine Lodge is situated at the south entrance to the Park Milford Lodge is at the north entrance to the park Milford Lodge, May 2026 Described in the sales brochure as 'The Superior Farmhouse' of Witley Farm Witley Farm Cottages lie back some distance from Park Lan These three pictures above are from an undated magazine article, probably c1990:

On a beautiful summer's evening, over 30 people had signed up for Thursley History Society's Churchyard Walk to learn something about the gravestones and people buried there. The group was divided into two, one led by Amanda Flint and the other by Sally Scheffers, Chairman of Thursley History Society. Before the group divided, Sally spoke in general terms about the church and churchyard: St. Michael & All Angels This Church has been a place of worship for nearly a thousand years and the land surrounding the church for much longer. Historically a churchyard was an active burial plot attached to a place of worship, whereas a graveyard or cemetery represents a designated, and often secular, area established explicitly for the deceased. Until the 19th century churches and churchyards were the only places where people could be buried, and as such, are very important places for history and archaeology, revealing evidence of the past and of the lives of people who have lived and worked in the parish. They also provide a sanctuary for a rich diversity of flora and fauna, and some are classed as SSSI’s (sites of special scientific interest) but not ours – yet! Graves in the churchyard should face east. Christians adopted the old Jewish custom of burying the dead with their feet towards the rising sun. It is also to face the Lord, who will approach from the east at the final Day of Judgement. Vicars are buried with feet facing the church to symbolise that they are still attending their flock. Traditionally, most burials took place on the south side of the church. The north side was sometimes used for the burial of suicides, criminals, and infants who had not been baptised. It is thought that the first Christian missionaries came to Surrey in the late 7th century. The earliest documented evidence includes the founding of a minster at Farnham by King Caedwalla of Wessex in 688 and these early Christian missionaries preached to the villagers at the side of the preaching cross. In the 6th and 7th centuries, wooden crosses marked the spots where priests or monks preached to the local community. The wooden cross was replaced by a more permanent stone cross, around which services were held. Later still a wooden church might well have been erected before the Saxons built the first small stone church here in Thursley. When some of the congregation died, they were buried at the side of the preaching cross before the first village churches were built. So many of the churchyards are older than the churches and it is more than likely that this is the case here. Until the opening of the first public cemeteries in the 19th century churchyards were the only place people could be buried. Over the centuries countless thousands of burials took place, and repeated burials raised substantially the level of earth above that of the churchyard paths. A conservative estimate is that there are 2,500 Christian bodies buried here. By the mid-19th century churchyards were becoming unsanitary and in 1881 the local Board of Health ordered the closure of our churchyard. As a result, Miss Frederica Harriet Rushbrooke of Surbiton in 1882 gave one rood and two perches approximately a quarter of an acre to extend the churchyard. This small parcel of land came from Hill Farm and Wheelers Farm – the quarter acre from an estate of 2,400 acres! In 1926 Captain Rushbrooke gave a further half-acre, still known as ”the new part” of our churchyard. In our churchyard we have a fine collection of yew trees. Because of their great age, yews were associated with pre-Christian burial grounds. In symbolic terms, yews do not only represent death, but also resurrection. Their evergreen foliage was highly valued and used for religious and secular festivals. One of our yews, an “Irish” yew (Taxus baccata “Fastigiata”) by the Old Parsonage is thought to be from 500 to 800 years old and serves as a reminder of an earlier, pagan time. Our other notable yew is by the wall of Hill Farm, thought to be several hundred years old and a “Dovastoniana” specimen of Taxus baccata. Not all burials have been outside and in 2005 two coffins were discovered under the chancel of the church. The great and good could be interred inside the church, hence the term “stinking rich” from the smell! Luckily, for the parishioners of Thursley Church Edmund Woods (buried 1792) and his wife Ann (buried 1812) had highly decorated lead lined coffins. The vault is of a very considerable size and perhaps Edmund planned for more members of his family to be interred inside the church. However, in 1857 it became illegal to bury within a consecrated building. The first recorded burial here was Margaret Denier on the 24th October, 1613. Individual plots and headstones were not common until the 17th century. As you look around the churchyard you can see a variety of grave markers. The oldest burial stone, as recorded by Reverend Arthur “Bill” Mills, belongs to Elizabeth Tichbourne who died in April 1666 at the age of 21. The word coffin probably derives from the Saxon “cofa” meaning cave. The wooden coffin is of comparatively recent origin. Here in Thursley the coffins would have been made in the wheelwrights’ shop and were probably elm. Early coffins in the 11th and 12th centuries would have been a single block of stone, hollowed out to receive a body. These stone coffins were never buried deeply. They were sealed by a stone lid, usually with a cross and a symbol denoting the deceased rank or profession. These included a broadsword for a knight or a chalice and bible for a priest. For the majority who were poorer they were not buried in coffins. Instead, their bodies were wrapped in a cloth shroud. Later, they may have been placed in the “parish coffin” and then taken out and placed in a communal grave. One extraordinary relic from the past was the bier which used to be housed in the Dame School (traditionally a small building of wood or brick in the corner of the churchyard near the entrance was used to house the parish bier) and which the History Society had on display at a summer exhibition years ago. It was used for transporting a corpse from the village to the graveside along what were known as “coffin paths”. One of these is the bridleway and byway by Punch Bowl Farm to Ridgeway Farm. The lower path by the wall of Hill Farm is also known as the “coffin path”. The bier was a wooden frame with rollers and four handles and four wheels. Reverend Peter Muir donated our bier to the National Funeral Museum (UK) in Beckton, East London in the 2000’s. References: National Churches Trust; Tales from a Country Churchyard – Guy J Singer; Witley & Thursley Parish Churches – Alan Bott Excerpt from Old West Surrey by Gertrude Jekyll, 1904 “In the older days, monuments in country churchyards, erected to the memory of people of means and of some importance of standing, were specially designed by a competent architect. Often they took the form of fine altar- tombs – monuments of much dignity; excellent in proportion, with sufficient and well-drawn mouldings. Even the humblest graves of all, where no stone or lasting memorial was ever to be placed, were most carefully covered with turf than they are now, and the newly laid turfs were bound with hazel or osier withies crossing each other diagonally, with wooden pegs, where one withie passed over the other. Graves of people of a middle class had head and foot stones; the head-stone either plain as to its face or with some ornamental carving in low relief; but usually with the upper line pleasantly treated in one or two traditional ways. The monuments, if any, to members of the labouring class, or people who could not well afford stone, were the dignified but unpretentious grave-boards. Each district had a traditional pattern of finial at the heads of the posts, and of ornamental outline of the lower edge of the board. The latest I know in this district bears the date 1861. It is much to be regretted that this simple form of monument should have passed out of use. The cast-iron crosses from the ironmongers’ pattern- book are but a sorry substitute for the honest piece of carpenter’s work, made in the dead man’s own village, perhaps by a younger man of his own blood; in any case by one who was known to him.” Notes on the 1999 Edition by Jane Brown Gertrude Jekyll is and was famous for her gardens but she was an accomplished artist-craftswoman. Her young life was spent at Bramley Park until aged 25 she moved to London. But Surrey was her home and she returned in 1878 to Munstead and turned her energies to gardening and photography. 'Old West Surrey' is her hymn to her happy childhood and her acutely-observed record of rural life and homes in the country around Godalming in the Victorian England that was already disappearing fast. Miss Jekyll realised how quickly things were changing in her childhood countryside and took up photography to record ‘the ways and things of the older days’ as well as her growing garden. She used a Collins camera (made by C.G. Collins of Cochrane Street, St John’s Wood, London) and in 1895 ‘a new adjustment’ for the use of a wide-angle lens was available; a Dallmeyer lens was left at Munstead Wood with the camera, and the landscape photographs in the later chapters of Old West Surrey seem to have benefitted from this. She was a pioneer; historians now confirm that the years between the 1860s and 1914 transformed life in Britain more completely than any other comparable era. Some of the graves that were discussed: George Forrest George Forrest was named after his father. George senior was a legendary plant finder especially in Yunnan in the south west of China. In all he collected around 31,000 specimens including Gentiana sino-ornato and Rhodendendron forrestii. More than 30 genera have the specific epithet forrestii. There is a photograph on display of him in The Old Laboratory at RHS Wisley. George junior was also green-fingered and adventurous. Having left school he attended the Heriot-Watt Technical College as the only student in the Tea Planters Course. When he became 21 he sailed for India and worked on Tea Gardens in West Bengal. He wrote of his experiences which will soon be on our website. George captures the day-to-day life as well as his forays into the jungle. Travel in the more remote regions was by elephant as these animals could cross the rivers and sometimes the elephants had to swim! George came back to England and took a job and tied cottage at the Valley Gardens, part of the Crown Estate and next door to Savile Gardens. Here he was employed to care for the trees and shrubs a role which was perfect from his experiences in India with acres and acres of delicate tea bushes. It was a chance visit to Thursley Common that made George decide that he wanted to live here upon his retirement. He didn’t have much money but found a caravan at Warren Park and Tony Trimmings, the owner of the site, gave George a small garden as well. George joined the Horticultural Society Committee and was very well-respected and liked. So much so that Pat Coles on behalf of the Thursley Horticultural Society planted a pink hawthorn bush in his memory. Sarah Herrington The only iron grave marker in the churchyard is for Sarah. We know little of her and she died before the 1881 census on the night of Sunday 3rd April, so we don’t know where in the parish she was living. In the 1871 (Sunday 2nd April) census a Sarah Herrington lived at Redland Cottage in Kirdford and was a washer woman. Her place of birth could be Fernhurst but the writing isn’t crystal clear, she is 52 years old, the head of the household and married. This could be her. Sarah was buried by Reverend Henry Brancker on March 10th. She had died a week earlier on March 3rd aged 63. We do know that the cast-iron markers were made for people who couldn’t afford engraved stone memorials. They would have cost about 10 shillings plus tuppence per letter to have name, age, date and so on in the casting. By comparison a simple stone headstone would start at about 3 – 4 pounds plus four pence ha’penny per letter for engraving by a stonemason. (John Dawson, Facebook: Guildford Town Past & Present) The cast iron “gravestone” is model No. 1 from Filmer & Mason’s Guildford Foundry. It was a prominent 19th century iron foundry and engineering firm. It operated primarily between 1850 and 1883 and was located at Mill Mead, which is the exact site where the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre now stands. It may be that there were other cast-iron grave markers as a lot of the churchyard iron was removed for scrap metal in the Second World War. Personally, I think it is one of the most charming headstones in the churchyard. Una Faithfull An early print of the church, according to Rosemary Stephens pamphlet “Our Church” published Michaelmas 1980, shows the area on the south side full of these wooden memorials (known as leaping boards in Thursley) set at different angles, instead of being straight and with the inscription on the westward side (before about 1860) or the eastward (after that date) as the stone ones are. The one remaining leaping board or “bed- board” in the churchyard belongs to Una (Maude) Faithfull 1875 – 1911. The, now illegible, epitaph reads: “To them that knew her there is vital flame In these the simple letters of her name To them that knew her not be it but said So strong a spirit is not of the dead” Una was born in Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire on 27th April 1875 to Francis Grantham Faithfull and wife Edith nee Lloyd. In 1881, aged 5, Una has an older brother and five older sisters. Her father is employed as Clerk to the Merchant Taylor Company and the family are living, plus two lodgers, at Court Fields in Broxbourne. (Frank Eustace 20; Amy Edith 17; Lilian Mary 16; Mabel Constance 13; Eveline Rose 11; Jessie Violet 10; Una Maud 5.) In the 1891 census Una is living in 30 Lake Road in Wimbledon with her parents and three of her older sisters : Mabel Constance; Eveline Rose (Teacher in High School); Jessie Violet. In the 1901 census she was living at The Old Vicarage in Farnham and was a secretary, single and living with two of her older sisters: Amy (Secretary); Eveline (Principal of College Hall). Annoyingly, for the 1911 census on 2nd April Una is holidaying in Eastbourne at Burlington House Hotel on the Grand Parade and she is now listed as Head of Student Boarding House. Una does appear in the newspapers: The Alloa Advertiser of Saturday 4th December 1901 reports on the Silver Wedding of Lord and Lady Balfour of Burleigh and amongst the list of gifts is Miss Una Faithfull’s silver box. The Morning Advertiser of Wednesday 29th November 1905 headlines, “A Hyde Park Incident”: “Edward Bowler, 24, no home, bricklayer, was charged, before Mr. Denman, with attempting to steal a purse belonging to Miss Una Faithfull of Palace-gate Kensington. Miss Faithfull was walking with other ladies on Monday afternoon in Hyde Park, when the prisoner who was standing on the footway snatched at her purse, which she was carrying on a chain, breaking the chain, but failing to steal the purse. He then tried to run away, but was captured by Constable Cousins, 542A, who had been watching him from a place of concealment. The prisoner, in defence, said the affair was “an accident” owing to his having taken “a tidy drop of beer”. Assistant-gaoler Scott said that the accused had been three times before the Court for begging in Hyde Park. On the first occasion he was discharged with a caution, on the second he received 14 days, and on the third six weeks’ hard labour. Mr. Denman now sentenced him to three months imprisonment with hard labour.” On May 5th 1906 in The Campbeltown Courier there is a full report of the society wedding between Mr. J R Moreton Macdonald of Largie and Miss Daisy Eyre Crabbe which took place at St. Matthew’s Church, Westminster. The fulsome report included a list of the Bride’s Presents and Miss Una Faithful gave a copy of Virginibus Puerisque by Robert Louis Stevenson. “The Ladies’ Field” was a luxurious periodical, catering to upper-class women offering high society news, Edwardian fashion, and a coverage of women’s sports and pastimes. The Saturday 9th January 1909 edition reported, “A recent marriage was that between Mr. Ernest Rev. Charles Jackson of Farnham, Surrey and Miss Eveline Faithfull, daughter of Mr. Francis Faithfull of 32 De Vere Gardens, Kensington. Dr. Walpole and the Rev. J. Salwey conducted the service, and Mr. Eustace Faithfull gave away his sister, while Mr. Arthur Seawell supported the bridegroom as best man. The bride was married in a travelling dress of shot blue crepe meteore and a white picture hat, trimmed with silver tissue and ostrich feathers, and was attended by her sister, Miss Una Faithfull, wearing a gown of mole-coloured silk crepe and a hat to match ornamented with pink and mauve flowers, the happy couple left early in the afternoon for their honeymoon, the reception having been held the previous evening at 32 De Vere Gardens.” The Alloa Advertiser, which is still going strong today, of Saturday 30th April 1910 reports at length on the Wedding of Hon. Mary Bruce and Major Hope. The Hon. Mary Bruce is the eldest daughter of Lord and Lady Balfour of Burleigh. Again, the wedding gifts are listed and Miss Una Faithfull has given an “Edition of Jane Austen” (which is more exciting than the present of Major Mackenzie of Ord’s “Twelve doyleys of Maltese lace”!) Sadly, on the 19th August 1911 Una died, aged 36, at Salviday or Saturday Cottages (?), Thursley and was buried here by Reverend Hudson on the 21st August. For her probate entry Una’s address is given as 20 Queensbury-place Kensington, Middlesex. She is listed as a spinster who died at Thursley near Farnham, Surrey. Probate to her brother, Frank Eustace Faithfull, secretary [company director of British railway companies in South America]. Una left £998 13s 2d which in 2026 would be worth about £152,500. More about Una’s father: Francis Grantham Faithfull, born in 1845, was the son of Reverend Francis Joseph Faithfull, Rector of Hatfield, Hertfordshire. In May 1853 he was awarded a BA having studied at Trinity College, Oxford. In January 1868 Mr FG Faithfull MA was appointed as assistant private secretary to Sir John Pakington, the Secretary of State for War and later is recorded in the general news section of The Bristol Daily Post of December 17th, 1868, as having been appointed as private secretary to Lord Northbrook, Under- Secretary of State for War.Around 1870 Francis becomes Clerk of the Merchant Taylors Company, a position he held for twenty years, before he retired on the grounds of ill- health. A short retirement of 18 months and he died on 8th March 1892 in Wimbledon. Francis Grantham Faithfull MA, FSA (Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries) was regarded as one of the best-known clerks of the great City Livery Companies. Una’s mother was Edith Lloyd. In the 1870s she began editing and contributing articles to periodicals and wrote a single novel, “Love Me or Love me Not” in 1875. Edith died a few months after her husband in 1892. Both Edith and Francis have their sepia photographs in the National Portrait Gallery. Una’s only surviving brother was Frank Eustace Faithfull. Frank served as secretary of Buenos Ayres Western Railway Company as well as director of the Buenos Ayres Midland Company and in 1911 he was instrumental in setting up The Argentine Club on the corner of Hamilton Place and Piccadilly. He married Blanche Annie Gwyn in 1891 and they had two children Basil and Edith. The family lived at 69 Oakwood Court, South Kensington. From passenger lists we know that Frank and Edith sailed in 1912 to Buenos Aires and to New York seven weeks before his death on 14th September 1915. Frank left Blanche £3140 2s 4d (in 2026: £418,000). Capt. Basil Faithfull of the Connaught Rangers was killed in action in Palestine on 10th March 1918. Blanche moved to Grove Cottage Loseley Park and thence to The Cottage Browns Lane with daughter Edith. Blanche died in January 1954 in Plymouth aged 91. Una’s first sister: Amy Edith died on 13th December, 1949 and she had served as a Justice of the Peace (magistrate). She lived at Grange Cottage, Knowles Lane in Farnham and was the widow of the Very Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Robinson, K.C.V.O., M.A., D.D., formerly Dean of Wells (1911-1933) Dean of Westminster (1911-1933), Chaplain in Ordinary to the King, 1902 and Rector of St. Margarets, Westminster, 1899-1901. In the 1911 Census Amy was 47, single and living at Lambeth Palace where she was the secretary to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Three years later, in 1914, she married Joseph. He died in 1933. Una’s second sister: Lilian, was a formidable woman. She was 15 years Una’s senior and became an English teacher, University lecturer, Headmistress, Women’s Rights Advocate, Justice of the Peace, Social Worker and Humanitarian. She had been one of the “Steamboat” Ladies, a group of women who were barred from graduating from Oxford or Cambridge, despite studying there and meeting the academic criteria to attain a degree. They instead received ad eundem degrees from the more progressive University of Dublin. As a result, Lilian became a life-long campaigner for women’s access to higher education. She studied at Somerville College attaining a First in English as well as becoming the college tennis champion and captaining the hockey team. Whilst at Oxford she suggested the Lady Blue award to match the Blue awarded to college sportsmen. She joined King’s College London as vice-principal of the Ladies Department where she became friends with Virginia Woolf. She believed that topics of cookery, laundry and hygiene should feature as scientific subjects on the school curriculum - hence domestic science. In 1895 she became the first president of the Ladies’ Hockey Association. In 1907 she became Headmistress of Cheltenham Ladies College, a post she held for 15 years. In 1920 she became one of the first female magistrates in the country. Miss Faithfull was active as a social worker improving social conditions for the poor of London and chaired a committee to improve nutrition in children. She founded the Old People’s Housing Society in Cheltenham, later renamed the Lilian Faithfull Homes which are still going strong today. A 1924 novel, “The Constant Nymph”, by Margaret Kennedy modelled the Helen Butterfield character on the author’s former headmistress, Miss Faithfull. Chatto & Windus published Lilian’s books: “In The House of My Pilgrimage” 1924 and “You and I; Saturday Talks at Cheltenham” 1928. Lilian also wrote articles for newspapers including on the 8th November 1927, for The London Evening News, “When A Woman Is Sixty”. Lilian was made a Fellow of King’s College, London and received an honorary MA from Oxford in 1925. And in 1926 she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Lilian died on 2nd May 1952 at Faithfull House, one of the care homes she helped set up! Una’s third sister: Mabel Constance in the 1901 census is recorded as the Head of High School at High House, Chilcomb Within, Hampshire. By 1910 she is now Principal of King’s Hall and living at 32 De Vere Gardens, Queen’s Gate. In the 1911 Census she too is holidaying at the Burlington Hotel, 11 Grand Parade, Eastbourne with Una, and is also listed as Head of House for Students. Less than 2 years later 12th March 1913 she is dead and is buried in Putney Vale Cemetery. Una’s fourth sister: Eveline Rose, for whom Una was bridesmaid, lived in Farnham until her death in April 1961. Her husband, Ernest, was a solicitor and they lived on Castle Hill (“Cottons”) and The End House, Old Park Lane. Eveline’s sister Jessie and Una’s fifth sister lived with them and the 1911 census lists her as a Sick Nurse. Theirs was a comfortable home with 3 live-in servants. Jessie Violet in 1915 was the Secretary for The Women’s United Services League Limited Company. Its objectives were to form clubs and places of recreation for the wives, mothers, widows, and other relatives or descendants of men serving, or who may have served in the Navy or Army. This was a prominent organisation led by influential figures like Lady French and Lady Jellicoe. Jessie Violet, Una’s fifth sister is here in this Churchyard. She was buried by H. Gordon French on 7th September 1938 but the Burial Register has a later pencilled comment to the side “Where Grave?” Jessie’s address was recorded as 11 Hornden Court W.8. (Kensington). Having learned of Una’s family we seem to know little of why Una and Jessie are here in Thursley. Perhaps she was working as a school House Matron for her sister Lilian ? Hers was a well-educated, well to do family and she has very good social connections. And despite that she has a very simple wooden grave marker as opposed to a headstone and no strong connection to Thursley that is obvious. Today her leaping-board, though illegible, is the only one left and so Una has, thankfully, come to our attention – and blown our minds! Because there is a little extra which will be news to Una as well as us! Una’s grandfather was Francis Joseph Faithfull (2nd July 1786), who was Rector of Hatfield and a former Canon of Lincoln Cathedral. He is also the Great, Great, Great Grandfather of Marianne Faithfull. And Una is Marianne’s Great, Great, Great Aunt! (Father: Robert Glynn Faithfull; Grandfather: Theodore James Faithfull-Davies; Great Grandfather: Robert Vean Faithfull-Davies; Great, Great Grandmother: Cecilia Grantham Storr [previously married to Rev. Richard Davies]; Great, Great, Great Grandfather: Francis Joseph Faithfull Edmund & Mary Moon The name Moon is of Norman origin from Mohun near St. Lo. It is deeply rooted in Somerset and Dorset. And Thursley. The first Moone listed in the Baptism register is Anne daughter of John 23rd May 1616. Edmund or Edmond was the son of Edward. Edmund was baptised in Thursley on 11th September 1715. He married Mary Stovold in Thursley Church on 22nd December 1743 and they had two children that we know. Edmund (II) was baptised on 30th April 1745 and died on 13th July 1745. The burial records state that he was three and a half years old. Daughter Mary (II) was born on Christmas Day 1746 and died aged 82 at Heath Hall. She was buried by Rev. Thomas Stevenson on 31st January 1829. Mary (II) had two daughters, Mary and Ann. The Baptism register reads Mary the daughter of Mary Moon baptised 3rd August 1775. No father given – indeed it is rare for the mother to be mentioned in the registers at this time. And not all vicars were kind: the entry for David Underwood born 19th February 1737 “son of the widow, a base born child”. And for Ann 13th February 1780 daughter of Mary. Again no father listed. Ann died and was buried on the 1st March 1780. So who fathered these two girls? According to Guy Singer’s detailed research Mary Moon (II) was the housekeeper at Heath Hall working for the unmarried John Yalden who was 24 years Mary’s senior. John loved Mary and it would appear fathered her two daughters. This tallies with the fact that John Yalden wrote Mary, now Mary Knowles, into his will in which he described her as his “natural daughter”. Mary (III) married John Knowles of Farnham on 31st May 1800. John Yalden died in 1801 and John Knowles through his wife Mary inherited. Mary and John’s sons were all given the middle name Yalden: John, Edmund and Henry. Upon the death of her husband in 1831 Mary Knowles undertook the building of a new house which was designed by John Perry who also was the architect responsible for The Pepper Pot in Godalming. Mary died in 1840 leaving the estate to Henry, her youngest son. Edmund Moon died on 17th March 1786 aged 70 and was buried on 22nd March 1786. Mary Moon predeceased her husband and died on 30th June 1782 aged 56 and was buried 3rd July 1782. Their headstone was set into the wall of the Church when it was rendered and you can still see the bottom lugs that go into the ground. It is not known where it came from and the actual grave was probably built over during Reverend Brancker’s and Penfold’s enlarging of the Church in 1883. Baptisms: 1616 23rd May Moone Anne daughter of John 1623 8th October Moone Elisabeth daughter of John 1626 19th November Moone Richard son of John 1629 Moone Thomas son of John 1657 (DoB) 24th February John son of John 1665 4th June Moone Thomas son of John 1684 1st March Moone Mary daughter of John 1686 26th December Moon John son of John 1690 22nd March Moone Thomas son of John 1692 1st January Moon James son of John 1695 1st January Moon Elizabeth daughter of John 1699 26th March Moon Sarah daughter of John 1715 11th September Moon Edmond son of Edward 1717 30th January Moon Ann daughter of Edward 1745 30th April Moon Edmund son of Edmund 1746 25th December Moon Mary daughter of Edmund 1758 9th June Moon Nathanniell son of Nathanniell 1760 29th February Moon William son of Nathanniell 1762 26th November Moon Mary and Elizabeth daughters of Nathanniell 1767 6th March Moon Elizabeth daughter of Nathanniell 1775 3rd August Moon Mary daughter of Mary 1780 13th February Moon daughter of Mary 1813 27th June Moon Catherine Frances of William and Frances of Hammer Pond. Victualler. 1813 Edmund Yalden Knowles son of John and Mary of Heath Hall. Gentleman 1815 19th February Moon Hannah Maria daughter of William and Frances of Hammer Pond, Victualler. 1821 24th July Henry Yalden Knowles son of John and Mary of Heath Hall. Gentleman 1831 11th September Moon Mary-Ann daughter of James and Mary Moon. Labourer 1834 16th March Moon Hannah daughter of James and Mary 1838 28th October Moon Susanna daughter of James and Mary Marriages: 1673 6th November Thomas Tupper & Mary Moone 1743 22nd December Edmund Moon and Mary Stovold 1757 22nd December Nathaniel Moon & Elizabeth Stovold 1830 8th November James Moon & Mary Winter Burials: 1758 17th June Nathannielle Moon son of Nathannielle 1762 16th January Anna Mariah Lambden from Guildford 1763 16th March Elizabeth Moon wife of Nathanniell 1764 3rd February Mary Moon daughter of Nathanell 1766 9th January Elizabeth Moon daughter of Nathanell 1774 14th January Mr. Edward Lambden 1780 1st March Ann Moon daughter of Mary 1781 22nd May Mrs. Mary Lambden 1781 24th December Mrs. Ann Yalden aged 85 1782 3rd July Mary Moon wife of Edmund 1786 22nd March Edmund Moon 1798 4th January Mrs. Mary Yalden aged 70 1801 19th August Mr. John Yalden aged 70 1802 2nd March Mr George Lambden Yalden 1807 15th December Mrs. Frances Yalden aged 72 1809 31st January Mary Lambden Yalden 46 1814 21st January Edmund Yalden of Godalming 89 1819 18th May Mary Yalden of Godalming 78 1820 Henry Moon of Hammer Ponds Infant 1823 7TH May William Moon of Half Moon 53 1829 31st January Mary Moon of Heath Hall 82 1831 25th May John Knowles of Heath Hall 53 Square Table Tomb: George Lambden son of Edward and Mary Lambden. Died 24th February 1802? Aged 36 George Lambden Yalden buried 2nd March 1802 Mary Lambden died 24th July 1809 aged 40 [PR: Mary Lambden Yalden buried 31st July aged 46] Photographed by Gertrude Jekyll and in Old West Surrey Book. A report in The Reading Mercury 25th June 1781: “St. James, June 19. The King has been pleased to grant unto Mary Lambden and George Lambden, of Guildford, in the County of Surrey, his royal licence and authority to change their present name, and to assume and take the surname of Yalden, in compliance with the will of their late mother Mary Lambden deceased; and also to order, that this his Majesty’s concession and declaration be registered in his College of Arms.” Large Table Tomb To the left of the small table tomb. Edward Lambden died 6th January 1771 aged 55; of London [PR; buried 14th January] 1774 Mary wife of Edward Lambden & daughter of Edmund & Mary Stillwell died 11th May 1781 aged 52 [PR buried 22nd May]. Edward Lambden aged 38, born about 1722, married 30 year old Mary Stillwell in St. Nicholas Church in Guildford on the 15th January 1760. Edward was from the City of London his Church being St. Mildred, in the Poultry. Edwards signed a marriage bond of £200 with Coles Fortrie, Gent of St. Nicholas Church. (In 1774 Coles Fortrie lived in Guildford. “Coles Fortrie, Gent, of exemplary Piety was buried July 12th 1771” as listed in the Burial Records of St. Nicholas, Guildford.) The marriage bond was on a printed form and reads: “Know all Men by these presents, that we Edward Lambden of the Prish of St. Mildred in the Poultry London in the County of Middlesex Glass-seller and Coles Fortrie of St Nicholas Guildford, Gent are holden and firmly bound to the Right Reverend Father in God Benjamin by divine permission of Lord Bishop of Wonton in the sume of two hundred pounds of lawful Money of Great-Britain, to be paid to the Right Rev Father or his certain Attorney, Executors, Administrators, or Assigns: To which Payment, well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, and each of us by himself for the whole, our Heirs, Executors and Administrators, firmly by these Presents. Sealed with our Seals, Dated the 15th Day of January in the Year of or Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and sixty. The Condition of this Obligation is such, That if hereafter there shall not appear any Lawful Let or Impediment, by Reason of any Pre-Contract, entered into before the Twenty-fifth Day of March, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty-Four, Consanguinity, Affinity, or any other lawful Means whatsoever; but That Edward Lambden Batchelor and Mary Stillwell Spinster may lawfully solemnize Marriage together, and in the same afterwards lawfully remain and continue for Man and Wife, according to the Laws in that Behalf provided ; and moreover, if there be not at this present Time any Action, Suit, Plaint, Quarrel, or Demand, moved or depending before any Judge Ecclesiastical or Temporal, for or concerning any such lawful Impediment between the said Parties; Nor that either of them be of any other Parish, or of better Estate or Degree than to the Judge at granting of the License is suggested, and by Him sworn to And lastly, if the same Marriage shall be openly solemnized in the Church, or Chapel in the License specified, between the Hours appointed in the Constitutions Ecclesiastical confirmed, and according to the Form of the Book of Common-Prayer, now by law established; and if the above bounden Edward Lambden do save harmless and keep indemnified the above-mentioned Right Reverend Father, [inserted in left margin Comnifoary] and Surrogates, and all other his Officers and Ministers whatsoever, by Reason of the Premises; then this Obligation to be void, or else to remain in Full Force and Virtue. Sealed and Delivered in the Presence of E Brewer Lumsgate Also in the parish records is the burial in 16th January 1762 of Anna Mariah Lambden of Guildford. A close relative of the newly married Edward perhaps. Martin Stilwell is the keeper of the Stillwell Family History and responded to my email enquiry as to why Edward Lambden paid £200 (£55,000 in 2026) to the Stilwell family to marry Mary Stillwell. And also why Mary’s offspring were commanded by their mother’s will to petition the King in order to change their surname to Yalden. Martin responded as follows: “As to this Mary Stillwell. She was the daughter of Edmund Stillwell. She was their third daughter baptised Mary as the other two did not survive infancy. Edmund was one of the land-owning Stillwells of Lower House and Cosford. Due to some odd inheritance rule in the Stillwell line (think Downton Abbey plot) he inherited the Mousehill estate (but not Mousehill Manor) from his father. His son John (Mary’s brother) inherited the lands from his father and then inherited the Manor from his cousin, thus bringing land and house together. Makes Downton Abbey inheritance plot seem tame! Daughter Mary inherited Sheephouse lands at Aldingbourne in Sussex from her mother Mary Stillwell, nee Whittingdon (widow), as a marriage settlement to Edward Lambden. Both Mary and her mother (Mary) were said to be of St. Nicholas, Guildford. Sheephouse was leased to Edward Lambden for one year for 5 shillings and then released to him after one year for sale. The inheritance would have been 1760, the year of her marriage, and that was only a year after her father had died. This makes me think that Edward Lambden may not have been the first choice as their son-in-law. Edward Lambdenwas a wealthy glass merchant from St. Mildreds in the Poultry, London (virtually where Bank junction/Station now sits). As to children George and Mary Lambden (Yalden) all I know is that they changed their name to Yalden by Royal Licence in 1781. George would have been 15 and Mary 12. This is surely a decision of their mother’s ? Their father Edward Lambden had died in 1774. I have no re-marriage for Mary Stillwell/ Lambden so it is possible she was co-habiting with a Yalden and wanted to try and legitimise this by the children taking the name of Yalden. There is another possible reason. Edmund Stillwell’s aunt Ann Stillwell married a John Yalden . He died in 1773 (one year before Mary Stillwell’s mother Mary (Whittingdon). Maybe there was some Yalden inheritance going begging and Mary Lambden wanted to try and get it passed to her children. Naming them Yalden may have helped. Just a guess. That’s about it as regards what I know happened. One of those twisted tales that may eventually come out of the woodwork.” These graves were also discussed during the evening: The brick barrel graves were constructed to deter grave robbers. Note the much shorter grave on the left, which was for a child. The first headstone is for Elias Moorey, and the second for the infant Maria Moorey. At the bottom of the second headstone appears a very short grave marker which is, in fact, the 'footer' of this grave: The grave is for Elizabeth Everis (sister of Elias), wife of Arnold Everis. She was the daughter of Henry and Hannah Moorey whose headstone is on the right. This is the grave of Marjorie Anne Tozer and Francis William Spernon Tozer, the children of Henry Edward Spernon Tozer, an artist of some renown and the village's postmaster. This is the grave of the poet, John Freeman, and note the builit-in birdbath. Freeman's Field is on the other side of the church wall and this memorial coping stone is inscribed: THE ADJOINING FIELD WAS PRESENTED TO THE NATIONAL TRUST IN 1931 FOR PRESERVATION AS A MEMORIAL TO JOHN FREEMAN BORN 29 JAN 1880 DIED 23 SEPT 1929 After the tour of the graveyard, we dined on a warm June evening under the spread of the huge oak in Freeman's Field.

This photograph, inspired by the school photographs of his youth, was Peter Anderson's idea (he lived in Brook Cottage, opposite the road to Smallbrook, at the time) and 2000 was the perfect time. In the top image each person is numbered and over the years the majority have been identified. Some of the people were just visitors to the village who joined in, should we do this again, it should be restricted to Thursley Parish residents. The index below is reproduced in full and is also in this pdf for searchability: If you can identify any of the missing people please advise via the contact link on the website.

These records and recollections from our archive, mainly from the History of Thursley Society's (HOTS) newsletters, show how active HOTS were celebrating their key anniversaries just as Thursley History Society celebrates theirs. If you know of any photographs of this weekend, please contact us: https://www.thursleyhistorysociety.org/contact

A general strike took place in the United Kingdom from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage-reductions and worsening conditions for 1.2 million locked-out coal miners. Some 1.7 million workers went out, especially in transport and in heavy industry. It was a sympathy strike, with many of those who were not miners and not directly affected striking to support the locked-out miners. As well as workplace stoppages other organisation included 'Councils of Action, food distribution, and support for picket lines in some places.[2] The government was well prepared, and enlisted middle- and upper-class volunteers to maintain essential services. There was little violence and the TUC gave up in defeat. There was a paucity of information reaching areas beyond London and so the Godalming Gazette was created, and this was its opening paragraph: This, which we believe to be the only daily newspaper ever bearing the name of Godalming, will, under Providence, be published every evening, except on Saturdays and Sundays, until the strike is over. It has come into existence simply because the tremendous local demand for a daily newspaper has not been met. The thin trickle of broadsheets from London has been swallowed up before it has reached Godalming: the hungry sheep (if we may use the term of our readers without disrespect look up and are not fed. The first edition. Just four newspapers were published with No 4 reporting the end of the strike. All four copies are reproduced in the pdf below.

Photographs only of this Grade II listed building (23rd December, 1983) which is thought to date back to the 16th Century. Mrs Caroline Norman Mr Nash and Mrs Norman (his sister), at Hole Cottage, Summer 1978 Surnames of previous owners include: Moorey; Ayres; Norman; Nash Hole Cottage - a southerly view Hole Cottage with Bedford Farm in the background Hole Cottage was put on the market in May 2026:

Tony Kelly, of Bedford Farm, gave a talk in the village hall in October 2024 about his extraordinary feat. The text and the ppt below are condensations of his talk which was appreciated by the packed audience. From Thursley Village Facebook page: Climbing Mount Everest, 8848m, in 2003 The highest point on Earth. A summary of Tony Kelly’s story The presentation will cover the lead up to the climb and our summit bids. I’ll also touch on some history of the mountain, as in 2024 its 100yrs since the famous 1924 Mallory and Irvine Expedition (and the mystery of did they summit or not). Their route was on the North side of Mount Everest and we are attempting the same North side route from Tibet. We are attempting the north route because its technically much harder than the south and consequently climbed much less. Back then around 1200 people had summited Mount Everest but only approx. 200 of them from the North side. It's worth dwelling on George Mallory and Sandy Irvine briefly. Mallory’s body was eventually found on the North Face in 1999 with torso bruising indicating a serious fall whilst roped. The remains of his mid layer jumper were still visible supplied by W Paine, 72 High Street, Godalming. Yes, he was a local. Originally from the north west but settled in Godalming as a teacher at Charterhouse and married Ruth, a Godalming girl. Sandy Irvine’s remains were only found in September this year, 2024, on the north face directly below but much further down than Mallory’s body indicating they were almost certainly roped together when they fell. I will also bring to the talk a section of telegraph wire, used for Advanced Base Camp communications in 1924, that I found on the East Rongbuk glacier in 2000. I was with Graham Hoyland at the time (he was on our 2000 expedition) who had been responsible for the search that found George Mallory in 1999. Graham was the great great grandson of Howard Somervell who was on the 1924 expedition with Mallory and Irvine. So where did it all begin for me? After hiking in the UK through my 20’s I got introduced to rock climbing and quickly progressed to rock, ice and mountaineering in the Alps. After 10 years of multiple annual trips to the Alps, I was looking for a bigger challenge and met the internationally renowned expedition leader, Russell Brice, in a bar in Chamonix. My friend and mountain guide, Mark Seaton, was able to reassure Russell I was technically more than competent to join him but we didn’t know how my body would react to extreme altitude. In 1999 I went with Russell Brice to Cho Oyu, the 6th highest mountain in the world at 8,188m to find out if I was ok at altitude. As a test it went well. The weather was brutal. In the end we didn’t make a summit attempt because of extreme snow conditions but I was the only member of the expedition, westerner or sherpa, to reach the expeditions high point of 7,900m and I did it solo. Mt Everest was on! I had mentioned, summit bids, plural. In 2000 we took an expedition to Mount Everest to climb the North side from Tibet. After 2 months on the mountain we made 2 attempts on the summit. The first one was aborted at 7900 metres due to atrocious weather conditions and massive snow loading. That first attempt had high attrition and resulted in 6 of the 7 climbing members pulling the plug. Consequently, on the 2nd attempt, it was only myself, 3 professional mountain guides and 3 sherpa’s that made the attempt. At camp 2, 7500m, our tents got avalanched overnight and buried. It became a matter of survival, avoiding carbon dioxide asphyxiation overnight by punching holes through the snow and ice over the tents and the following day using a quite dangerous technique to deliberately trigger avalanches to clear the massive snow load in front of us to be able to down climb. To cap it off in our exhausted state when we pulled off the mountain a melt water lake had broken out of the East Rongbuk Glacier and we had to build a raft out of barrels and wood to ferry the 20 expedition members and 10 tonnes of equipment out! I’m reminded of the definition of an Adventure: “an undertaking with an uncertain outcome”! So the 2003 Expedition was “Unfinished Business”. We returned to Kathmandu, Nepal, in late March and after assembling some 11 tonnes of equipment and “shopping” in the local markets for 2 months plus of provisions for 17 team members we made our way via Lhasa, Tibet to Mount Everest basecamp at 5200m and set about the expedition proper. High altitude climbing is a combination of technical competence, mountaineering experience and a “head game”. It’s a marathon not a sprint. You’re going to spend months in daily calorie deficit, physically and mentally stressed by the environment and the challenge. -50 deg C and 150mph winds are regular features. You’ll spend a lot of time climbing at 10/10ths of your ability and experience but to be successful you will have to spend some time at 11/10ths or worse and make the judgement call on when to take those risks and how long to stay exposed. Tenacity, stamina and will power will count for a lot. On arrival at basecamp team members blood oxygen levels of mid 70% were not unusual. That would be an A&E visit back home at sea level. Acclimatisation to get the blood oxy levels into the 90%’s takes weeks as you teach your body to produce more red blood cells to cope with the ¼ of sea level oxygen availability we’ll have to deal with higher up the mountain. Acclimatisation starts in base camp knocking off 6000m peaks to warm up and then moving up the glacier to work on the mountain. The route will take a month and half of preparation work putting in fixed rope and installing and provisioning four high camps. We’ll be going up and down visiting and revisiting these camps. This will mean we will effectively climb the height of Mount Everest several times in the process before we even consider a summit attempt. The north side route is not only technically more difficult than the south side by it is much longer. Its 22km from Basecamp to Advanced Basecamp. From ABC we must establish camp 1 at 7050m, camp 2 7500m, camp 3 7900m and camp 4 at 8300m and fully stock them. That includes lugging oxygen bottles (about 6kg each) up which we will use (3 each) from camp 3 7900m onwards. The climbing is a mix of technical ice climbing and massive snow slopes, rock sections of scrambling and massively technical vertical rock climbing at 8600m on the 2nd Step (this is the crux of the climb). Having got the infrastructure of the route set up we had to retreat to base camp because of a massive storm. It wiped out a significant portion of our camps on the mountain ripping tents stocked with personal kit, food and oxygen off the mountain and depositing it on the glacier below. When we went back up to ABC we had to find the debris on the glacier and icewall, extract it from crevasses, uncover the snow buried ropes, rebuild the camps and route. (when l say “we” went back to recover things it was actually only 2 of the 7 client climbers (Trynt and myself) together with sherpas). We then set about a summit attempt in late May. Two of the seven climbers pulled out sick. The rest of us pushed on. Five climbers with sherpa partners and a mountain guide. Herman, the guide, was focused on Zedi, Matt and Gernot. Sue and Chung were sick. Myself and my sherpa partner, Dorje, were operating pretty much independently. It’s typically a six-day push, four days up and two off. Leaving camp 4, 8300m, at circa 10pm/11pm to climb through the night. Intending to reach the three steps on the north east ridge by dawn. But we experienced some delays en route due to some slower expeditions blocking the route in front of us. It wasn’t busy like photo’s you may have seen of the south side but this was 2003, the 50th anniversary of the 1953 success, there were a few more climbers than normal and its the nature of the route on the north that is much more constraining. I got further delayed by having to rescue a climbing colleague (Zedi) who made a massive error and found himself hanging on the rope at the 2nd Step, 8600m, swinging over the north face of Mount Everest with a mile of fresh air between his legs. It cost me, and Dorje my sherpa partner, a lot of excess oxygen usage fighting to save him. We got him back in and back enroute. It took Dorje and I a while to sort ourselves out and get going again. The others, including Zedi, who I had rescued, were ahead and summited, albeit late (having breached the turnaround time limit we had all agreed to). I calculated I was about to run out of oxygen probably on top and that would risk death. I made an incredibly difficult decision to turn back 48metres from the top which would have taken another 1.5hrs! I radioed Russell to advise and we turned back. On descent I did actually run out of oxygen around 8500m but we still had to get down so Dorje and I pressed on without. We also had to help rescue (again) the same guy I had recovered on the way up because now he had gone snow blind and couldn’t see to down climb. The climb was incredible but a massive blow to turn back so close. After getting back to Advanced Base Camp and feeling pretty low the next morning Russell came to my tent with a mug of yak milk tea and a large shot of whisky and told me to shut up and say nothing. He said everyone else is leaving, there’s a narrow weather window opening and I think you have it in you to go back! Basically he convinced me to attempt what no climber (professional or amateur) other than a small number of sherpa’s had ever attempted on Mount Everest and that was to climb the mountain twice in one season and I was going to try twice in two weeks! So nine days after returning to Advanced Base Camp Sue and Chung, my colleagues who had been sick on the first attempt and myself together with our sherpa climbing partners mounted what was to be my second attempt this season and my fourth summit attempt on Mount Everest. The weather was going to be challenging. We didn’t have the requisite four days up and two off. We had to wait out a storm in Camp 2 and then pushing very hard from camp 2 we missed out camp 3 by a continuous climbing push stopping very briefly at camp 4 (not for rest, food and sleep as normal) we picked up water and oxygen and continued climbing into a 33-hour continuous aggressive push right through the night to summit early in the morning, for me at 7:03am, May 31st. It had been amazing as every other expedition except ours had left the mountain so Sue, Chung and myself had the entire mountain to ourselves. This is unheard of and although we had climbed through a storm the summit day was blue sky with the curvature of the earths horizon visible for a 100miles. There were tears. Which immediately froze! Getting up is of course only half way. Getting off is essential and almost as hard as going up. In my case very hard having only nine days prior albeit but for 48metres been on the summit. It becomes a massive head game. Your body is screaming for rest telling you its done in and there’s nothing not even fumes left in the tank. You want to stop. But if you stop and rest there is a very high chance you’ll slip into dozing followed by hypoxia and then hypothermia and death. So keep moving. I made it back to camp 1 at 7050m and rested for the night before descent to ABC the following day. 2003 was the 50th anniversary of the 1953 successful first summit by Hilary and Tensing via the South side Route and associated with that anniversary the Nepali Mountaineering Association were at the 2003 Kendal Mountain Film Festival awarding medals for significant achievement on Mount Everest. I was on stage in the company of Chris Bonington and Doug Scott (1st brit), Stephen Venables (1st brit no Oxy) and others including Mike Westmacott and George Band members of the 1953 expedition. I was awarded a Gold Medal with the citation from the NMA president: “an outstanding rescue, wise turn around at 48m, subsequent success after only nine days and in aggressive style, extraordinary & exemplary mountaineering”

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. Also see The Red Lion Garage, Reg Cottle and many road traffic accidents and The Red Lion Inn 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:

An article from The County Magazine, February 1965 This unattributed cutting from our archive is dated 27th November 1987: