Effingham is a small English village in the
Borough of Guildford
The Borough of Guildford is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. With around half of the borough's population, Guildford is its largest settlement and only town, and is the location of the council.
The district w ...
in Surrey, reaching from the gently sloping northern plain to the crest of the
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and ...
and with a medieval
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
. The town has been chosen as the home of notable figures, such as Sir
Barnes Wallis
Sir Barnes Neville Wallis (26 September 1887 – 30 October 1979) was an English engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force in Operation Chastise (the "Dambusters" raid) to attack ...
who was buried here and
Toni Mascolo
Giuseppe "Toni" Mascolo (6 May 1942 – 10 December 2017) was an Italian-born British hairdresser and businessman, and the co-founder of hairdressing chain Toni & Guy with his brother Gaetano "Guy" Mascolo.
Early life
He was the eldest of five s ...
. The
M25 motorway
The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...
is north-west of the middle of the town which mostly consists of new build homes in the
Metropolitan Green Belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...
.
An
eponymous
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
Junction railway station
Junction railway station was just outside the village of Crossbarry, on the Cork and Bandon Railway in County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, ...
is 50m north of its boundary in
East Horsley
East Horsley is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, 21 miles southwest of London, on the A246 between Leatherhead and Guildford. Horsley and Effingham Junction railway stations are on the New Guildford line to London Waterloo. ...
, where a branch of the
Sutton and Mole Valley Lines
The Sutton and Mole Valley lines were constructed between 1847 and 1868 by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, the London and South Western Railway and the LBSCR-sponsored Horsham, Dorking and Leatherhead Railway.
Services
Services ...
joins the
New Guildford Line, which have services terminating at
London Waterloo
Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of ...
.
History
Late Stone Age
Long before Effingham was named by the Saxons, a prehistoric track now called the
North Downs Way
The North Downs Way National Trail is a long-distance path in southern England, opened in 1978. It runs from Farnham to Dover, past Guildford, Dorking, Merstham, Otford and Rochester, along the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty ...
or
Pilgrims' Way
The Pilgrims' Way (also Pilgrim's Way or Pilgrims Way) is the historical route supposedly taken by pilgrims from Winchester, Hampshire, Winchester in Hampshire, England, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent. This name, of compa ...
was an important prehistoric thoroughfare in Britain. Part of this ancient road forms the southern boundary of Effingham parish. It was used by early traders of flint and stone implements and there is evidence of stone age flint mining in the neighbouring village of Horsley.
[The History of Effingham in Surrey Published 1973 by Effingham Women's Institute]
Roman times
A Roman coin featuring
Emperor Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
(r. AD 14–37) and his mother Livia was found in Effingham in 1970 by Dr Sutton in land being prepared as rugby fields in
King George V Playing Field
A King George's Field is a public open space in the United Kingdom dedicated to the memory of King George V (1865–1936).
In 1936, after the king's death, Sir Percy Vincent, the then-Lord Mayor of London, formed a committee to determine a ...
s. It is not known whether the coin was dropped on the land by a passing Roman or arrived in chalk from nearby Horsley used as foundations for the rugby pitches.
In 1802 General Oliver de Lancy, Lord of the Manor of Effingham East Court, found a small camp of irregular form near Mare House, Dunley Hill in the south of Effingham parish. It is believed to be of Roman origin but was lost after the land was enclosed and became arable.
Anglo-Saxon period
Around c. AD 493, a
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
noble called Aeffing built his "ham" or house in the area now known as Effingham. A charter of AD 727 granted 20 dwellings in Bookham and Effingham to the Benedictine monastery at Chertsey.
Effingham lay within the Saxon administrative district of
Effingham
Effingham appears in
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086 as ''Epingeham''. It was held by Osuuold (Oswald) from
Chertsey Abbey
Chertsey Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, was a Benedictine monastery located at Chertsey in the English county of Surrey.
It was founded in 666 AD by Saint Erkenwald who was the first abbot, and from 675 AD the Bishop of London. At the same time ...
and
Richard Fitz Gilbert
Richard fitz Gilbert (before 1035–), 1st feudal baron of Clare in Suffolk, was a Norman lord who participated in the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and was styled "de Bienfaite", "de Clare", and of "Tonbridge" from his holdings.G. E. ...
. Its domesday assets were: 4½
plough
A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...
s, of
meadow
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...
, herbage and pannage worth 18
hogs. It rendered £8.
Medieval period to 18th century
By the 14th century, the main
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
stood on the site of a
Regency
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
mansion which is the clubhouse to Effingham Golf Course, then owned by
Sir John Poultney, four times
Lord Mayor of the City of London
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
By 1545,
King Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...
was hunting on what is now Effingham Golf Course whilst staying at
Hampton Court
Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief ...
nearby. The manor house and lands were then owned by
Lord William Howard
Lord William Howard (19 December 1563 – 7 October 1640) was an English nobleman and antiquary, sometimes known as "Belted or Bauld (bold) Will".
Early life
Howard was born on 19 December 1563 at Audley End in Essex. He was the third son ...
(the
Lord High Admiral, and later
1st Baron Howard of Effingham) and it was his son the
2nd Baron Howard of Effingham (later
1st Earl of Nottingham) who commanded the English fleet against the Spanish Armada.
The mentioned regency mansion/clubhouse contains a large, intricately carved oak fireplace in the Armada room, dated 1591, which is believed to have originated on one of Lord Howard of Effingham's ships.
19th century
The house and lands which Effingham Golf Club is now based passed through many distinguished hands until in 1815 the house and of land came into the possession of Sir Thomas Hussey Apreece. It was in 1927 when the Surrey Land and Development company negotiated a lease for a group of people wishing to build a golf course. Effingham Manor Golf Club was formed with the artisan golfers using as a clubhouse what are now greenkeepers' cottages near the third tee area. The club has one of the largest man-made lakes in the county which is used to water the golf course during droughts.
The clubhouse, previously known as Manor House, is
Georgian in style and was reconstructed by David Burnsall in about 1770. Beside the clubhouse is a cedar tree dated to c.1600 old which give rise to the club emblem. The course has been well reviewed in international guides – it used to hold the qualifying rounds for
the Open
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
. Effingham Golf Course was designed by
Harry S. Colt.
In 1870–72,
John Marius Wilson
John Marius Wilson (c. 1805–1885) was a British writer and an editor, most notable for his gazetteers. The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (published 1870–72), was a substantial topographical dictionary in six volumes. It was a c ...
's ''
Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...
'' described Effingham as:
"a village, a parish, and a hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
in Surrey. The village stands 3¾ miles SW of Leatherhead r. station, and 4¼ NW by W of Dorking; has a post office under Leatherhead; was formerly a place of some importance, said to have contained sixteen churches; and gives the title of Earl to the Howards of Grange. The parish, with the village, is in Dorking district, and comprises . Real property, £4,094. Pop., 633. Houses, 122. The property is much subdivided. Effingham Hall is the seat of the Stringers. The living
Living or The Living may refer to:
Common meanings
*Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms
** Living species, one that is not extinct
*Personal life, the course of an individual human's life
* ...
is a vicarage in the diocese of Winchester
The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. Founded in 676, it is one of the older dioceses in England. It once covered Wessex, many times its present size which is today most of the historic enla ...
. Value, £370.* Patron, Andrew Cuthell, Esq. The church is ancient, has stalls, and is good. There is a Wesleyan chapel..."
George Pauling made a name and fortune in connection with the expansion of the railways throughout southern and central Africa under his great friend and confidant, Sir
Cecil Rhodes
Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896.
An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Br ...
. At the latter's request, Pauling accepted the portfolio of Mines and Public Works for
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
and a member of the Executive Council, holding office from 1894–1896. The Lodge and surrounding land, including what is now the KGV playing fields, Pauling bought and spent a "large sum of money in adding to it and spoiling it". In 1912, George Pauling was granted the privilege of a Private Oratory in The Lodge by the then Pope,
Pius X
Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...
. Two dozen local Catholics worshipped there on Sundays and the Chapel became a church the year later. The other church he built in England was to the Sacred Heart at
St Ives in 1902.
20th century
Sir Barnes Wallis
Sir Barnes Neville Wallis (26 September 1887 – 30 October 1979) was an English engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force in Operation Chastise (the "Dambusters" raid) to attack ...
lived most of his adult life here, inventor of the
bouncing bomb
A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be pre-deter ...
which breached the Eder and Mohne dams in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. He also designed
airship
An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.
In early ...
s including the
R100
His Majesty's Airship R100 was a privately designed and built British rigid airship made as part of a two-ship competition to develop a commercial airship service for use on British Empire routes as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme. The ot ...
and applied the
geodetic
Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...
construction methods to aeroplanes.
Wallis lived with his wife Molly in the village for 49 years. Their home south of the village centre in Beech Avenue was called White Hill House but is now renamed Little Court and looks over Effingham Golf Club's 17th fairway. It is believed that early 'bouncing bomb' experiments were carried out in his garden using the family washtub and his children's marbles.
Barnes Wallis joined the governing body of St Lawrence Church, which is a Grade II*
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
church in 1932 and served as their secretary for eight years until 1940.
In 1946 Barnes Wallis became an Effingham Parish Councillor and served as Chairman of Effingham Parish Council for 10 years.
He was also the Chairman of Effingham Housing Association which helped the poor and elderly of the village with housing.
Knighted in 1968, Sir Barnes Wallis was instrumental in the founding days of the KGV playing fields at Effingham. He was Chairman of the KGV Management Committee and negotiated the landscaping of the "bowl" cricket ground. As a fanatical cricket fan, he was keen to see a first-class ground in his village; the County Council wanted to improve the line of the adjacent A246 Guildford road and Wallis persuaded them to cut and fill the sloping playing field to achieve the current superb flat cricket ground. At one stage it was the back-up ground to The Oval. He was the first Chairman of the Effingham Housing Association, a charity which built homes for local people; the most recent development, Barnes Wallis Close, was opened by two members of his family in 2002.
In 1967 on Barnes Wallis' 80th birthday the village presented him with an album about the history of Effingham in recognition of his national and village contributions.
Sir Barnes Wallis died on 30 October 1979 and was buried four days later in St Lawrence Churchyard, a few yards from KGV fields. Two weeks after the funeral, on 17 November, a memorial service was held for him at St. Lawrence Church and on noon that day an Avro Vulcan bomber from 617 Squadron flew overhead as a mark of respect. I was the captain of the Vulcan (F/L Pete Branthwaite)
On 3 July 1944 a V1 flying bomb fell on Beech Avenue and hit the ground close to a house called Orchard Walls which was damaged.
On 10 July another V1 flying bomb scored a direct hit on a cottage called "Little Thatch". It killed the owner and injured his wife and child. This was the only civilian casualty of World War II in the village. The cottage was rebuilt and renamed Phoenix Cottage which survives to this day on Effingham Common Road.
The Royal Army Service Corps were stationed in Effingham with Canadian soldiers encamped and headquartered in High Barn, Beech Avenue, close to where Barnes Wallis lived.
Effingham featured in the 1971 comedy film ''
She'll Follow You Anywhere
''She'll Follow You Anywhere'', released in the United States as ''Passion Potion'', is a 1971 British comedy film directed by David C. Rea and starring Kenneth Cope, Keith Barron and Richard Vernon. The screenplay concerns two chemists working ...
''.
Landmarks
Among Effingham's architecturally
imposing or recognised buildings is an early work by wide-reaching architect Sir
Edwin Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...
, the ''Red House'' built in 1893 for Susan Muir-Mackenzie, a mutual friend of
Gertrude Jekyll
Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote ...
who laid out its garden and orchard. The house later became Corpus Domini Convent and was converted to apartments in 2008.
Amenities
A well-served small village in commerce but less so in public transport, dwarfed by its neighbours
Great Bookham
Great Bookham is a village in Surrey, England, one of six semi-urban spring line settlements between the towns of Leatherhead and Guildford. With the narrow strip parish of Little Bookham, it forms part of the Saxon settlement of ''Bocham'' ("the ...
and
Little Bookham
Little Bookham is a small, historic village in Surrey, England between Great Bookham and Effingham. It is home to several listed historical buildings, included in a large conservation area, along with Ye Olde Windsor Castle public house, Manor H ...
, it is known for its
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
(which is north of the village), large common, generous sports park (called the KGV playing fields), St Teresa's School (private girls' prep school) and the
Howard of Effingham School
The Howard of Effingham School is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form with academy status. It is located in the village of Effingham, Surrey, to the west of Little Bookham. The school is part of the Howard Partnership Trust, a Mul ...
.
A Wealth of the Nation report in 2002 found that Effingham had the second-highest average income per household in the UK, at £52,700 and the fourth-highest percentage of residents earning over £100,000 in the UK.
[ ACI's 2002 Wealth of the Nation reporthttp://erphodev.hyperspheric.com/download.aspx?urlid=5539&urlt=1]
About half of housing scales slopes south of the A246 (between
Little Bookham
Little Bookham is a small, historic village in Surrey, England between Great Bookham and Effingham. It is home to several listed historical buildings, included in a large conservation area, along with Ye Olde Windsor Castle public house, Manor H ...
and
East Horsley
East Horsley is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, 21 miles southwest of London, on the A246 between Leatherhead and Guildford. Horsley and Effingham Junction railway stations are on the New Guildford line to London Waterloo. ...
) at the top of the small High Street "The Street". The village was founded by the church as a
spring line settlement Spring line settlements occur where a ridge of permeable rock lies over impermeable rock, resulting in a line of springs along the contact between the two layers. Spring line (or springline) settlements will sometimes form around these springs, bec ...
, at the foot of the North Downs. Two parallel roads, The Street and Church Street reflect this by their steep gradient. At the bottom wells exist, whereas towards the top, layers of permeable topsoil underlain with chalk and limestone prevent reaching water.
Sport
As well as the above-mentioned golf club, for which membership is available, the village is home to Effingham Cricket Club and Effingham and Leatherhead Rugby Club. Also, local skater Matt Axebey has been making headlines in the US after some impressive performances.
In 2012 Howard of Effingham school became the first school from the south of England to qualify to play at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
in
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
's Champion Schools tournament.
Demography and housing
The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.
The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).
Famous residents
*
Barnes Wallis
Sir Barnes Neville Wallis (26 September 1887 – 30 October 1979) was an English engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force in Operation Chastise (the "Dambusters" raid) to attack ...
(resident 1930–1979), inventor of the Bouncing Bomb; buried in St Lawrence Church graveyard
*
Toni Mascolo
Giuseppe "Toni" Mascolo (6 May 1942 – 10 December 2017) was an Italian-born British hairdresser and businessman, and the co-founder of hairdressing chain Toni & Guy with his brother Gaetano "Guy" Mascolo.
Early life
He was the eldest of five s ...
, co-founder of
Toni & Guy
Toni & Guy (stylised as TONI&GUY) is a British international chain of hairdressing salons founded in the UK in 1963 by brothers Toni and Guy Mascolo.
History
In 1963, Toni Mascolo and his brother Guy opened their first salon in Clapham, Londo ...
*Admiral
Sir Francis Turner (1912-1991), lived at Effingham with his family until his death in 1991.
*
Julian Bailey (b. 1961), former Formula 1 and Le Mans racing driver and former 'Stig' on ''
Top Gear (TV series)''
*
Sally James (b. 1950), former actress and
Tiswas
''Tiswas'' (; an acronym of "Today Is Saturday: Watch And Smile") was a British children's television series that originally aired on Saturday mornings from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982, and was produced for the ITV network by ATV.
It was c ...
presenter
See also
*
List of places of worship in Guildford (borough)
The Borough status in the United Kingdom, Borough of Borough of Guildford, Guildford has more than 100 current and former places of worship. Of those standing, 83 are in use by various Christian denominations and (in the case of Guildford Syn ...
References
Parish CouncilHoward of Effingham SchoolSt Lawrence Primary SchoolSt Teresas SchoolSt Lawrence ChurchOur Lady of Sorrows ChurchEffingham Housing AssociationEffingham Methodist ChurchEffingham Cricket ClubEffingham Rugby ClubEffingham Village ClubEffingham Golf ClubHorsley Decorative and Fine Arts Society
{{authority control
Civil parishes in Surrey
Borough of Guildford
Villages in Surrey