Farncombe, historically Fernecome, is a village and peripheral settlement of

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...

Waverley, Surrey The Borough of Waverley is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. The borough's headquarters are in the town of Godalming; other notable settlements are the towns of Farnham and Haslemere and the large village of Cran ...

, England and is approximately 0.8 miles (1.3 km) north-east of the Godalming centre, separated by

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

known as the ''Lammas Lands''. The village of

Compton Compton may refer to: Places Canada * Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district * Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton * Compton, Que ...

lies to the northwest and Bramley to the east; whilst

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

is to the west.

Loseley Park Loseley Park is a large Tudor manor house with later additions and modifications south-west of Guildford, Surrey, England, in Artington close to the hamlet of Littleton. The estate was acquired by the direct ancestors of the current owners, the ...

, in the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Littleton, lies to the north of the village.

History

Farncombe is an ancient site of settlement;

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

finds from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

have been found in Northbourne Estate. In more modern history Farncombe appeared in the

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 ''Fernecome''. It was held by the

Bishop of Bayeux The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux (Latin: ''Dioecesis Baiocensis et Lexoviensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Bayeux et Lisieux'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of Calvados and is ...

. Its Domesday assets were: 2

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 ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

worth 3 hogs. It rendered £1 4s 0d. Few older buildings survive as evidence of its long history; among the oldest is a row of

almshouses An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

, built in 1622. One of the older buildings in Farncombe is Farncombe Infants' School, on Grays Road, near the railway station. It was built by subscription in 1905 and was originally a boys' school. It was a mixed infants' school from 1935, and became a junior school in 1975 with an annexe for the infants school.

Governance

Farncombe is part of one of the five wards that make up the town of Godalming. Farncombe is within the census area ''Godalming Farncombe and Catteshall (Ward)'' which had a population of 4600 in 2011.

Transport Links

Farncombe is served by the Portsmouth-London railway, through

Farncombe railway station Farncombe railway station opened in 1897 as a minor stop on the Portsmouth Direct Line between Guildford and Godalming, England. It is said to have been built at the instigation of General Sir Frederick Marshall, a director of the London and ...

, and the Hoppa community bus project. It is near the A3, which links the village with London and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, and the M25. It lies on the

River Wey The River Wey is a main tributary of the River Thames in south east England. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey. Once combined the f ...

and canal boats can be hired there taking travellers up to

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

and beyond.

Sports

Farncombe has a youth football team called Farncombe Youth Football Club (FYFC) for boys and girls from ages 6/7 to 16/17. Farncombe has a Leisure Centre called Godalming Leisure Centre which is home to Godalming Swimming Club. It is home to Farncombe Cricket Club which is on Summers Road and Godalming Tennis Club, also on Summers Road.

Schools

Farncombe is home to several schools, including: * Broadwater school secondary school is on Summers Road. The headteacher is Mrs Elizabeth "Lizzie" Matthews and there are three houses; Pegasus, Phoenix and Aquilla. * Farncombe Infants is on Grays Road. The headteacher is Mrs Andrea Simonsson and there are 5 classes, Apple, Lime, Oak, Beech and Sycamore. This school is primary. * The Ladybird Nursery is on Fern Road. The manager and owner is Mrs Pamela Twocock. This school is of 3 months to the time of full-time education (around 5 years).

Pubs, Shops and Businesses

Farncombe is served by a number of traditional English pubs including: The Freeholders (closed in 2017), The White Hart, The Leathern Bottle, The Manor, The Three Lions, The Charterhouse and The Cricketers which has associations with

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

who played cricket in the area. It is also home to shops and businesses.

Notable people

* John George "Jack" Phillips (1887–1912) was born in Farncombe. He died while serving as senior

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

operator on board the maiden voyage of the RMS ''Titanic''. He continued working as the ship sank, trying to contact other ships that might be able come to the assistance of the ''Titanic''. ''The Jack Phillips'' pub in Godalming High Street is named after him. *

Alan P. F. Sell Alan Philip Frederick Sell FSA, FRhistS (15 November 1935 – 7 February 2016) was a minister of the United Reformed Church and was formerly Professor of Christian Doctrine and Philosophy of Religion at the United Theological College, Aberystwyt ...

(1935-2016), academic and theologian was born in Farncombe.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Surrey Borough of Waverley