St Martha's Hill is a landmark in St Martha in Surrey,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

between the town of Guildford and village of Chilworth. It is the 18th highest hill in the county and on the

Greensand Ridge The Greensand Ridge, also known as the Wealden Greensand is an extensive, prominent, often wooded, mixed greensand/sandstone escarpment in south-east England. Forming part of the Weald, a former dense forest in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, it r ...

, in this case at the closest point to 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 a ...

, commencing to the immediate north at the Guildown-Merrow Down in the parishes of Guildford and

Merrow Merrow (from Irish ', Middle Irish ' or ') is a mermaid or merman in Irish folklore. The term is of Hiberno-English origin. The merrows supposedly require a magical cap ( ga, cochaillín draíochta; Hiberno-English: cohuleen druith) in order ...

. The top of the hill provides a semi- panorama of Newland's Corner also in the

Surrey Hills AONB The Surrey Hills is a Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which principally covers parts of the North Downs and Greensand Ridge in Surrey, England (approximately one quarter of the land area of the county). The AONB was designated in 1958 ...

. Its church is the main amenity of the small parish extending to the south into the streets of Chilworth, with some medieval stone incorporations from a 12th-century predecessor (rebuilt 1848-1850 by

Henry Woodyer Henry Woodyer (1816–1896) was an English architect, a pupil of William Butterfield and a disciple of A. W. N. Pugin and the Ecclesiologists. Life Woodyer was born in Guildford, Surrey, England, in 1816, the son of a successful, highly resp ...

) and is a

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

venue mainly to outside the sparsely populated

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

. The knoll is crossed east-to-west by the

Pilgrims' Way The Pilgrims' Way (also Pilgrim's Way or Pilgrims Way) is the historical route supposedly taken by pilgrims from Winchester in Hampshire, England, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent. This name, of comparatively recent coinage ...

, which is otherwise on the North Downs.

History

The site contains several

Megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

ic and

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

artefacts, dating from as far back as 3500

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

. Below the church there are five circular earthworks, believed to date back to 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 prin ...

. They were excavated in 1953 but one has since been obliterated by the construction of a reservoir. There is a traditional belief that the original name of this hill was Saints and Martyrs Hill, the martyr being St Thomas of Canterbury.

Landmarks

St Martha's Church (also known as St Martha-on-the-Hill) is listed grade II by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

under the statutory buildings' protection scheme — on the top of the hill — the building is accessible only by foot. It is the only church in Surrey to be on the

and featured briefly in the 1944 film ''

A Canterbury Tale ''A Canterbury Tale'' is a 1944 British film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger starring Eric Portman, Sheila Sim, Dennis Price and Sgt. John Sweet; Esmond Knight provided narration and played two small roles. For the post-war American ...

''. A 12th-century church existed here before falling into ruin by the 18th century. The church was rebuilt in 1848–50 to the designs of

who incorporated many of the original 12th-century architectural features including Norman arches to the main entrance as well as zig zag moulded lancet windows on the tower. The interior is a plain, restrained style with the majority of fittings of a post 1850 date, the main exception being a 12th-century font (albeit re cut in 1850). near the front entrance. Incised graffiti, often dated by year, exists on much of the exterior dressed stonework. The church believes it may have been built as a landmark or beacon to assist travellers or encourage pilgrimage to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

or Winchester Cathedrals. Its current dedication to Saint Martha is one of only three in England: another example being St Martha's in Broxtowe near

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

. The third is a Methodist church in

Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...

, Hertfordshire. The church is floodlit during the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

season. The graveyard of the church includes a memorial to actress and singer

Yvonne Arnaud Germaine Yvonne Arnaud (20 December 1890 – 20 September 1958) was a French-born pianist, singer and actress, who was well known for her career in Britain, as well as her native land. After beginning a career as a concert pianist as a child, Ar ...

, whose ashes were scattered there. There is also the grave of Bernard Freyberg VC, which is in front of the south door of the church. Freyberg won his medal in 1916 as a Lieutenant-Colonel in The

Royal West Surrey Regiment The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Arm ...

. He was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

er who also won the DSO with three bars, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General. In 2007 a memorial service was held for him at the church, attended by the New Zealand High Commissioner. The eastern end of St Martha's Hill is notified as part of Colyers Hanger Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). This area was included in the SSSI for its heathland vegetation communities, including several characteristic acidic grassland plants. Other parts of the hill also have relict

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

vegetation. The western end of St Martha's Hill is registered

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, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has a ...

. The hill reaches a height of , making it the 18th highest in the county; as with most of the top 20 hills in Surrey, it is part of the slightly scattered

.Database of British and Irish Hills
Retrieved 2015-03-06 Close to the foot of the hill is Chilworth Manor.

References

External links

Church of St. Martha-on-the-Hill

St Martha Parish Council

Megalithic and Neolithic information

Stained Glass Windows at Church, St Martha On The Hill, Surrey
{{coord, 51, 13, 29, N, 0, 31, 44, W, region:GB, display=title Guildford Guildford Hills of Surrey