West Horsley is a semi-rural village between

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

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...

in Surrey, England. It lies on the A246, and south of the M25 and the A3. Its

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

ascends to an

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

Sheepleas Woods which are on the northern downslopes of the ridge of hills known as 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 ...

in the extreme south of the village, and cover about a tenth of its area, 255 acres (1 km²). The bulk of West Horsley's land is north of 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 ...

, the rest is within it.

History

West Horsley appears 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 ''Orselei'' held by Walter, son of Othere. Its Domesday assets were: 8 hides; 1 church, 8

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 ...

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 20 hogs. It rendered £6 each year to its

lords of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seigno ...

. Both Horsleys were burnt to the ground during the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

of 1066 since its Saxon thane, Brixsi, was brother-in-law to King Harold and refused to submit. The village was part of the lands given to the Norman, Walter Fitz Otha, the new

constable of Windsor Castle The Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle is in charge of Windsor Castle in England on behalf of the sovereign. The day-to-day operations are under the Superintendent, who is an officer of the Master of the Household's Department of the Roya ...

. The population fell dramatically during the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

and the land was given over to grazing, since the peasant population was insufficient for farming. In 1636, during a court case concerning a tithe dispute, a witness called Henry Mabbinck testified that he played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

"in the Parke" at West Horsley, one of the sport's earliest references.

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was he ...

, best-selling author of children's books, used to stay at a cottage in the village, Tyrrellswood, with her aunt and uncle, and created many of her paintings of animals and wrote some of her books there . Around the same time period,

Helen Allingham Helen Allingham (née Paterson; 26 September 1848 – 28 September 1926) was a British watercolourist and illustrator of the Victorian era. Biography Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson was born on 26 September 1848, at Swadlincote in Derbyshire, ...

painted an image of the village, "Children On A Path Outside A Thatched Cottage, West Horsley, Surrey".

Bill Pertwee William Desmond Anthony Pertwee, (21 July 1926 – 27 May 2013) was a British comedy actor. He played the role of Chief ARP Warden Hodges in the sitcom '' Dad's Army''. Early life Pertwee was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on 21 July 192 ...

, who played the air-raid warden in ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

'', lived in East Horsley during the time of his role. He is locally famed for appearing in the local pub and the youngest person singing the theme tune ''Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler?'' as he entered. Maartje Tamboezer, the second murder victim of

John Duffy and David Mulcahy John Francis Duffy (born 1958) and David Mulcahy (born 1959) are two British serial rapists and serial killers who together attacked numerous women and children at railway stations in southern England during the 1980s. Their crimes are often ref ...

(branded the 'Railway Killers'), was killed in West Horsley in 1986, although

Horsley railway station Horsley railway station is located in the village of East Horsley in Surrey, England. It is down the line from , and also serves the village of West Horsley, as well as the nearby villages of Ockham and Ripley. The station is managed by So ...

itself is 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. ...

. The bulk of West Horsley's land is north of the

, the rest is within it.

Amenities

Church

St Mary's Church, is a flint

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 ...

building dating from 1030 and is

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The church was spared when the rest of the village was burned in 1066. Its tower was added in 1120, and the church extended to its current size in 1210.

West Horsley Place

West Horsley Place West Horsley Place is a Grade I listed building in West Horsley, to the east of Guildford in Surrey. There are eight further Grade II buildings on the estate, including two mid-19th-century dog kennels. History The house dates back to the 15 ...

is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

house that was substantially reconstructed between the 16th and 18th centuries. It shares in top-ranked listing status for architecture. Acquired in 1931 by the Marquis and Marchioness of Crewe, after the death of the Marquis in 1947 it was left by his wife (Peggy née Primrose d. 1967) to their daughter,

Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe Mary Evelyn Hungerford Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe (23 March 1915 – 2 July 2014), born Lady Mary Crewe-Milnes,

(23 March 1915 – 2 July 2014). On her death in 2014 aged 99, it passed to her great-nephew

Bamber Gascoigne Arthur Bamber Gascoigne (24 January 1935 – 8 February 2022) was an English television presenter and author. He was the original quizmaster on ''University Challenge'', which initially ran from 1962 to 1987. Early life and education Gasco ...

, the grandson of her much older half-sister Lady Annabel Hungerford Crewe-Milnes.

Bell and Colvill dealership

This long-established motor dealers bearing its original name rather than that of its products, occupies a site accessed next to the roundabout leading onto the village main street from the A246.

Sheepleas open space

The Sheepleas Woods are a beech woodland and grassland on the northern downslopes of the ridge of hills known as the

in the extreme south of the village, and stretch to (1.03 km²) within the

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...

Upper Common

This similar sized and shaped area of woodland is slightly higher than Sheepleas open space.

The Raleigh School

The Raleigh School is a popular two-form entry co-educational primary academy. It is an inclusive school which takes children from 4 to 11, and also has a privately run Nursery on site that admits children from the age of 2 1/2. The vast majority of children move on at age 11, to the Howard of Effingham School.
The Raleigh School website

Transport

The village is served by

, in the nearby village of

. It lies on the A246, and south of the M25 and the A3.

Demography and housing

Houses in Ripley Lane, West Horsley - geograph

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).

Notable people

Tom Felton Thomas Andrew Felton (born 22 September 1987) is an English actor best known for playing Draco Malfoy in the film adaptations of the ''Harry Potter'' fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling. Born in Surrey, Felton began appearing in commercials and ...

, actor and singer *

, host of ''

University Challenge ''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...

.'' He inherited

from his great-aunt

Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe Mary Evelyn Hungerford Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe (23 March 1915 – 2 July 2014), born Lady Mary Crewe-Milnes,

in 2014. * David Mallet, music video and film director * George Waller, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

David Ogilvy David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, "The Father of advertising"

References

External links

West Horsley Parish Council

David Ogilvy's Biography

Horsley Decorative and Fine Arts Society
{{authority control Borough of Guildford Civil parishes in Surrey Cricket in Surrey English cricket in the 14th to 17th centuries Villages in Surrey