Bletchingley (historically "Blechingley") is a village in Surrey, England. It is on the

A25 road The A25 road is an east–west main road in the South-East of England. Its carries traffic east from Guildford, Surrey, eastward through Surrey and into mid-west Kent, to the town of Sevenoaks, and then on to Wrotham Heath where it connects wit ...

to the east of Redhill and to the west of Godstone, has a conservation area with

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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

buildings and is mostly on a wide escarpment of 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 ...

, which is followed by the Greensand Way.

History

The village lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Tandridge

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 des ...

. The settlement 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 manus ...

of 1086 as ''Blachingelei''. It was held by Richard de Tonebrige. Its Domesday assets were: 3 hides; 14 ploughs, 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 arti ...

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 (se ...

worth 58 hogs. Also 7 houses in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and Southwark. It rendered (in total): £15 13s 4d. In 1225 there is mention of Bletchingley as a borough. In the Middle Ages a borough was created by either the King or a Lord as a potentially profitable element in the development of their estates. It appears that after the 14th century Bletchingley began to lose its importance as a borough, perhaps losing out to the market town of

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...

to the west. The village retained its status as a parliamentary borough and elected two members to the

unreformed House of Commons "Unreformed House of Commons" is a name given to the House of Commons of Great Britain and (after 1800 the House of Commons of the United Kingdom) before it was reformed by the Reform Act 1832, the Irish Reform Act 1832, and the Scottish Reform ...

. By the time of the

Industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, it had become a

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorate ...

. Parliamentary elections were held from 1733 in what is now the White Hart inn: a book in 1844 notes this and that 8 to 10 people voted, as well as a sale of the manor for a very disproportionate sum of £60,000 in 1816.

Historic buildings

The house at Place Farm formed the gatehouse of Bletchingley Place: a great Tudor house, which

Anne of Cleves Anne of Cleves (german: Anna von Kleve; 1515 – 16 July 1557) was Queen of England from 6 January to 12 July 1540 as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII. Not much is known about Anne before 1527, when she became betrothed to Francis, Duke o ...

occupied after her marriage to Henry VIII was annulled. There are nine buildings that date back to the 16th century in the clustered area of the village around its High Street of 90 or so houses. "Sandhills" was built in 1893 by Mervyn Macartney in free Tudor style, and is protected under UK law with Grade II listing. It is the former home of

Geoffrey FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster Geoffrey William Richard Hugh FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster, KBE, PC (17 February 1906 – 26 August 1975) was a British peer and Conservative politician. Background Munster was the son of Major the Honourable Harold Edward FitzClarence ( ...

and his wife, Hilary FitzClarence, Countess of Munster, aka musician Hilary Wilson, founder of the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.

Amenities

The nearest railway station, Nutfield, is about away in South Nutfield. Bletchingley is architecturally and topologically distinct: the central part of the village is a conservation area with several buildings

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

from the late

Middle Ages 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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and the village is set in a designated

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 ...

(AONB). The Greensand Way runs fairly centrally through the parish, immediately south of the main village street which is part of the

Church

St Mary the Virgin Church is just north of the crossroads of the village. Four of the monuments in the churchyard are listed at Grade II, all of them tombs. The reasons for its Grade I listing are: *11th-century tower (

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

rubble with ashlar dressings); north arcade and south

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

chapel 13th century with 15th-century alterations *North aisle by

Rohde Hawkins Major Rohde Hawkins (born 4 February 1821 in Nutfield, Surrey; died 19 October 1884, Holmwood, Surrey) was an English architect of the Victorian period. He is known for the schools and churches that he built. ''Note: Both his given names "Ma ...

, 1856 *Renewed upper stage of tower by Baker-King in 1910 *Elaborate/ Romantic 19th-century aisle windows *Perpendicular style windows *Gargoyles to the angles. *Three-light head window to chancel chapel associated with Roger the Hermit of Bletchingley *Stone human head stops to hood moulding of west door *Renewed south door under 15th-century roll-moulded surround in rich battlemented and crocketed Perpendicular porch.

Localities in the parish

Warwick Wold

Warwick Wold is a

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 ...

immediately southeast of the M25 motorway/

M23 motorway The M23 is a motorway in the United Kingdom, running from the south of Hooley in Surrey, where it splits from the A23, to Pease Pottage, south of Crawley in West Sussex where it rejoins the A23. The northern end of the motorway starts on what ...

interchange and separated by a green buffer from Bletchingley by Lower Pendell Farm, which holds in one of its fields ruins of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

house, Lake Farm and Brewer Street Farm.Ordnance_Survey_map,_courtesy_of_English_Heritage
.html" ;"title="English Heritage">Ordnance Survey map, courtesy of English Heritage
">English Heritage">Ordnance Survey map, courtesy of English Heritage

Pendell House, Pendell Court, and the Old Manor House

Pendell House was designed for Richard Glydd by Inigo Jones to a symmetrical plan. On one of the chimney stacks is the date 1636. Glydd died in 1665, and his grandson John, an MP for Blechingley, came into possession. He died without issue in 1689, and his mother and sister Ann Glydd sold the house to Andrew Jelf, who was succeeded by Captain Andrew Jelf, R.N. His daughters sold it to Joseph Seymour Biscoe in 1803 and he sold to John G. W. Perkins in 1811. On the intestate death of his son John Perkins in 1846 it was the share of his sister, who left it to her sister's grandson Jarvis Kenrick, who lived there in 1911. This is a Grade I

listed building 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 highest category of architectural listing in the country. Directly opposite the main road is George Holman's 1624-built larger Pendell Court, built of red brick with stone

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

ed windows and tiled roof, marble fireplaces and woodwork, and now used as the main building of a private school, The Hawthorns Preparatory School. Backing on to the school along the same partly paved street is a 16th-century house, brown-brick clad,

timber framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

, refronted in those bricks and extended in the 18th century, with Grade II* listing, known as the Manor House. Above this is a stone coped parapet partially obscuring a plain tiled roof with stone coped

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

Brewerstreet or Brewer Street

Only north of the village, reached by the road at the east end of the churchyard, is Brewerstreet Farm and the old Rectory, parts of which date from the end of the 17th century. The house is a two-storey, partly slate-roofed structure that underwent a complete transformation about the middle of the 18th century. In one of the upper rooms is a stone fireplace with a moulded four-centred head and jambs. 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 ...

, the house has three diagonal 17th century chimney stacks to the old left section at the point where it meets the new. In keeping, its central doubled glazed doors has a Doric fluted

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

(column) surround under flat porch hood. Brewerstreet Farm is a Grade I listed building house, part 15th century, part Tudor; alterations and extension in 1850; further restoration in the 20th century. Close stud

on a brick plinth with rendered infill, the roof is hipped of Horsham stone, with three symmetrically chimney stacks. A former medieval hall house, it has gabled end cross wings with jettied first floors, curly bargeboards and moulded dragon posts to stairwell corners.

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).

Governance

There is one representative on Surrey County Council, Chris Farr of the Independent group whose extensive ward is called Godstone. There are three representatives on Tandridge District Council: There is also a parish council with 9 members.

Nearest settlements

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

External links

Village official website

Listed Buildings in Bletchingley, Surrey, England
* {{authority control Villages in Surrey Tandridge Civil parishes in Surrey