Linchmere, also often spelled Lynchmere, is a village and a

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 authorit ...

, the northernmost parish in the

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, England. As well as Linchmere village, the parish contains the settlements of Hammer and Camelsdale. Linchmere parish is bordered to the north by

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south west Surrey, England, around south west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill, they comprise the civil parish of Haslemere in ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

with a tributary of 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 ...

as boundary, to the east by Fernhurst parish, to the south by Linch civil parish with the Shulbrede stream as boundary, and to the west by the civil parish of

Bramshott Bramshott is a village with mediaeval origins in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It lies 0.9 miles (1.4 km) north of Liphook. The nearest railway station, Liphook, is south of the village. History The first evidence for ...

in Hampshire. In the 2001 census there were in the civil parish 836 households, with a total population of 2,225 of whom 1,127 were economically active. The population at the 2011 Census was 2,392.

Richard Dimbleby Frederick Richard Dimbleby (25 May 1913 – 22 December 1965) was an English journalist and broadcaster, who became the BBC's first war correspondent, and then its leading TV news commentator. As host of the long-running current affairs ...

is buried in St Peter's churchyard. According to the link, he was cremated.

History

The name Linchmere was, in ancient times, spelled ''Wlenchemere''. The area includes the remains of an Augustinian priory founded in 1200 and at first known as Woolynchmere Priory. Its later name,

Shulbrede Priory Shulbrede Priory is a former medieval monastic house in West Sussex, England; it became the home of the Ponsonby family, including the first Lord Ponsonby. It is a Grade I listed building. Early history Shulbrede Priory was originally known as ...

, is now attached to the priory remains (located southwards from Linchmere village centre), to an associated manor house, and to the peerage of

Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede, of Shulbrede in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1930 for the politician Arthur Ponsonby. Ponsonby was the third son of General Sir Henry Ponsonby and the grea ...

. The settlement at Hammer took its name from an iron mill which was active there from before 1573 until at least 1730. There were also other iron works in the district including one partly in what is now Fernhurst parish, in Furnace Wood near Lower Lodge Farm, apparently started a little before 1620. The associated water supply is still named Furnace Pond and is just south of Linchmere village centre.

References

* Ordnance Survey Explorer (scale 1:25,000) map 133 Haslemere & Petersfield

External links

Linchmere Civil Parish Council information pageBritish History Online:LinchmereThe priory and manor of Lynchmere and Shulbrede
Villages in West Sussex Chichester District {{WestSussex-geo-stub