Hambledon is a rural scattered village and

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Waverley borough of Surrey, situated south of

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west 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 nam ...

. It is dominated by a

buffer zone A buffer zone, also historically known as a march, is a neutral area that lies between two or more bodies of land; usually, between countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types o ...

of fields and woodland, mostly south 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 ...

escarpment between Witley and

Chiddingfold Chiddingfold is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Weald in the Waverley, Surrey, Waverley district of Surrey, England. It lies on the A283 road between Milford, Surrey, Milford and Petworth. The parish includes the h ...

, having no dual carriageways or railways; however, it is bordered to the west by the Portsmouth Direct Line, and many of its small population are London commuters or retirees. Its main amenities are a church, a village pub, and the village shop and post office.

History and description

Hambledon appears in

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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as ''Hameledune'' held overall by Rannulf from Edward de Sarisber (

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

). Its Domesday assets were: 3 hides of land; 7 ploughlands, 1

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...

worth 2s 6d, 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 they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), 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 sunli ...

worth 30 hogs. It rendered £5 per year to its

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

overlords. In the 16th century, part of its land was mined for iron ore. This became replaced by the 18th and 19th centuries by brickmaking. A local traditional legend claims there is buried treasure at Tolt Hill, near Hambledon, but no one has searched for it because it belongs to the Devil.

Landmarks

*The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

is Hambledon Church. Its traditional dedication is to St Peter. Built on top of a hill on Church Lane, its churchyard contains two gigantic yew trees – one with a circumference and hollow, with space for four people inside. The trees outdate the present church by many centuries. Each Sunday there are two services the earlier with a traditional theme and the later being contemporary. Today's building was constructed in the 19th century, although it does contain traces of its 14th century predecessor. Hambledon Church now forms a joint benefice with Busbridge Church. * St Dominic's School is atop Mount Olivet, a hill. * Oakhurst Cottage – a traditional 16th century timber-framed labourer's home, which has been restored and is now owned by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. *Merry Harriers pub *Hambledon Village Shop & Post Office – a community owned and run grocery shop, cafe and Post Office.

Former landmark

Workhouse

Hambledon

workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...

established under the Poor Laws was used by King Edward's School, Witley in nearby Wormley from 1940 to 1949 while the school buildings were taken over by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. It was managed by the Hambledon

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

Union, formed in 1836. An infirmary block and a

mortuary A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cus ...

were built to the north of the site in the 1870s, and these buildings later became Hambledon Hospital, which closed in 1948. The buildings were used by

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Surrey, England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1974 the Conservative Party has held the majority. The leader ...

as an old peoples home until the early 1970s. The buildings were then used by the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences until the 1990s when the site was acquired by property developers Berkeley Homes and redeveloped for residential use. Its workhouse survives converted into apartments. To the north at Hydestile, within Hambledon's boundary, is the site of two former hospitals, King George V Hospital and St. Thomas' Hospital. This site has now been redeveloped.

Geography

The village is SSW of the county town of

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, and south 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 settl ...

, which is the administrative centre of the borough of Waverley. In the centre of the civil parish are the greatest number of buildings, mostly

linear In mathematics, the term ''linear'' is used in two distinct senses for two different properties: * linearity of a '' function'' (or '' mapping''); * linearity of a '' polynomial''. An example of a linear function is the function defined by f(x) ...

. Hambledon is centred on a high watershed between the English Channel and North Sea. Two watercourses ultimately drain the village, neither in the parish, 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, Hampshire, Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey. Onc ...

and the

River Arun The River Arun () is a river in the English county of West Sussex. At long, it is the longest river entirely in Sussex and one of the longest starting in Sussex after the River Medway, River Wey and River Mole. From the series of small stre ...

, the former having a small stream, the West Brook of Godalming, which rises here. In Hambledon's northern part (and south of it) are uplands of the

, which can be explored using roads (in places) or the long-distance path, the Greensand Way.Surrey County Council — The Greensand Way
/ref>

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).

Notable residents

* Martin Caroe, architect * W. D. Caroe, architect *

Winton Dean Winton Basil Dean (18 March 1916 – 19 December 2013) was an English musicologist of the 20th century, most famous for his research on the life and works—in particular the operas and oratorios—of George Frideric Handel, as detailed in his bo ...

, Handel Prize-winning musicologist * Sir John Fletcher, 1st Baronet, MP for

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

* Robin Harrison, Warden of

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

* Evelyn Hellicar, architect * Damon Hill,

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

World Champion * Sir Jeremy Hunt, MP for Godalming and Ash * Bruce Stocker, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

* Christopher Trace, '' Blue Peter'' presenter * Ronald McKinnon Wood, Chairman of

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

Derivations

In Sydney, a cottage was built by John Macarthur for Penelope Lucas, the governess to his children. She named it ''Hambledon Cottage'' after Hambledon, Surrey.

References

External links

Hambledon Village Trust

King George V Hospital History site

Google Maps
{{authority control Villages in Surrey Civil parishes in Surrey