Hindhead is a village in the Waverley district of the county 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 ...

, England. It is the highest village in the county and its buildings are between and above sea level. The village forms part of the

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 (Hindhead, Surrey), Beacon Hill, they comprise ...

parish. Situated on the county border with

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, it is best known as the location of the

Devil's Punch Bowl The Devil's Punch Bowl is a visitor attraction and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest situated just to the east of the village of Hindhead in the English county of Surrey. It is part of the Wealden Heaths Phase II Special Protectio ...

, a beauty spot and

site of special scientific interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. The A3 between

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

was crossed by the A287 between

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

and

. The A3 now passes under Hindhead in the

Hindhead Tunnel The Hindhead Tunnel, opened in 2011, is part of the dual-carriageway that replaced one of the last remaining stretches of single-carriageway on the A3 road which connects the cities of London and Portsmouth. It was built to bypass the village of ...

and its route along the Punch Bowl has been removed and landscaped, but the crossroads still exists for local traffic, as a double mini-roundabout.Ordnance Survey Hindhead is south-west 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 ...

and on the border with

. It is a

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

in the

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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of Waverley, and part of the

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 ...

. The ward, which includes Beacon Hill, had a population of 4,292 at the 2011 Census. The name "Hindhead" is first attested in 1571, and means "hill frequented by hinds", or female deer.

Geography

Land use, elevations and soil types

The settled parts of the village are elevated relative to all of the surrounding parishes and are a mixture of paved streets and wooded roads as well as agricultural smallholdings, which are few compared with other parts of Waverley District. Hindhead has the 2nd and 13th highest hills in Surrey: Gibbet Hill and Hatch Farm Hill, at and above sea level respectively. These rise gradually from the rest of the village towards the north 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 ...

, upon which the village wholly lies. The soil is near its surface a sort of crumbly

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

here known as

greensand Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and co ...

which breaks up forest into acidic

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

land in many places. It supports endemic types of fungi, ferns, gorse and heather.

Features

The north of the village forms the

, a large wooded beauty spot and a

. Much of the north and east of the village is rolling woodland which forms part of the Surrey Hills

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

History

This area was notorious for highwaymen. In 1736, Stephen Phillips, a robber tried and convicted at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, admitted to the

Newgate Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...

chaplain to having stolen 150

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

in gold on the road towards London. In 1786, three men were convicted of the murder of an unknown sailor on his way from London to rejoin his ship, a deed commemorated by several memorials in the area. The perpetrators were hung in chains to warn others on Gibbet Hill, a short walk away on top of the Devil's Punch Bowl. With an increase in traffic and opening of the London to Portsmouth railway line removing much of the road transport of freight, such incidents reduced during the 19th century. Hindhead became a substantial settlement in the late 19th century. In 1904 a temporary mission church was built to serve the new community. An architectural competition to design a permanent church, that of St Albans in Beacon Hill, was held in 1906, and John Duke Coleridge (1879–1934) was chosen as the architect. The first phase, comprising the chancel, north chapel, transept and the lower stage of a projected bell tower, was completed by 1907, and the church gained its own parish in the same year. A series of windows by the

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

designers

Karl Parsons Karl Bergemann Parsons (23 January 1884 – 30 September 1934) was a British stained glass artist associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. Early life, 1884 – 1898 Parsons was born in Peckham in south London on 23 January 1884, the 12th a ...

and Christopher Whall were installed in the unfinished church between 1908 and 1912. The three eastern bays of the nave were consecrated in 1915, but the two western bays were not built until 1929–31; the bell-tower was never completed and became in effect a south transept. There followed two additional

stained-glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows: by Christopher Webb in 1945 and by Francis Skeat in 1950. A large vestry extension was added in 1964. A fire in 1999 destroyed the original high altar and

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

paintings.

Notable people

Grant Allen Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen (February 24, 1848 – October 25, 1899) was a Canadian science writer and novelist, educated in England. He was a public promoter of evolution in the second half of the nineteenth century. Biography Early life a ...

(1848–1899), the Canadian-born novelist, lived at "Hilltop". Conan Doyle was one of Allen's neighbours and became his friend; he completed Allen's novel ''Hilda Wade'' after Allen's death. *

Peter Alliss Peter Alliss (28 February 1931 – 5 December 2020) was an English professional golfer, television presenter, commentator, author and golf course designer. Following the death of Henry Longhurst in 1978, he was regarded by many as the "Voice o ...

(1931–2020), professional golfer and commentator, lived in Hindhead. *

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

lived at " Undershaw" from 1897 to 1907. Here he wrote some of his best-known novels, including ''

The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four Detective fiction, crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serial (literature), serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from ...

''. Undershaw later became a hotel and restaurant, but this closed in 2004 and the property is now a school. Conan Doyle was Hindhead Golf Club's first President in 1904. *

Miss James Marian Julia James (7 August 183010 November 1910), also known as Miss James, was an English philanthropist. She inherited money from a friend and built a house in Hindhead, Surrey. Land she gave to the National Trust for Places of Historic Inter ...

built and lived at West Down, donating land to the National Trust which now features Miss James' Walk and the Miss James footbridge over the

A3 road The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road or London Road in sections, is a major road connecting the City of London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston upon Thames, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield. For much of its length, it is classifie ...

. *

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Sir Bernard Montgomery (1887–1976) took the title of "

Viscount Montgomery of Alamein Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, of Hindhead in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The viscountcy was created in 1946 for the military commander Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, commemorating ...

, of Hindhead in the County of Surrey" when he was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

in 1946. * Playwright

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

lived at "Blen Cathra" in Hindhead, now the site of St Edmund's School. * Diplomat and writer

Humphrey Trevelyan Humphrey Trevelyan, Baron Trevelyan, (27 November 1905 – 9 February 1985) was a British colonial administrator, diplomat and writer. Having begun his career in the Indian Civil Service and Indian Political Service, he transferred to HM Diplo ...

was born at the parsonage in Hindhead. * The scientist

John Tyndall John Tyndall (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was an Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the physical properties of air ...

(1820–1893) lived and died at "Tyndalls", now known as "Hindhead House". He is best known for his work on the discovery of the

greenhouse effect The greenhouse effect occurs when greenhouse gases in a planet's atmosphere insulate the planet from losing heat to space, raising its surface temperature. Surface heating can happen from an internal heat source (as in the case of Jupiter) or ...

Government

For the purposes of local government, Hindhead is within the

, the

of Waverley and the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

. Hindhead forms a

for elections to Haslemere Town Council and Waverley Borough Council, and is part of the Waverley Western Villages

electoral division An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

for Surrey County Council elections. The ward elects a single county councillor, two district councillors and five town councillors. Hindhead is within the UK constituency of Farnham and Bordon and was in the European constituency of

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England that are in the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, top level category for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the nine counties of england, ...

Transport

Until 2011, Hindhead village was situated on the main

between

and

. In that year, a £371 million bypass was completed, reducing the amount of traffic passing through the village. The bypass includes the twin-bore tunnel, the longest non-estuarial road tunnel in the UK. The village is served by the A287, between

and

, and the A333, a stretch of the former A3 that links the village south to the new bypass. The section of the old A3 north of Hindhead and alongside the Devil's Punch Bowl has been returned to tree-interspersed

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

. The nearest railway station is at

, away, on the Portsmouth Direct Line between London Waterloo and

Portsmouth Harbour Portsmouth Harbour is a / biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Portsmouth and Gosport in Hampshire. It is a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area. It is a large natural harbour in Hampshire, England. Geographically it ...

stations. Hindhead is served by several

Stagecoach South Stagecoach (South) Limited, trading as Stagecoach South, is a bus operator providing services in South East England as a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group, Stagecoach. It operates services in Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex with some routes extendin ...

bus routes linking nearby towns and villages and connections further afield, and

National Express Coaches National Express, also abbreviated NX, is a Intercity bus service, long and medium-distance intercity coach operator operating services throughout Great Britain. It is a subsidiary of the British multinational public transport company Mobico G ...

between Portsmouth and London.

Nearest settlements

Neighbouring settlements are Beacon Hill (administratively part of Hindhead, while geographically separate) and

Grayshott Grayshott is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is on the Hampshire / Surrey border northwest of Haslemere by road, and southwest of central London. The nearest rail link is Haslemere railway st ...

village. The town of

is to the southeast, whilst the considerably larger town of

is to the north-east. London is to the north-east.

References

External links

Highways Agency A3 Hindhead improvement

— documenting 66 authors who lived in and around Hindhead at the end of the Victorian era
Hindhead Together: A Joint Advisory Committee for the Redevelopment of Hindhead
{{authority control Road junctions in England Villages in Surrey Haslemere