Limpsfield is a village and civil parish in

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, at the foot of 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 Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Areas of Outstanding Natural Be ...

close to

Oxted railway station Oxted railway station is on the Oxted line in southern England, serving the commuter town of Oxted, Surrey. It is from . The station is managed by Southern (Govia Thameslink Railway), Southern who operate the majority of train services with ...

and the A25.Online map distance reference tool
Retrieved 27 April 2012 The composer

Frederick Delius file:Fritz Delius (1907).jpg, Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius (born Fritz Theodor Albert Delius; ; 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934) was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prospero ...

, orchestral conductor Sir

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philh ...

and clarinettist Jack Brymer are buried in the village churchyard. The village contains 89

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The village lay within the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

Tandridge

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

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

of 1086 as ''Limenesfeld''. It was held by the Abbot of

Battle Abbey Battle Abbey is a partially ruined Benedictine abbey in Battle, East Sussex, England. The abbey was built on the site of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St Martin of Tours. It is a Scheduled Monument. The Grade I listed site is now o ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. Its Domesday assets were: 1 church, 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, 19

plough A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden ...

s, 1

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish far ...

, 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 150 hogs, 2 stone

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...

, and 3 nests of

hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and others. This ...

s. It rendered £24 (of silver) 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. Old Court Cottage in Titsey Road, formerly the

manorial court The manorial courts were the lowest courts of law in England during the feudal period. They had a civil jurisdiction limited both in subject matter and geography. They dealt with matters over which the lord of the manor had jurisdiction, primar ...

of the Abbot of

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

, is grade I

and dates from -1200 (including aisle posts and arcade plates) with alterations in the late 14th century, and a 16th-century crosswing. Reginald Mason cited this in 1964 as an outstandingly important early example of a timber-framed building in the south of England. The parish

church of Saint Peter The Church of Saint Peter (also known as St. Peter's Cave Church and Cave-Church of St. Peter; (romanization); ) near Antakya (Antioch), is composed of a cave carved into the mountainside on Mount Starius with a depth of 13 m (42 ft. ...

was constructed in the late 12th century and is a grade I

, extensively restored in the 19th century. The tower, with two-light plate-tracery windows of c.1260, is made of ironstone rubble with stone dressings and dressed stone to north aisle. In addition it has a wooden-shingled spire with a wooden cross surmounted. St Peter's church is also home to the last stained glass windows produced by John David Hayward, who lived for many years in nearby Edenbridge; the window depicts Saint Cecilia. Hayward was a leading artist in stained glass in the 20th century. There are approximately twenty

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

buildings within the parish, and there are 89

Landmarks

The village heart is in a conservation area and some of the surrounding area is

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 ...

land including Limpsfield Common. Staffhurst Wood is also within the parish boundaries and is notable for its bluebells in spring. Limpsfield Chart has a golf course and cricket club. Limpsfield itself has a football team and a tennis club and its current cricket club is a united team with Oxted, named Oxted & Limpsfield Cricket Club with two grounds. The village is served by

. Limpsfield Grange School is a SEND school for girls and formerly an

open air school Open air schools or schools of the woods were purpose-built educational institutions for children, that were designed to prevent and combat the widespread rise of tuberculosis that occurred in the period leading up to the Second World War. The s ...

. The house known as the Manor House, High Street, is thought by Gillian Tindall to have been originally a cottage of the fifteenth or sixteenth century, much expanded and altered in the following centuries, and never in fact a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

. It is a

. The building was a school, Manor House School, from 1897 to 1969. Notable former pupils include Tindall herself, Diana Rowden, agent in the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

, and Mary Soames, writer and daughter of Churchill. Tindall's book ''Three Houses, Many Lives'' (2012) is partly about the building.

Geography

The civil and ecclesiastical parish area is grouped to the north and south of

Hurst Green, Surrey Hurst may refer to: Places England * Hurst, Berkshire, a village * Hurst, Cumbria, a location * Hurst, Dorset, a location * Hurst, Greater Manchester, a location * Hurst, North Yorkshire, a hamlet * Hurst, Somerset, a settlement within the v ...

. The built up section is north of Hurst Green and both east and north-east of

Oxted Oxted is a town and civil parish in the Tandridge District, Tandridge district of Surrey, England. It is at the foot of the North Downs, south-east of Croydon, west of Sevenoaks, and north of East Grinstead. Oxted is a commuter town and Ox ...

. The lowest elevation is 62m at Staffhurst Wood on the south-western parish boundary on the

River Eden, Kent The River Eden is a tributary of the River Medway in south east England. It rises at the foot of the North Downs escarpment near Titsey in Surrey and runs initially southwards through Oxted before turning eastwards to enter Kent. After flowing t ...

and highest is just east of the town centre at Grubstreet Copse at 163m; (

Titsey Titsey is a rural village and a civil parish on the North Downs almost wholly within the M25 London Orbital Motorway in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. In local government it forms the south-western part of the ward ''Tatsfield ...

being a separate civil parish north of the village and higher on the

). The

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major ring road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 th ...

is to the north and Junction 6 for Godstone is just miles west. Nearby are three national rights of way: Vanguard Way,

Pilgrims' Way A pilgrims' way or pilgrim way is a standard route that pilgrims take when they go on a pilgrimage in order to reach their destination – usually a holy site or place of worship. These sites may be towns or cities of special significance such a ...

and Greensand Way, the latter two along the hill ranges the

and 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 ...

Localities

Limpsfield Chart

Limpsfield Chart, arguably a village in its own right, begins from the south side of the A25. ''Chart'' is an Old English word for rough ground.

The adjacent High Chart, south-east of Limpsfield, is a large area of woodland, owned by the

, which has a network of footpaths. The remains of a

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

, the London to Lewes Way, pass through the woods east of the village, where it makes an eastward diversion from its alignment to avoid steep slopes. It passes through Crockham Hill before returning to its line near Marlpit Hill. In the village is the

C of E C, or c, is the third letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''. History "C ...

church of St Andrew, which it is the place of worship of 'a Conventional District' in the ecclesiastical parish of Limpsfield and Titsey, built in 1895. There is a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

''The Carpenters Arms'' in the centre. Within it is the halfway point in the Greensand Way long distance footpath which runs for 110 miles from

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 ...

in Surrey to Hamstreet in Kent along the Greensand Ridge.

Governance

Sam Gyimah Samuel Phillip Gyimah (; born 10 August 1976) is a British politician and banker who served as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for East Surrey (UK Parliament constituency), East Surrey from 2010 United Kingd ...

was the Member of Parliament for East Surrey, which includes Limpsfield from 2010-2019. He joined the Liberal Democrats in 2019 having left the Conservatives. He stood down at the last General Election and was replaced by Conservative

Claire Coutinho Claire Coryl Julia Coutinho (; born 8 July 1985) is a British politician and former investment banker who has been Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and Shadow Minister for Equalities since 2024. A member of the Cons ...

. There is one representative on Surrey County Council representing Limpsfield as part of the Oxted division. Cameron McIntosh is the local Councillor and is a member of the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

group. There are two representatives on Tandridge District Council for Limpsfield. There is also a parish council with ten members.

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).

Nearest settlements

Notable residents

Musicians

The composer

is buried in the churchyard of the parish church of St. Peter's, as is his wife Jelka. The English orchestra conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham, is buried only a few yards from Delius, whose music he supported and promoted. A nearby grave is occupied by the cellist Beatrice Harrison, who lived locally in Oxted, and who worked with both Delius and Beecham. The ashes of Jack Brymer (1915–2003), a leading English clarinettist are interred in the churchyard near the grave of Beecham, who had recruited him to the RPO. The composer Pamela Harrison and her conductor husband Harvey Phillips lived at The Cearne from the late 1940s and into the 1950s.

Military

Rear Admiral Robert Gambier Middleton (1774–1837) who was active in the Napoleonic Wars and was Storekeeper-General of the Navy from 1829 to 1832 is buried in Limpsfield Churchyard. The German naval officer, maritime and naval writer, and committed Nazi Fritz-Otto Busch is buried in a corner of Limpsfield Churchyard. Commander Robert Radcliffe Cooke, R.N., Retired (7 March, 1883 – 22 August, 1924) who served in the Royal Navy is buried in the churchyard. Despite suffering from tuberulosis, he became an expert in wireless telegraphy. Leonard Montague Greenwood MC (bar),DSO (1893-1918) who is buried in Rouen is commemorated on his parents' gravestone in Limpsfield Churchyard. Margaret Mathilda Cather, mother of Geoffrey St. George Shillington Cather VC is buried in Limpsfield Churchyard. Glyn Ashfield DFC who fought in the Battle of Britain and died in 1942 when his

Mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

aircraft crashed on a low flying exercise is buried in Limpsfield Churchyard. Sergeant Pilot John Ferguson RAFVR who died in 1942 when his Wellington Bomber crashed while on a night cross-country training flight is buried in Limpsfield Churchyard. Brigadier Cecil Haigh, who was a Deputy Director of Ordnance Services in various roles during the Second World War is buried in Limpsfield Churchyard. Admiral Sir William Rudolph Slayter KCB, DSO, DSC is buried in Limpsfield Churchyard.

Artists and writers

Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...

, the book illustrator, lived and died in Pains Hill (a small hamlet to the south of Limpsfield village)

David Garnett David Garnett (9 March 1892 – 17 February 1981) was an English writer and publisher. As a child, he had a cloak made of rabbit skin and thus received the nickname "Bunny", by which he was known to friends and intimates all his life. Early ...

, the novelist and Bloomsbury figure, spent his childhood in a house called The Cearne on the outskirts of the village. His mother

Constance Garnett Constance Clara Garnett (; 19 December 1861 – 17 December 1946) was an English translator of nineteenth-century Russian literature. She was the first English translator to render numerous volumes of Anton Chekhov's work into English and the ...

was a translator of Russian literature. The Scottish statesman and historian,

Mountstuart Elphinstone Mountstuart Elphinstone (6 October 1779 – 20 November 1859) was a Scottish statesman and historian, associated with the government of British India. He later became the Governor of Bombay (now Mumbai) where he is credited with the open ...

, associated with the government of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, is buried in Limpsfield churchyard. Florence L. Barclay, the romance novelist and short story writer, was the daughter of the local

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

rector. Sir George Paish the economist, is buried in Limpsfield Churchyard. Cyril Jackson (educationist) is buried in Limpsfield Churchyard. Sir John Arthur Thomson

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

LLD the Scottish naturalist who was an expert on soft corals is buried in Limpsfield Churchyard. The sculptor Frances Darlington spent the later part of her life at Dutton Cottage in Limpsfield.

Others

Maurice Hankey Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey, (1 April 1877 – 26 January 1963) was a British civil servant who gained prominence as the first Cabinet Secretary and later made the rare transition from the civil service to ministerial office. ...

, 1st Baron Hankey of the Chart, is buried in Limpsfield Churchyard. Marmaduke Hilton, who is buried in Limpsfield Church, was "a West India merchant" and mortgagee of two slave-owning estates in Jamaica.

Colin Cowdrey Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, (24 December 1932 – 4 December 2000) was an English cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club from 1950 to 1976, and in 114 Test matches for England from 1954 to 1975. He was born i ...

, former England cricket captain, lived in the village for many years.

Davina McCall Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows for Channel 4, including ''Streetmate'' (1998–2001, 2016), ''Big Brother (British TV series), Big Brother'' (2 ...

, the television host, spent much of her childhood in Limpsfield.

Jeremy Thorpe John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979 and as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at the Old ...

, politician, lived in Limpsfield for part of his childhood, and attended

Hazelwood School Hazelwood School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Preparatory school (United Kingdom), preparatory school in Limpsfield, Surrey, England. The school was established in 1890 as a boarding school for boys aged 8–13 by Ruth ...

. Beatrice Cutler pioneering matron and Secretary to the National Council of Nurses of the United Kingdom lived here for many years.

Notes

References

External links

Limpsfield parish council

Limpsfield
from

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History (VCH), is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of Englan ...

{{Authority control Villages in Surrey Civil parishes in Surrey Oxted