Mickleham is a village in

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, ...

, between the towns of

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

and

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

covers and includes the hamlet of Fredley. The larger

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

includes the majority of the neighbouring village of

Westhumble Westhumble is a village in South East England, south east England, approximately north of Dorking, Surrey. The village is not part of a civil parishes in England, civil parish, however the majority of the settlement is in the Parish (Church ...

, from which Mickleham is separated by the River Mole.

History

Mickleham lies near to the old Roman road known as Stane Street, which ran from London to

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

. It acquired its Old English based name in Anglo-Saxon times, when it was a small settlement lying within the Copthorne

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 ...

. Mickleham 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 ''Michelham'' and ''Micleham''. It was partly held by Nigel from the Bishop of Bayeux and partly by Oswald from (under) Richard de Tonbridge. Its Domesday assets were: 7 hides; 1 church, 7

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, 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 4 hogs. It rendered £10 per year to its overlords. Nearby Mickleham Down was the venue for a single wicket cricket match in June 1730. The game was between two teams of three and played for a stake of £50. The teams,

and

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, ...

, were described in a contemporary newspaper report as "esteemed the best in the respective counties" but it does not name the players. This is the first and only reference to Mickleham in association with cricket of a senior level. Mickleham is mentioned in

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

's novel '' Emma'' (1815). The philosopher and amateur botanist

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...

protested against the building of a railway though the "beautiful valley of Mickleham" in 1836. The village has featured in cycling, following the loops of Box Hill adopted by various versions of the London-Surrey Cycle Classic which was an annual event for a few years after its use in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Amenities

Places of worship

The main place of worship is St. Michael's Church, surrounded by St. Michael's Churchyard. The church (in full the "Parish Church of St. Michael and All Angels in Mickleham") has a Norman west tower and a Norman chancel arch, raised in the 1871 restoration by

Ewan Christian Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery (London), National Portrait Gallery. He was Arch ...

, who added neo-Norman aisles and east end. The Norbury chapel on the north side is late Perpendicular, with chequerboard flint and

clunch Clunch is a traditional building material of chalky limestone rock used mainly in eastern England and Normandy. Clunch distinguishes itself from archetypal forms of limestone by being softer in character when cut, and may resemble chalk in lowe ...

walling. The majority of the stained glass windows are by

Clayton and Bell Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient British workshops of stained-glass windows during the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton (1827–1913) and Alfred Bell (1832� ...

with others by Percy Bacon Bros, Morris & Sons and a modern window by Alfred Fisher (2015).

Community facilities and commerce

The village has a Village Hall, two

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 ...

s (The Running Horses and The King William IV) and a restaurant (51 Degrees North).

Schools

In the village are Box Hill School, an independent secondary school, St Michael's Infant C of E (Aided) School and St Michael's Community Nursery.

Transport

;Roads The A24 bypasses Mickleham with a dual-carriageway bypass. ;Railway Box Hill & Westhumble station, located across the A24, and towards

, provides a link to London and Horsham. ;Buses The 465 bus route runs every hour or half-hour (except nights) between Kingston upon Thames and Dorking, via Mickleham village.

Localities

Fredley

The

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

and former manor of Fredley is approximately 300m south of the centre of Mickleham. Juniper Hall, run by the

Field Studies Council Field Studies Council is an educational charity based in the UK, which offers opportunities for people to learn about and engage with the outdoors. History The organisation was established as the Council for the Promotion of Field Studies in ...

is located there.

James Clavell James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell; 10 October 1921 – 7 September 1994) was a British and American writer, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best known for his ''Asian Saga'' nov ...

, the Australian novelist and screenwriter, lived at Fredley Manor between 1970 and 1990.

Mickleham Downs

The hillside to the east of the village, known as Mickleham Downs, was donated to 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 ...

in January 1939 by

Lord Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics of the first half of the 20th century ...

, the proprietor of the

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

newspaper, who had recently purchased the

Cherkley Court Cherkley Court, at the extreme southeast of Leatherhead, Surrey, in England, is a late Victorian neo-classical mansion and estate of , once the home of Canadian-born press baron Lord Beaverbrook. The main house is listed Grade II on the Nati ...

estate.

Norbury Park

Across the Mole and the A24 is Norbury Park. In this is the 'Druids Grove' which is an area of mature Yew trees.

The Burford Bridge and the zig-zag road

Here is the hotel that was frequented by

Lord Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte ( – 21 October 1805) was a Royal Navy officer whose leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French ...

, 150m north of which starts the Zig-Zag road, one of the two local roads for motor vehicles climbing Box Hill.

Landmarks

The surrounding area contains many Sites of Special Scientific Interest ( SSSI) including the Mickleham Downs and panoramic beauty spot of Box Hill. The River Mole flows nearby. As its name suggests, the river in places goes underground due to the chalk bed being dissolved, forming swallow holes (

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

s). Ian Middleton tells of his father, sometime in the 1950s, the village police officer P.C. Middleton, looking past his bathroom mirror one morning whilst shaving to see a mature oak tree disappear into the ground. It turned out that the river flowing underground had been gradually wearing away the supporting ground under the tree, forming a giant such hole which had collapsed. The subsequent pit was not filled in until about 1968 approx when it was still 30 ft deep and 30 ft across.

Notable residents

* Sir Carl Aarvold (1907–1991), Recorder of London (senior judge at the Old Bailey), who tried the

Kray twins Ronald Kray (24 October 193320 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were English gangsters or organised crime figures and identical twin brothers from Haggerston who were prominent from the late 1950s until their arres ...

, and who played rugby for England and the British Lions 1928–1933, lived in Westhumble. * Maurice Allom (1906–1995) England Test cricketer 1930–31, lived at Eastfield Cottage. * Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of Canada from 1930 to 1935, retired here after his life in politics. He is buried in St Michael's Churchyard, the only former Prime Minister of Canada not buried in that country. * Mrs. Maria Drummond lived at Fredley and was buried here. * Sir

Stuart Etherington Sir Stuart James Etherington (born 26 February 1955) is a British charity executive and former social worker. From 1994 to 2020, he was chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, with the membership base increasing fr ...

(b. 1955), leading charity executive and former social worker, was brought up in the village. * Detective story writer Cyril Hare was born in Mickleham Hall in 1900 and died at

in the parish in 1958; he is buried in the churchyard. So is his wife's grandfather, Sir Trevor Lawrence, who had famous orchid houses at Burford Lodge in the parish. * Sir George Lloyd-Jacob (1897–1969), British High Court judge. *

Sir John Norton-Griffiths, 1st Baronet Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Norton-Griffiths, 1st Baronet, (13 July 1871 – 27 September 1930) was an engineer, British Army officer during the Second Boer War and the First World War, and a Member of Parliament. A colourful figure in his d ...

, "Empire Jack", the driving force behind the Tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers in WW I, was buried at Mickleham Church on 18 October 1930. * Richard "Conversation" Sharp (1759-1835), politician, had a country retreat at Fredley Farm and entertained many leading figures of the day there. * William Wingfield MP, was born here.

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).

References

External links

Parish of Mickleham

Mickleham Choral Society
{{authority control 1730 establishments in England Civil parishes in Surrey Cricket grounds in Surrey Cricket in Surrey Defunct cricket grounds in England Defunct sports venues in Surrey English cricket venues in the 18th century Mole Valley Sport in Surrey Sports venues completed in 1730 Sports venues in Surrey Villages in Surrey