HASLEMERE (with Hindhead) – an Idyllic Country Town
Fay Foster

Front cover: The War Memorial in Haslemere

Back Cover . Foreword . Contents . Bibliography . Index . About the Author

This book on Haslemere, using material prepared by a number of local people tasked with producing the town's Design Statement, has been put together by Fay Foster. After extensive research she has written much additional content bringing the history up to date. The aim has been to paint a picture of Haslemere and Hindhead, emphasising the events and the people who have made the town as vibrant and friendly as it is today.

Foreword

Set up by Haslemere Town Council, a group of Haslemere residents, led by the then Mayor, Cyndy Lancaster, met over two years from 2011 to compile the Haslemere Design Statement. A tremendous amount of work was put into producing a set of Design Guidelines which were subsequently adopted by Waverley Borough Council as a 'material consideration' when planning applications are considered for the Haslemere area. In the main Chapters 1, 2 and 3 in this book are as written for the Design Statement.

A lot of the painstaking research had to be omitted when it came to the final document and, since it was thought a pity to lose such valuable material, I decided to try and bring it all together. However inevitably the work done by Cyndy's committee was focussed on housing, architecture and planning issues. Having lived in Haslemere for 57 years, worked as a reporter on the Haslemere Herald, and with considerable knowledge of the town and its neighbouring areas, I have therefore extended it to add items of human interest. Included are notes about famous people who have lived in our midst, plus snippets of history, customs, and stories that have come down over the centuries. Some of these may be apocryphal but, unless anyone can disprove them, they all add to the rich tapestry that has made our town what it is.

Thanks are due to very many people who have contributed to the book, some of whose names are recorded below. If anyone has been left out inadvertently, I offer my sincere apologies. I have made considerable use too of the internet and Wikipedia and it is therefore possible that some of the 'facts' are not correct. I have checked as thoroughly as I am able but it could be that errors have got through.

Those who did the bulk of the original work under the chairmanship of Cyndy Lancaster were Robert Serman, Nicholas Harding, Michael Foster, Julia Roxan, Lesley Banfield, Clive Davidson, Ken Griffiths, Melissa King and Nigel Quick.

The majority of photos in the book were taken by me but Robert Serman, who took many of those in the Design Statement, has kindly allowed me to use some of his as well. There are a handful that I have had on file for some years or that have been given to me from an unknown source. I must apologise in case I have inadvertently infringed the copyright.

I am also indebted to the following who were involved with the Design Statement or have contributed in other ways: Andy Arrick, Kate Bain, Tony Bennett, Dr Marion Dell, Catherine Eyre, David Field, Jonathan Foster, Chris Harrison, William King, Judith Kusel, James Mackie, Christine Maynard, David O'Brien, Melanie Odell, David Round, Ian Russell, Hugh Turrell-Clark, Melanie Tyrrell, Tim Winter and Beatrice Phillpotts of the Haslemere Herald.

I must also thank Cyndy Lancaster and my son, Jonathan Foster, for their help with proof-reading. I will be forever grateful to local writer, historian and publisher, John Owen Smith, who has given invaluable help to an amateur struggling with the perplexities of a computer and has done all the typesetting and arranged the publishing of this book.

Publications which have provided additional valuable information are acknowledged in the Bibliography at the end

1. Landscape and Natural Environment

    Boundaries and Approaches
    Relief and Visual Landscape
    Natural Environment and Wildlife
    Transport and Access

2. History and Origins of Haslemere & District

    Origins
    Growth
    The Coming of the Railway
    The Town Today

3. History of the Other Wards in Haslemere

    Shottermill and Critchmere
    Hindhead and Beacon Hill
    Grayswood

4. Haslemere Town Centre

    Bridge Road, Charter Walk, Chestnut Avenue, Cobden Lane, Collards Gate, Fieldway, George Denyer Close, High Street, Lower Street East, Penfold Manor, Popes Mead, Well Lane, West Street

5. North & North-East of the Town Centre

    Beech Road, Church Lane, Church Green, Grays Close, Grayswood Road, Highercombe Road, Holdfast Lane, Kemnal Park, Oaklands, Pathfields, Pathfields Close, Redwood Manor, Rosemary Court, Tanners Lane, Three Gates Lane, Uplands Close

6. North-West of the Town Centre

    Bartholomew Close, Bunch Lane, Bunch Way, Chatsworth, Avenue, Dell Close, Derby Road, Farnham Lane, High Lane, Highbury Grove, Inval, Kiln Avenue, Parsons Close, Parsons Green, Peperham Road, Pine View Close, Puckshott Way, Playing Fields Close, The Spinney, St Christopher's Green, Stoatley Rise, The Paddock, Weycombe Road, Weydown Road, Whitfield Close, Whitfield Road, Wispers Park

7. South-West of the Town Centre

    Cedar Court, Courts Hill Road, Courts Mount Road, Hasle Drive, Hedgehog Lane, Hill Court, Hollyridge, Howberry Chase, Longdene Road, Lower Street West, Meadowlands Drive, Midhurst Road, Sandrock, Shepherds Hill, St Andrew's Drive

8. South & South-East of the Town Centre

    Blackdown Lane, Chase Lane, Chiltern Close, Collards Lane, College Hill, College Hill Terrace, Denbigh Road, Half Moon Hill, Hales Field, Haste Hill, Hill Road, Lythe Hill Park, Museum Hill, Old Haslemere Road, Park Road, Petworth Road, Scotland Lane, Scotlands Close, Swanbarn Road, Tennysons Lane, Tennysons Ridge

9. Shottermill

    Azalea Drive, Bell Road, Braeside Close, Cherry Tree Avenue, Chilcroft Road, Dale View, Foundry Lane, Junction Place, Kings Road, Lion Close, Lion Green, Lion Lane, Lion Mead, Meadow Vale, Meadway, Rex Court, Sickle Road, St Christopher's Road, Stile Gardens, Sturt Road, Sunbrow, The Avenue, The Meads, Timbermill Court, Underwood Road, Vicarage Lane, Wey Hill, Weysprings, Woodlands Lane

10. Critchmere

    Border End, Border Road, Buffbeards Lane, Cherrimans Orchard, Church Road, Critchmere Hill, Critchmere Lane, Critchmere Vale, Deepdene, Dolphin Close, Eliot Drive, Fir Tree Avenue, Fox Road, Glovers Field, Hatchetts Drive, Herondale, Hindhead Road, Liphook Road, Lower Hanger, Lucas Fields, Mallard Close, Manor Close, Manor Crescent, Manor Lea, Mill Close, Oak Tree Lane, Old Mill Place, Pitfold Avenue, Pitfold Close, Polecat Hill, Polecat Valley, Priors Wood, Rackfield, Roedeer Close, Shottermill Park, St Stephen's Close, Sunvale Avenue, Sunvale Close, Trout Road, Woolmer Hill Road

11. Hindhead Crossroads Area

    Broomsquires, Copse Way, Glenlea, Glenville Gardens, Forestdale, Hatchlands Drive, Hazel Grove, Headley Road, Heather Way, High Pitfold, Highfield Crescent, Holmes Place, Hunters Place, London Road, Mead Road, Moorlands Close, Nutcombe Lane, Pine Bank, Portsmouth Road, Royal Huts Avenue, Royal Parade, Rozeldene, Tarn Road, The Moorings, Thistledown, Tower Close, Tower Road, Tyndalls

12. Beacon Hill Village Area

    Beacon Crescent, Beacon Hill Court, Beacon Hill Park, Beacon Hill Road, Caerleon Close, Churt Road, Churt Wynde, Clovelly Drive, Clovelly Park, Clovelly Road, Corry Road, Cricket Close, Downside, Downsview Close, Eight Acres, Fairways, Glen Close, Glen Road, Golf Links Avenue, Grove Road, Grovers Gardens, Harlequin Close, Hillgarth, Heath Close, Heathside Lane, Hill Road, Huntingford Close, Linkside East, Linkside North, Linkside South, Linkside West, Moorlands Close, Parsons Lane, Ridgemoor Close, Sandheath Road, Steepways, Stronsay Close, Tilford Road, Trimmers Wood, Willian Place, Wood Road, Woodland Gardens, Writers Close

13. Grayswood Area

    Ash Tree Close, Church Close, Clammer Hill Road, Grayswood Common, Grayswood Mews, Grayswood Road, Lower Road, Paddock Way, Park Close, Prestwick Lane, Sandy Lane, The Mount, Upper Mount, Williamson Close

14. Neighbouring Areas, North East and South East

    Black Down, Kingsley Green, Fernhurst, Lurgashall, Northchapel, Chiddingfold, Hambledon, Wormley, Witley, Brook, Milford

15. Neighbouring Areas, North West and South West

    Thursley, Tilford, Frensham, Churt, Grayshott, Headley, Headley Down, Liphook, Bramshott, Camelsdale, Lynchmere, Hammer

Appendix 1: The story of the sailor's stone, Hindhead
Appendix 2: Haslemere's streams and mills
Appendix 3: Haslemere at war, 1939-1945
Appendix 4: Blue plaques awarded by The Haslemere Society
Appendix 5: The town crest and arms of Haslemere

Separate Sections

The Dolmetsch Family
Sir Robert Hunter

John Wornham Penfold

14 Petworth Road
J Stewart Hodgson
Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Peasant Arts Society

George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans)
William Cecil Marshall
Elizabeth Forster

Professor John Tyndall
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
George Bernard Shaw

John Grover
Robertson Memorials

Axel Herman Haig

Swing Riots
Helen Allingham
Whitaker Wright

David Lloyd George
Flora Thompson
Canadians Here in the World Wars

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Fay Foster, who received the MBE for Services to Haslemere in 2010, was a long-serving councillor for Haslemere and served as Town Mayor from 2000-2001.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like to share information on the topics covered by this book. See address details on Home Page