| Dunsfold | |
|---|---|
 Church of St. Mary and All Saints | |
  Dunsfold Location withinSurrey | |
| Area | 16.06 km2 (6.20 sq mi) |
| Population | 989 (Civil Parish 2011)[1] |
| • Density | 62/km2 (160/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | TQ006361 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Godalming |
| Postcode district | GU8 |
| Dialling code | 01483 |
| Police | Surrey |
| Fire | Surrey |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | |
| 51°06′58″N0°33′50″W / 51.1161°N 0.5638°W /51.1161; -0.5638 | |
Dunsfold is avillage in theborough of Waverley,Surrey, England, 8.7 miles (14.0 kilometres) south ofGuildford. It lies inthe Weald and reaches in the north the southernescarpment of theGreensand Ridge. It includes theWey and Arun Canal, and just under half ofDunsfold Aerodrome, which is shared withAlfold.
The village's name was recorded asDuntesfaude in 1259,Duntesfaud in 1272 andDuntesfalde in 1291, apparently meaningDunt's fold. Alternatively it may be derived from theOld English (and Celtic)dun (hill i.e. down) andfold (enclosure). Either way folding means enclosing with fences, a way of moving sheep around the land to graze off the remains of previously harvested crops. It still emulated in modern sheep farming with and without pens around the village. There are some prize-winning Aberdeen Angus cattle farmed here but the last dairy herd has now closed.[when?]
St Mary & All Saints' Church is a Norman building, containing the oldestpews in England. The nearby Holy Well was a site ofpilgrimage – its waters were thought to cure diseases of the eye. It would be consistent with the topography of the site that the well be a pre-Christian site and the church itself be constructed on a man-made hill of pre-Christian origin.[2]
Threemanors were here, all had more cultivated fields, in order of size: Burningfold, Field Place and Graffham Grange.
Anthony Browne, 6th Viscount Montagu (d. 1767) held this largest estate from a purchase from a Mr Tanner in 1751 until 1756 and his son sold it to Edmund Woods jun. in 1790. Owner Charlotte Woods built and endowed the first school, on the Green in 1850.[3]
Held by Emery Cranley, it briefly split bymoiety title between Quenell and Stoughton sisters (both born Cranley), was reunited by Peter Quenell then sold 1651 (to William Yalden) and 1677 (to William Sadler). In 1850 of James Sadler of Chiddingfold held it, by which time its main economy legacy was Field Place, a smallmanor house, with "a most delightful collection" of roofs of many of pitches and dispositions.[3]
In the early 13th century Walter Giffard, Abbot of Waverley, (1236–51), granted all the rights of the abbey in Graffham to Walter de Graffham for a rent of 16s. a year, rent paid to Markwick, a former possession ofWaverley Abbey as late as 1808. Mr. J. C. McAndrew was an owner of what was left of it towards the end of 19th century followed by Mr. F. A. Shepherd.[3]
Common House is a late medieval hall which dates from circa 1500, of lowest listing category, Grade II architectural importance.[4] The village has many other houses of architectural interest e.g.Lark's Rise,[5]Yonder Lye[6] andThe Sun Inn public house, set back from thecommon, parts of which are clearly ancient particularly the rear bar.[7]
The village was a site ofiron smelting from localironstone (seeBargate stone) and iron-smithery in theMiddle Ages. Later, Dunsfold has hosted the construction of theWey and Arun Canal which is being gradually reopened, andDunsfold Aerodrome which is used primarily in connection withautomobiles of many times, hosting a major television programme on the subject.
The village has a cricket club with matches usually on Sunday afternoons.
Dunsfold has a smallPost Office and shop in the middle of the village.
The airstrip was built by theCanadian Army duringWorld War II . After the war the airfield was used to repatriate prisoners of war. Dunsfold was declared inactive in 1946 but was used again in 1948 and 1949 as part of theBerlin Airlift. In 1950 The Hawker Aircraft Company acquired the lease of the site.[8]
In October 1960 the thenHawker Siddeley flight tested itsHawker P. 1127 prototype, the development aircraft that led to theHawker Siddeley Harrier, the firstVTOL jet fighter bomber. Final assembly of the Harrier and theHawk trainer aircraft was at Dunsfold.[9] Hawker Siddeley became part ofBritish Aerospace in 1977. On 2 July 1986 British Aerospace's deputy chief test pilot Jim Hawkins was killed at Dunsfold when his developmental Hawk 200 crashed.[9] On 24 June 1999 British Aerospace announced the closure of Dunsfold as part of a restructuring; Hawk final assembly had been transferred to Warton in 1988 and Harrier production finished in 1998.[10][11]
In 2002,BAE Systems (British Aerospace's successor) sold Dunsfold Park to The Rutland Group andThe Royal Bank of Scotland formingDunsfold Park Ltd with the intention of developing the site as Britain' s most sustainable village with 2500 homes. Since 2002, theBBC motoring showTop Gear has been recorded at the park using the former paint shop as a studio and parts of the runways and taxiways of the aerodrome as atest track.
Some of the track (The Young Drivers Track) is now used by many driving schools and instructors to enable under seventeen-year-olds to learn to drive.
Dunsfold Park is the home toWings and Wheels, an air and motor show that has been running for many years now and typically held in late August. Currently run by the site owners, Dunsfold Park Ltd, it will continue until the park is redeveloped.
| Output area | Detached | Semi-detached | Terraced | Flats and apartments | Caravans/temporary/mobile homes | shared between households[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Civil Parish) | 214 | 150 | 38 | 38 | 1 | 0 |
The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.
| Output area | Population | Households | % Owned outright | % Owned with a loan | hectares[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Civil Parish) | 989 | 441 | 38.5% | 31.5% | 1,606 |
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).
In 2006, the owners of Dunsfold Park proposed the construction of a new town with 2,600 homes on the site, a school, health services, public transport and road links to the A281, and an expanded business district.[12] One of the largest construction projects in Surrey, it would result in the closure and replacement of the aerodrome. A project of this kind and size is controversial, resulting in the formation of theSTOP Dunsfold Park New Town campaign.
In late 2007, Dunsfold Park Ltd. applied to have their plans for the new town selected as one of theBrown Ministry's proposed "eco-towns". On 3 April 2008 Dunsfold Park was denied Eco-town status by Housing Minister,Caroline Flint. According to the Government's press release over 40 applications including Dunsfold Park were rejected "for being undeliverable or not ambitious enough to meet the high environmental and affordability standards set by Government."
An appeal in 2009 was rejected by the then Secretary of StateJohn Denham. Inquiry conclusions included remarks on the sustainability of the site including at paragraph 37 of the report[13] dated 24 September 2009 "The Secretary of State has concluded that the development would generate a considerable amount of additional road traffic and he considers that this would have a severe and unacceptable impact on an overstretched local road network, and that the scheme would be unsustainable in transport terms."
