| Wrecclesham | |
|---|---|
 Wreccleshamvillage sign | |
  Wrecclesham Location withinSurrey | |
| Population | 3,079 [1] |
| OS grid reference | SU826449 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Farnham |
| Postcode district | GU10 |
| Dialling code | 01252 |
| Police | Surrey |
| Fire | Surrey |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | |
| 51°11′56″N0°49′05″W / 51.199°N 0.818°W /51.199; -0.818 | |
Wrecclesham is a village on the southern outskirts of the town ofFarnham inSurrey, England. Its local government district is theBorough of Waverley.
It was once in the estate ofHenry of Westminster and Blois the powerful 13th-century bishop who owned the majority of the fertile portion of the land, in what was then Farnham and soon became the related parishes of Farnham and Frensham inFarnham Hundred. Farnham remains in use as Wrecclesham'spost town. Wrecclesham acquiredvillage status in 1840 when its first place of worship was built.
Wrecclesham's historic character is shown by the presence of theFarnham Pottery, one of the best-preserved examples of a working Victorian country pottery in England[2] and is Grade II-listed. It serves as a cafe for locals. Just past Wrecclesham Hill is the hamlet ofHolt Pound; what is now the Holt Pound recreation ground was one of the chief cricket grounds in Surrey. It was used as the venue for three first-class matches between 1791 and 1809 as well as for a number of minor matches.[3]
Runwick (51°12′18″N0°49′34″W / 51.205°N 0.826°W /51.205; -0.826) is located across theA31 road, north of Wrecclesham. It is made up of small holdings on theHampshire-Surrey border. The '-wick' part of the name meant ″hamlet″ and, from the 13th-century, ″farm″, and is still used in the far east of England to mean ″farm″. The ″run″ part of the name relates to anAnglo Saxon England owner, as inRunfold, which is a similar distance from Farnham.
TheA325 road passes through Wrecclesham, connecting it to the garrison towns ofBordon in the south andAldershot in the north. TheA31, connecting Farnham toAlton, runs close by the village.[4]
Wrecclesham has one primary school, St. Peter's C of E School on Little Green Lane.[5] The presence ofWeydon School in Wrecclesham makes it the major education centre of the area because there are no secondary schools in central Farnham.[citation needed]
St Peter's Church is the oldest church in the parish and was consecrated in 1840 by theBishop of Winchester,Charles Sumner. At the time the population was believed to be around 800 inhabitants. Grace Church is a newer Baptist church, founded in 2013,[6] which meets in St Peter's School.
Wrecclesham recreation ground caters for cricket, football, rugby and tennis clubs. This is whereJonny Wilkinson andGraham Thorpe started careers in their professional sports, as well as many sportsmen of some generations before such asBilly Beldham andVic Cannings.
Wrecclesham Cricket Club can be linked back to 4 May 1901, where an advert in theFarnham Herald[7] was posted to find players willing to play cricket. The club moved to the recreation ground in Riverdale in the 1930s. Competing in the Farnham and District Cricket league, the club won its first honours in 1934 and 1936.[8]
Wrecclesham joined the I’Anson competition in 1953 and won it in 1956.[8] In 2008, Wrecclesham's 1st XI cricket team were relegated to the Division 4 (of 6) of the I’Anson league. However, in the following 3 seasons, the club earned three consecutive promotions. TheFarnham Herald recognised this achievement, publishing with the statement ‘there is no precedent for an established club winning three consecutive promotions as Wrecclesham have done’, praising the teams ‘high team ethic’.[9] The club's crest, made in 2008, is of an owl over a pottery kiln, referencing theFarnham Pottery which was widely known for its 'owl jugs' which were produced up to the 1950s.[10]
Wrecclesham Football Club joined theSurrey County Intermediate League (Western) in 2007 and won its Premier Division in 2011. The club's 1st XI team opted to promotion to the top division of theAldershot & District Football League where it has a second team who play some divisions below. Wrecclesham Football Club folded at the end of the 2013/14 season. After the folding of Wrecclesham FC, United Football Club of Farnham (UFC Farnham) became the only football club based in Wrecclesham from the 2014/15 season with their first and reserve teams playing in the Guildford & Woking Alliance Football League Divisions Three and Five respectively. In May 2016 it was announced that UFC Farnham would merge with the Wrecclesham Social Club to once again become Wrecclesham FC, continuing the tradition of a club which was founded in 1904.[citation needed]
In 2019Badshot Lea F.C. opened The Operatix Community Ground at Westfield Lane, the site previously used by Farnham Rugby Club. Their first game at the ground was played againstAldershot Town F.C. of the Vanarama National League on 6 July 2019 with an attendance of over 600 people. In 2007, Badshot Lea F.C. were promoted to the Football Association National Non-League Pyramid. They ground-shared at several clubs so that they could meet the FA Ground Compliance requirements, before settling at the old Farnham Rugby Club ground in Wrecclesham. Their men's 1st Xl compete in national competitions such as theFA Cup andFA Vase. Badshot Lea Ladies 1st Xl compete in the Thames Valley Counties Women's Football League Div 1 and theWomen's FA Cup, and the youth plays in various league competitions in Surrey and Hampshire.[citation needed]
