| Busbridge | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
_(8).JPG) Busbridge Church built by Mr and Mrs Ramsden of Busbridge Hall, designed byGeorge Gilbert Scott. | |
 Diverse soil types and rights of way are across Busbridge which is on foothills of theGreensand Ridge. A walking area isWinkworth Arboretum. | |
  Busbridge Location withinSurrey | |
| Area | 9.92 km2 (3.83 sq mi) |
| Population | 779 (Civil Parish 2011)[1] |
| • Density | 79/km2 (200/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SU979425 |
| 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°10′25″N0°35′59″W / 51.173714°N 0.599672°W /51.173714; -0.599672 | |
Busbridge is a village in thecivil parish ofGodalming, in the borough ofWaverley in Surrey, England that adjoins the town of Godalming. It forms part of the Waverleyward ofBramley, Busbridge andHascombe. It was until theTudor period often recorded asBushbridge and was amanor andhamlet of Godalming until gaining anecclesiastical parish in 1865 complemented by a secular, civil parish in 1933.Gertrude Jekyll lived atMunstead Wood in theMunstead Heath locality of the village.Philip Carteret Webb andChauncy Hare Townshend, the government lawyer/antiquarian and poet respectively owned its main estate, Busbridge House, the Busbridge Lakes element of which is a private landscape garden and woodland that hosts a wide range of waterfowl. On 1 April 2024 the parish of "Busbridge" was renamed to "Munstead and Tuesley".[2]
The parish covers northern, heavily wooded foothills of theGreensand Ridge and drains separately to east and west into tributaries of theWey.
Busbridge was wholly in theAnglo-Saxonhundred ofGodalming, Surrey but had at theDomesday Book of 1086 no entries, being a rural, farmed part of Godalming and wooded part withinthe Weald, a remnant forest stretching intoSussex and WestKent.
Upper Eashing or Hightithing in the 13th centuryHundred Rolls formed early Busbridge, as the name Busbridge began to be used after de Bushbridge, the medieval family who came to own the manor by the 15th century. They came fromKent and are first recorded here in 1384 as 'Burssabrugge' or 'Burrshebrugge'.[3]
James de Bushbridge sold Bushbridge or Busbridge to John Eliot of Godalming underHenry VIII. His son William, born 1587, was knighted in 1620 and built the old house of Busbridge, to judge from the features of the building, and formed the park, having a (royal) grant offree warren in his lands of 500 acres (200 ha) in 1637, and died 1650. The heirs were son William (1624–1697) and then grandsons William, born (1671–1708) and Laurence, who sailed withDrake round the world, and who sold the property in 1710. Subsequently the house passed through many owners. Among these wasPhilip Carteret Webb,FRS, born 1702, M.P. for Haslemere 1754–67 and solicitor to the Treasury 1756–65. He was a distinguished lawyer, antiquary, and collector. He died at Busbridge in 1770. The poet,Chauncy Hare Townshend, was born at the house in 1798, his father having bought it two years earlier. By 1911 a Mr. P. Graham owned the house, having replaced it between 1906 and 1911 with a new house in the early 20th centuryEdwardian style.[3]
TheChurch of St. John the Baptist, designed byGeorge Gilbert Scott,[4] was built in a 13th-century style of Bargate stone with chalkylimestone quoins, a central tower and windows. It was consecrated on completion in 1867.[3] It technically lies just over the civil parish boundary in the borders of Crownpits/Holloway Hill in Godalming. It isGrade II* listed;[5]
Busbridge gained anecclesiastical parish in 1865 complemented by a secular, civil parish in 1933.[6]
The village's economy is bound closely to Godalming as the two settlements arecontiguous, that is, the part of Busbridge where most of its residents live as it forms a scattered settlement, rather than anucleated village. The latter large town is formed of six surrounding suburban villages, together with an urban centre with a railway station on thePortsmouth Direct Line which runs from London, diverging from theSWML at Woking, and bordered on the far side by theA3. Two occupation groups employed approximately half of the workforce at the 2011 census, namely: managers, directors and senior officials (78 workers) and professional occupations (81 workers).[1]
Busbridge Tennis Association is a community initiative which was fundamental in the process of renovating the tennis courts and recreation ground at the top of Holloway Hill and overlookingGodalming.[7] In 2012 they secured £37,900 of Olympic Legacy Funding fromSport England's Inspired Facilities Fund for flood lights on all four courts allowing for expansion with junior tennis training.[8]
Based on the area recorded by theOffice for National Statistics at the 2001 census to calculate population density, the parish covered 992 hectares (2,450 acres) – most of the centre and south-east of the parish is forested.[9]
This sparsely populated bulk of the parish has a minority of farmland but is otherwise part of the remaining area ofThe Weald, forming much of thegreen buffers between settlements in the south of the county.
A small triangular park, Munstead Wood extends from the heath a small way into one of Godalming's outer six suburban localities, Holloway Hill. This is grade II* listed in the 'park and gardens' category, containingGertrude Jekyll's landscaped woodland home (see landmarks below).[10]North Munstead is a hamlet sometimes marked on most detailed maps towardHascombe. Its most notable location in the area is Winkworth Arboretum owned and maintained by the National Trust since after the Second World War.
Tuesley is a hamlet of the village 300 m (980 ft) west of the main settled corner of Busbridge, used for strategic meetings under the formativemanor system developed by them.[clarification needed]
It is named for theAnglo-Saxon war-godTīw and literally translates as his clearing (Tīwes lēah). This affirms the area as within the remnantWeald which is the GermanicOld English for a forest, where trees were cut and a temple to the god created. Sometime in the 7th century, the temple wasconsecrated by Christians and a small chapel was erected.[citation needed]
Tuesley appears inDomesday Book of 1086 asTiwesle, a subsidiarymanor ofGodalming that rendered £2 to its overlord. It was held by Rannulf Flambard fromWilliam the Conqueror (as a sub-tenant) and its recordable assets were: 1hide and 1plough and it had 8 households; one villager, I slave and 6 cottagers.[11][12][13]
In 1220 the name wasTiwerlei. recorded in the Salisbury Register of St Osmund in 1220 as a chapel, still standing but in a ruinous state dedicated to theBlessed Virgin, the first church established in the manor, so known and recorded in Godalming records as "the mother church or the Oldminster" for centuries. By 1220, services were held only three times a year.[14] A fair was held in the field onLady Day (a quarter-day in the same cycle as Christmas) until 1540.[3] The foundations of the "minster" were partly excavated in 1860 before covered up – only dry-stone walls and boundary posts mark the rectangle of the buried ruins.[14]
In 1956 Tuesley Court Farm was acquired by aRoman CatholicHoly Order and renamed Ladywell Convent after the Lady Well, one of the series of lakes forming much of the stream running through Busbridge. As part of this sale, it acquired an earlier converted pagan sanctuary and erected a statue of theVirgin Mary. The convent is north of the stream and so, although associated with Tuesley Court, was a later addition and is not part of the hamlet or village, instead being still part of Godalming.[citation needed]
Tuesley Manor is a Grade II listed building, with parts dating back to the 15th century.[15] Previously owned by Salisbury Cathedral, it was sold off by theEcclesiastical Commissioners in 1846. It became home toBronwen Pugh, Lady Astor, in 1966.[16] As of July 2023, it is on the market for £4.7M.[17]
A smalllinear settlement on a minor crossroad, Hydestile includes Busbridge Court Farm which strengthens its partial connection with the village, other than the ancient boundaries still used for the civil andecclesiastical parish running to the crossroads. Hydon Hill, aLeonard Cheshire Disability hospice/retreat is in this part of Busbridge.
The main feature of Munstead Heath, which is a triangular woodland dotted with homes, is theEdwin Lutyens-built house (finished in 1897) of Gertrude Jekyll, one of the most important figures in gardening worldwide in the 19th and 20th centuries – this is Grade I listed.[18]
Busbridge Lakes[19] is a grade II* heritage 16 hectares (40 acres) site or landscape (in the parks and garden special category)listed for its manmade follies, grottos, clear lakes and wide range of trees and extends into the informal area of Ladywell, Tuesley, part of which is publicly accessible at no charge, such as the smallest lake, Lady Well, and the modern dry-stone walling above an Anglo-Saxon pagan shrine to the godTýr or Tiw,see above.
This consists of 3 lakes, nature trails and a wooded hillside containing a largest collection of wild waterfowl. The owners state the site has 130 species of swans, geese and ducks, many endangered, rare pheasants, cranes and other exotic birds. The landscape is open to the public on selected days, on private booking, open for schools, clubs and private parties.[20]
The village churchyard contains several significant memorials by Lutyens, including theBusbridge War Memorial, a Grade II* listed structure, unveiled in 1922, one of fifteen of his War Crosses, which share a similar design. The names of the village's war dead are listed on a plaque inside the church. He also designed memorials to Julia Jekyll (Gertrude's mother),Francis McLaren, and a joint memorial to Sir Herbert Jekyll (Gertrude's brother) and his wife DameAgnes Jekyll, and to Gertrude herself.[21]
At theUnited Kingdom Census 2011 the population stood at 21 higher than ten years earlier, living in 267 households.[1]
Population figures from older censuses are inaccurate for direct comparisons, due to parish boundary changes in the 1950s, which caused the population 'to decline' from 1,458 in 1951, to 1,039 in 1961 in line with the area lost to the adjoining town.[22]
| Output area | Detached | Semi-detached | Terraced | Flats and apartments | Caravans/temporary/mobile homes | shared between households[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Civil Parish) | 180 | 62 | 7 | 16 | 2 | 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) | 779 | 267 | 48.3% | 32.6% | 992 |
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).
The nearest stations areGodalming andMilford on thePortsmouth Direct Line. These are approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) from the western side of the village.
The area is served by three mid-distance local roads converging on the south of Godalming, each scaling the wooded slopes of theGreensand Ridge; none are dual carriageways. The main road through the village is the B2130 Brighton Road which connects Godalming andDunsfold.
Media related toBusbridge at Wikimedia Commons
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