| Wanborough | |
|---|---|
 The interior of the Great Barn, Wanborough | |
  Wanborough Location withinSurrey | |
| Area | 7.57 km2 (2.92 sq mi) |
| Population | 335 (Civil Parish 2011)[1] |
| • Density | 44/km2 (110/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SU934489 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Guildford |
| Postcode district | GU3 |
| Dialling code | 01483 |
| Police | Surrey |
| Fire | Surrey |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | |
| 51°13′52″N0°39′43″W / 51.231°N 0.662°W /51.231; -0.662 | |
Wanborough (/ˈwɒnbərə/) is a rural village andcivil parish in Surrey approximately 4 miles (6 km) west ofGuildford on the northern slopes of theHog's Back. Wanborough lies betweenPuttenham andNormandy. Wanborough village grew around and to serviceWanborough Manor which is on the site of ancientsprings.[2]
According to a local publicationWanborough and its Church,[3] humans in prehistory travelled along the Hog's Back, attracted by thespring in the locality. The earliest settlement dates to 8000 BC.
The "Wanborough Coins" are part of a votive offering deposited at a Romano-Celtic temple (i.e., late 1st century BC to 4th century AD); this site was looted between 1983 and 1985, but over one thousand silver coins, a small part of the original assemblage, were eventually added to the collection of the British Museum.[4][5] The British Museum calls the destruction of the Romano-Celtic temple at Wanborough in Surrey 'one of the saddest stories in British archaeology'.[6]
A headdress and sceptre handles were also recovered. These were probably used by a priest during rituals. Subsequent excavations have shown that there were in fact two temples on the site. A circular temple had been built during the late first century BC, replaced in the second century AD by a square temple.[6]
The Saxon name ofWenberge meansbump-barrow; thisbarrow was on the southern border of Wanborough on the top of theHog's Back.
Wanborough appears inDomesday Book of 1086 asWeneberge held by Goisfrid (Geoffrey) de Mandville. Its assets were: 3 hides; 1 church, 9 ploughs, 6 acres (2.4 ha) ofmeadow,woodland worth 30 hogs (per year). Its people rendered £7per year to their overlords.[8] It also states that it had been held before theNorman Conquest by twothegns, Sweign and Leofwin, who may have been brothers ofKing Harold.
In 1130 the Manor was sold toWaverley Abbey for £80 and put to use in great part to farm sheep to feed, clothe and endow theCistercian community. The present GreatBarn was built in 1388 and was used for storing and processing crops (threshing andwinnowing). Having been built for theCistercian Abbey, the barn was not atithe barn as it would have stored the entire manor crop. The barn is made from massive oak timbers and is an aisled barn with large doors on either long side to permit entry by carts. It was extended in 1705. The dates have been obtained using tree-ring dating techniques.[9]
In 1511 theAbbey obtained the right to hold an annual fair at Wanborough for 3 days from 23 August. By 1536 the fair was making £35 for the abbey and had apie poudre court to try trading offences.[10]
In 1536, Waverley Abbey was dissolved and the manor passed into secular ownership. St Bartholomew's Church was in regular use until at least 1675. By 1794, as leaseholder, theQuaker,Morris Birkbeck was farming an estate of 1,500 acres (610 ha) at Wanborough,[11] where he joined others in England and France who were experimenting with crossbreeding Merino sheep and innovating with modern techniques. He used the church as a wood store and barn.[citation needed]
In 1613, a court case recorded that someone was assaulted with a "cricket staffe" (an early term for thecricket bat) at Wanborough.[12][13]
The presentmanor house was built, starting in about 1670, by Thomas Dalmahoy, who was MPfor Guildford for most of the reign of therestored monarch,Charles II.[14]
From 1880, SirAlgernon West lived at Wanborough Manor. He was Principal Private Secretary to Prime MinisterW. E. Gladstone. West entertained many political figures at the manor, including Gladstone,Queen Victoria andBismarck. He was also a director of theSouth Eastern Railway and was responsible for the opening ofWanborough Station (in nearbyNormandy) in 1891. In 1900, the manor passed toAsquith who lived there until he became prime minister. In 1908 West returned and stayed until his death in 1921.[15] The Manor passed to the Perkins family who introduced one of the first combine harvesters in the country.[16]
DuringWorld War II the Manor was used as a training centre forSpecial Operations Executive agents. The manor was designated Special Training School 5, and handled the first three phases of agent training. It operated from spring 1941 to March 1943 under the command of Major Roger de Wesselow, who had been a Coldstream Guards officer inWorld War I. Many agents in 'Section F' (France) passed through STS5 and courses lasted 3 weeks. Each course was specific to one country and all conversation during the course was in the target language. Trainees were taught theoretical and practical subjects including physical training, shooting, explosives, sabotage, map-reading,Morse code, and observation skills. Among the 130 agents trained at Wanborough werePeter Churchill andNoor Inayat Khan.[17]
One of the tests in the course was to invite beautiful women to seduce the agents through alcohol and flirtation and try to get them to divulge secrets. But the test was dropped, as almost all the agents appear to have failed to keep sensitive information to themselves.[citation needed]
In the 1950s the Manor became a country club and restaurant. It acquired a reputation amongst the taxi drivers of Guildford who would be called to collect girls from Guildford station at weekends and then drive them back for an early train up to London on Monday morning.[citation needed]
The Manor House is now split into three private dwellings.
Since the 1960s development has been constrained by its rural isolation and protected status of much of its land, Wanborough has gradually become a mixture of a commuter and retirement settlement. Principal employment areas are theAldershot Urban Area,Guildford and London.
The village church is small, only 13.5 m (44 ft) by 5.5 m (18 ft) internally. It was originally built around 1060 replacing an earlier woodenSaxon church. It was rebuilt in the 13th century. In Victorian times, whilst nearbyPuttenham church was closed for repairs, the rector of Puttenham, the Rev. W A Duckworth, decided to hold services in Wanborough's church. He arranged and paid for therestoration of St Bartholomew's by architectHenry Woodyer. It was rededicated in 1861. Thus the various walls and windows have significantly different heritage. TheVictorian west brick wall now supports an external bell. The church's architectural importance is reflected in itsGrade I listing.[18]
| Output area | Detached | Semi-detached | Terraced | Flats and apartments | Caravans/temporary/mobile homes | shared between households[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Civil Parish) | 74 | 31 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 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) | 335 | 122 | 55.7% | 32.8% | 757[1] |
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 railway station isWanborough in the large, generally 20th century, neighbourhood ofFlexford, 1.3 mi (2.1 km) to the north, served bySouth Western Railway, who manage the station, and byGreat Western Railway. It is on the Ascot to Guildford section of theNorth Downs Line.
The through road in the village leads south towards the edge of the village where there is an intersection with theA31 dual carriageway that runs along the top of theHog's Back.
The only bus service is a once a day school bus, operated by Carlone, connecting the village to the Broadwater School in Farncombe.[19]
Nearest Settlements | |
|---|---|
Alexander, Matthew.The Great Barn, Wanborough. Guildford Borough Council.
