Chiddingfold
Encyclopedia
Chiddingfold is a village
and civil parish in the heart of The Weald in the Waverley
district of Surrey
, England
. It lies on the A283 between Milford
and Petworth
. Chiddingfold Forest
is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
(SSSI) lying nearby.
Chiddingfold became famous for its glass
-making - during the reign of Elizabeth I
, there were no fewer than eleven glass works on the green. Chiddingfold glass was used in some of the finest buildings in the land, including St Stephen's Chapel, Westminster
, and St George's Chapel, Windsor
.
The Guy Fawkes
festivities has an interesting past. In 1887 the village policeman had his house attacked by a mob, and was transferred, following suspicion he had set the bonfire alight early. 1929 saw similar, with wider unrest, culminating a week later with a rumour of apprehending the innocent Sgt Brake and ducking him in the pond being met by 200 officers from all over Surrey in specially requisitioned buses; the village pubs were ordered to close and a JP was on hand to read the Riot Act
should it have proved necessary.
Chiddingfold has opened an archive which shows the history of Chiddingfold and the previous owners of Chiddingfold houses.
The French-born abstract artist François Lanzi
lived in Chiddingfold from 1971 until his death in 1988.
The Crown is one of the oldest inns in England. Built as a rest house for Cistercian monks on their pilgrimage from Winchester to the shrine of Thomas Becket
in Canterbury, it claims to have been established in 1285 with the earliest recorded reference to the present building dated 1383; probably when the alehouse (the Halle) expanded to include accommodation, thus becoming an inn. Subsequently it merged with the adjoining alehouse through common ownership. The Crown has seen many distinguished visitors down the years. On 21st 1552, Edward VI
, the "boy king", attended by high officials of state, courtiers, peers and some 4000 men encamped on the village green. It is reputed that in 1591 his elder sister, Queen Elizabeth
I, "sojourned there for refreshment" en route from Loseley Park
to Cowdray Park, West Sussex
: her expense roll for the journey showing two sillings being paid for a tonne of wine to be transported to the village from Ripley.
, pond, shops and cottages lie on three sides of a large village green. There was also a brick works. In late 2007, The Crown Inn went into receivership and the pub closed. The Surrey Advertiser reported that a number of families arriving for their Christmas lunch found the pub closed; despite having paid for their meal in advance. The pub has now been refurbished and has re-opened under new management.
The village is known for its torchlit procession, bonfire and fireworks display on a Saturday evening closest to November 5
(Guy Fawkes Day). The bonfire takes weeks to build and is generally as big as a block of flats. A village festival is also held every year on the village green on a Sunday in June. There is an art festival in the village hall over a weekend in September or October. Chiddingfold Horticultural Society holds competitions.
The Chiddingfold Scout Group is very active with about 100 boys and girls as Beavers, Cubs and Scouts.
The Chiddingfold doctors' surgery serves an area of about 100 square miles.
, then called The Guildford Stranglers, were based in Chiddingfold during their key formative period in the mid seventies, sometimes using the name "The Chiddingfold Chokers" and frequenting "The Crown". The rock band Genesis
built their studio The Farm
in the parish in the early 1980s; they also rehearsed at the Chiddingfold Ex-Servicemen's Club and side-project Mike + The Mechanics shot the video for their 1995 hit, Over My Shoulder, on the village cricket green.
Chiddingfold is referred to in a Mr Cholmondley-Warner sketch from Harry Enfield
's TV series, in which a newsreel - supposedly from 1940 - looks forward to "life in 1990" and predicts that the United States
would have come back under British
rule, with New York City
renaming itself "Chiddingfold-on-Sea".
The pop band XTC
referred to Chiddingfold House under their moniker 'The Dukes Of Stratosphear' in their song The Mole From The Ministry.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish in the heart of The Weald in the Waverley
Waverley, Surrey
Waverley is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. The borough's headquarters are in the town of Godalming, with Farnham and Haslemere being the other large notable towns....
district of Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It lies on the A283 between Milford
Milford, Surrey
Milford is a large village, situated south west of Godalming in Surrey, England. Nearby villages include Witley, Elstead and Eashing, and the hamlets of Enton and Hydestile. It is situated in the Borough of Waverley.-Transportation:...
and Petworth
Petworth
Petworth is a small town and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 east-west road from Heathfield to Winchester and the A283 Milford to Shoreham-by-Sea road. Some twelve miles to the south west of Petworth along the A285 road...
. Chiddingfold Forest
Chiddingfold Forest
Chiddingfold Forest is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in south west Surrey and west Sussex, England. It lies near Chiddingfold and Dunsfold. The Forestry Commission owns and/or manages some of woodland in the forest complex of which is designated SSSI...
is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
(SSSI) lying nearby.
History
The name of Chiddingfold "Chadynge's fold", "Chiddingefoulde", is derived from the Saxon, probably meaning the fold (enclosure for animals) "in the hollow".Chiddingfold became famous for its glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
-making - during the reign of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, there were no fewer than eleven glass works on the green. Chiddingfold glass was used in some of the finest buildings in the land, including St Stephen's Chapel, Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
, and St George's Chapel, Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
.
The Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes , also known as Guido Fawkes, the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries, belonged to a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.Fawkes was born and educated in York...
festivities has an interesting past. In 1887 the village policeman had his house attacked by a mob, and was transferred, following suspicion he had set the bonfire alight early. 1929 saw similar, with wider unrest, culminating a week later with a rumour of apprehending the innocent Sgt Brake and ducking him in the pond being met by 200 officers from all over Surrey in specially requisitioned buses; the village pubs were ordered to close and a JP was on hand to read the Riot Act
Riot Act
The Riot Act was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that authorised local authorities to declare any group of twelve or more people to be unlawfully assembled, and thus have to disperse or face punitive action...
should it have proved necessary.
Chiddingfold has opened an archive which shows the history of Chiddingfold and the previous owners of Chiddingfold houses.
The French-born abstract artist François Lanzi
François Lanzi
François Lanzi was a French-born artist who lived a large part of his adult life in the United Kingdom.- His life :...
lived in Chiddingfold from 1971 until his death in 1988.
The Crown Inn
The Crown is one of the oldest inns in England. Built as a rest house for Cistercian monks on their pilgrimage from Winchester to the shrine of Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
in Canterbury, it claims to have been established in 1285 with the earliest recorded reference to the present building dated 1383; probably when the alehouse (the Halle) expanded to include accommodation, thus becoming an inn. Subsequently it merged with the adjoining alehouse through common ownership. The Crown has seen many distinguished visitors down the years. On 21st 1552, Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
, the "boy king", attended by high officials of state, courtiers, peers and some 4000 men encamped on the village green. It is reputed that in 1591 his elder sister, Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
I, "sojourned there for refreshment" en route from Loseley Park
Loseley Park
Loseley Park is a historic manor house situated outside Guildford in Surrey, England near Compton. The estate was acquired by the direct ancestors of the current owners, the More-Molyneux, at the beginning of the 16th century....
to Cowdray Park, West Sussex
Cowdray Park
Cowdray Park refers to*Cowdray Park, Gauteng, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa*Cowdray Park, West Sussex, a country house and polo park in England...
: her expense roll for the journey showing two sillings being paid for a tonne of wine to be transported to the village from Ripley.
Today
A church (St Mary's), 14th-Century pub (The Crown Inn), forgeForge
A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...
, pond, shops and cottages lie on three sides of a large village green. There was also a brick works. In late 2007, The Crown Inn went into receivership and the pub closed. The Surrey Advertiser reported that a number of families arriving for their Christmas lunch found the pub closed; despite having paid for their meal in advance. The pub has now been refurbished and has re-opened under new management.
The village is known for its torchlit procession, bonfire and fireworks display on a Saturday evening closest to November 5
(Guy Fawkes Day). The bonfire takes weeks to build and is generally as big as a block of flats. A village festival is also held every year on the village green on a Sunday in June. There is an art festival in the village hall over a weekend in September or October. Chiddingfold Horticultural Society holds competitions.
The Chiddingfold Scout Group is very active with about 100 boys and girls as Beavers, Cubs and Scouts.
The Chiddingfold doctors' surgery serves an area of about 100 square miles.
Media links
The punk-associated group The StranglersThe Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
, then called The Guildford Stranglers, were based in Chiddingfold during their key formative period in the mid seventies, sometimes using the name "The Chiddingfold Chokers" and frequenting "The Crown". The rock band Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
built their studio The Farm
The Farm (recording studio)
Fisher Lane Farm is the main recording studio of the English progressive rock band Genesis. The studio is located in Chiddingfold, Surrey, England...
in the parish in the early 1980s; they also rehearsed at the Chiddingfold Ex-Servicemen's Club and side-project Mike + The Mechanics shot the video for their 1995 hit, Over My Shoulder, on the village cricket green.
Chiddingfold is referred to in a Mr Cholmondley-Warner sketch from Harry Enfield
Harry Enfield
Henry Richard "Harry" Enfield is a BAFTA-winning English comedian, actor, writer and director.-Early life:...
's TV series, in which a newsreel - supposedly from 1940 - looks forward to "life in 1990" and predicts that the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
would have come back under British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rule, with New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
renaming itself "Chiddingfold-on-Sea".
The pop band XTC
XTC
XTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...
referred to Chiddingfold House under their moniker 'The Dukes Of Stratosphear' in their song The Mole From The Ministry.