Godstone
Encyclopedia
Godstone is a village in the county of Surrey
, England
. It is located approximately six miles east of Reigate
at the junction of the A22
and A25
major roads, and near the M25 motorway
.
administrative division of Tandridge
hundred
. It is built along a stretch of the London to Brighton Way
Roman road, which comes through the Caterham Gap and continues southward along Tilburstow Hill Road.
Godstone initially had a different name. The village had been known as Walkingstead, meaning 'Wolcen's place', from the Old English
personal name
Wolcen (related to modern English "welkin" meaning cloud
") and stede "place, homestead", related to modern English
stead. A record of the name from 932 as Wuulicinsted proves this. Another record, undated, shows the name as Wolinstede, suggesting the same etymology. In the Domesday Book
of 1086 it was Wachelstede.
The name of the village was recorded in 1248 as Godeston, suggesting an etymology of the Old English
personal name Goda
and tun "farm, village", here in the sense "village" rather than "estate" considering the village size. Thus the suggested etymology is "Goda's farm". Goda
was the daughter of Aethelred The Unready. She died in 1055 but the Domesday book
of 1086 records the parish as being held by her husband, Count Eustace II of Boulogne
.
However, earlier records have the name listed as Cudeston (1153) and Codstune (1173) suggesting "farmstead of a man called Cōd" ' onMouseout='HidePop("39913")' href="/topics/Code">code
", not "cod
"), as with the Cotswolds
, high-forest land of a man called Cōd. However, if this etymology is proven, then it would almost certainly not be the same individual who gave his name to the Cotswolds
.
Church Town, with its old timber framed buildings, is quiet and secluded. The Old Packhouse, dating from the 15th century, is the oldest timber framed building in the town. In the 18th Century, brick became the fashionable material for house building, and Church End and Church House, opposite the church, are two fine examples.
St Nicholas Church dominates Church Town. The North aisle was built in about 1845. Sir George Gilbert Scott's restoration
of the church in 1872-3 involved widening of the chancel arch, inserting a new north side to the chancel, new windows to the nave and east end, and adding the south aisle. The churchyard contains a notable sarsen stone marking the grave of
Walker Miles
whose work in the early days of the Rambler's movement contributed to the formation of the Ramblers
of Great Britain.
At the same time, Sir George Gilbert Scott designed St Mary's almshouses next to St Nicholas Church for Mrs Mabel Hunt of Wonham House, in memory of her only daughter who had died at the age of sixteen. Built in a Victorian Tudor/gothic style, they include eight self contained houses, a wardens house and a beautiful little chapel, dedicated to St Mary. The flèch-capped chapel and the gables compose a very pretty hamlet.
Godstone Green became a busy centre of roads and vehicles during the growth of wheeled traffic in the 16th century, an era which spawned the establishment of Godstone's numerous inns. A number of houses built entirely of brick appeared in the 18th Century, notably the row in the High Street.
During the 19th Century, The Pond at Godstone Green was used as a horse-pond with a sloping bank down which the wagoners drove their horses.
In the very core of the village is a triangular island, which in Victorian times, was densely packed with a remarkable number of cottages intersected by alleys. It is claimed to have been the worst slum in Surrey, which is no longer the case, with each dwelling having been paid much care and attention.
The two parts of Godstone are linked by Bullbeggars Lane, a narrow road leading from the south of the village to the church, and the footpath running from the White Hart pub and its barn, along Bay Pond to Church Lane. The original village around St Nicholas Church was decimated during the great plague
of 1342 with the victims being buried in two 'plague pits' in Bullbeggars Lane. Even in death the sexes were kept separate. Men and women were interred in separate pits. The road running past the church was at one time the main coastal road with the present village not being built until Tudor times. The Pack House featured in the Gracie Fields
film 'Sing as you dance along', with Gracie dancing along the lane past the cottage which used to be an Inn.
The name Enterdent alludes to a cluster of cottages on the land set in a wooded valley. The origin of the name the Enterdent has never been satisfactorily explained. It has previously been known as Lower and Upper Henterden, and in the 19th century, Polly Pains Bottom. It is perhaps the dene
or valley between two hills.
The first two dwellings appeared in 1842, and improvements began on the cottages in 1857, now number 6 and 7 The Enterdent. These buildings were enlarged with an extension at the rear and five further cottages were added, making a row of seven. A second terrace of cottages, this time eight in number, appeared further up the valley.
Today the fifteen original cottages have been converted to eight homes. The additional five cottages from the original terrace have since been converted into two larger properties, number 1 comprising three cottages, and number 5 comprising the remaining two. Numbers 6 and 7 still remain as individual cottages. At the entrance to the Enterdent, from Eastbourne Road, is a Georgian
-style house, which was a tea room and a hotel from the 1920s to the 1940s. It has since been converted into two cottages, River Cottage and White Cottage.
Despite all the changes, the Enterdent has essentially remained relatively unaltered. The cottage gardens and vegetable allotment
s stand to this day, so too does the sandpit
, the brook
, the woods and the bluebells
.
The Orpheus Trust Centre
is an inclusive performing arts centre
founded in 1998 by British entertainer and musician Richard Stilgoe
in his former family home in the village. Godstone Farm is a popular destination for family and school outings.
Godstone Vineyards is a local wine producer selling wine from the premises on Quarry Road.
Godstone is situated at the junction of the A22 and A25 trunk roads. Junction 6 of the M25 motorway is just to the north of the village, immediately south of this junction is the town's Fire Station. Godstone is also the traffic control centre for the southern M25. Godstone railway station
is situated in South Godstone (which used to be known as Lagham), approximately 2 miles to the south of the village.
Godstone is the home of Godstone Football Club, who currently play in Redhill and District division 3 having been reformed last season.
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 is located approximately six miles east of Reigate
Reigate
Reigate is a historic market town in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs, and in the London commuter belt. It is one of the main constituents of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead...
at the junction of the A22
A22 road
The A22 is one of the two-digit major roads in the south east of England. It carries traffic from London to Eastbourne on the East Sussex coast...
and A25
A25 road
The A25 road is one of the three cross-country two-digit numbered roads in the southeast of England, the others being the A26 from Newhaven to Maidstone and the A27 along the south coast. It carries traffic from Guildford in Surrey through Dorking, and thence eastward along the southern edge of the...
major roads, and near the M25 motorway
M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
.
History
The village lay within the Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
administrative division of Tandridge
Tandridge (hundred)
Tandridge was a hundred in what is now Surrey, England. It includes the borough of Tandridge.It includes the parishes of Bletchingley, Caterham, Chelsham, Crowhurst, Farleigh, Godstone, Horne, Limpsfield, Lingfield, Oxted, Tandridge, Tatsfield, Titsey, Warlingham and Woldingham.The hundred has...
hundred
Hundred (division)
A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...
. It is built along a stretch of the London to Brighton Way
London to Brighton Way (Roman road)
The London to Brighton Way, sometimes called the London to Portslade Way is a Roman road between Stane Street at Kennington Park and Brighton in Sussex. The road passes through Streatham and Croydon, then through the Caterham Valley gap in the North Downs...
Roman road, which comes through the Caterham Gap and continues southward along Tilburstow Hill Road.
Godstone initially had a different name. The village had been known as Walkingstead, meaning 'Wolcen's place', from the Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
personal name
Personal name
A personal name is the proper name identifying an individual person, and today usually comprises a given name bestowed at birth or at a young age plus a surname. It is nearly universal for a human to have a name; except in rare cases, for example feral children growing up in isolation, or infants...
Wolcen (related to modern English "welkin" meaning cloud
Cloud
A cloud is a visible mass of liquid droplets or frozen crystals made of water and/or various chemicals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of a planetary body. They are also known as aerosols. Clouds in Earth's atmosphere are studied in the cloud physics branch of meteorology...
") and stede "place, homestead", related to modern English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
stead. A record of the name from 932 as Wuulicinsted proves this. Another record, undated, shows the name as Wolinstede, suggesting the same etymology. In the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 it was Wachelstede.
The name of the village was recorded in 1248 as Godeston, suggesting an etymology of the Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
personal name Goda
Goda of England
Goda of England or Godgifu; was the daughter of King Ethelred the Unready and his second wife Emma of Normandy, and sister of King Edward the Confessor...
and tun "farm, village", here in the sense "village" rather than "estate" considering the village size. Thus the suggested etymology is "Goda's farm". Goda
Goda of England
Goda of England or Godgifu; was the daughter of King Ethelred the Unready and his second wife Emma of Normandy, and sister of King Edward the Confessor...
was the daughter of Aethelred The Unready. She died in 1055 but the Domesday book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 records the parish as being held by her husband, Count Eustace II of Boulogne
Eustace II of Boulogne
Eustace II, , also known as Eustace aux Gernons was count of Boulogne from 1049–1087, fought on the Norman side at the Battle of Hastings, and afterwards received a large honour in England. He is one of the few proven Companions of William the Conqueror.He was the son of Eustace I...
.
However, earlier records have the name listed as Cudeston (1153) and Codstune (1173) suggesting "farmstead of a man called Cōd" ' onMouseout='HidePop("39913")' href="/topics/Code">code
Code
A code is a rule for converting a piece of information into another form or representation , not necessarily of the same type....
", not "cod
Cod
Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
"), as with the Cotswolds
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
, high-forest land of a man called Cōd. However, if this etymology is proven, then it would almost certainly not be the same individual who gave his name to the Cotswolds
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
.
Geography
The heart of Godstone consists of two centres which are now conservation areas, Church Town and Godstone Green.Church Town, with its old timber framed buildings, is quiet and secluded. The Old Packhouse, dating from the 15th century, is the oldest timber framed building in the town. In the 18th Century, brick became the fashionable material for house building, and Church End and Church House, opposite the church, are two fine examples.
St Nicholas Church dominates Church Town. The North aisle was built in about 1845. Sir George Gilbert Scott's restoration
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
of the church in 1872-3 involved widening of the chancel arch, inserting a new north side to the chancel, new windows to the nave and east end, and adding the south aisle. The churchyard contains a notable sarsen stone marking the grave of
Walker Miles
Edmund Seyfang Taylor
Edmund Seyfang Taylor , popularly known as "Walker Miles", was an early pioneer of rambling in the UK. He founded one of the predecessors of the modern-day Ramblers of Great Britain and wrote numerous walking guides.- Legacy :...
whose work in the early days of the Rambler's movement contributed to the formation of the Ramblers
Ramblers
The Ramblers, formerly known as the Ramblers' Association, is the largest walkers' rights organisation in Great Britain which aims to look after the interests of walkers...
of Great Britain.
At the same time, Sir George Gilbert Scott designed St Mary's almshouses next to St Nicholas Church for Mrs Mabel Hunt of Wonham House, in memory of her only daughter who had died at the age of sixteen. Built in a Victorian Tudor/gothic style, they include eight self contained houses, a wardens house and a beautiful little chapel, dedicated to St Mary. The flèch-capped chapel and the gables compose a very pretty hamlet.
Godstone Green became a busy centre of roads and vehicles during the growth of wheeled traffic in the 16th century, an era which spawned the establishment of Godstone's numerous inns. A number of houses built entirely of brick appeared in the 18th Century, notably the row in the High Street.
During the 19th Century, The Pond at Godstone Green was used as a horse-pond with a sloping bank down which the wagoners drove their horses.
In the very core of the village is a triangular island, which in Victorian times, was densely packed with a remarkable number of cottages intersected by alleys. It is claimed to have been the worst slum in Surrey, which is no longer the case, with each dwelling having been paid much care and attention.
The two parts of Godstone are linked by Bullbeggars Lane, a narrow road leading from the south of the village to the church, and the footpath running from the White Hart pub and its barn, along Bay Pond to Church Lane. The original village around St Nicholas Church was decimated during the great plague
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
of 1342 with the victims being buried in two 'plague pits' in Bullbeggars Lane. Even in death the sexes were kept separate. Men and women were interred in separate pits. The road running past the church was at one time the main coastal road with the present village not being built until Tudor times. The Pack House featured in the Gracie Fields
Gracie Fields
Dame Gracie Fields, DBE , was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall.-Early life:...
film 'Sing as you dance along', with Gracie dancing along the lane past the cottage which used to be an Inn.
The Enterdent
This is a small plot of land, tucked away in between Tilburstow Hill Road and Eastbourne Road, to the south of Godstone.The name Enterdent alludes to a cluster of cottages on the land set in a wooded valley. The origin of the name the Enterdent has never been satisfactorily explained. It has previously been known as Lower and Upper Henterden, and in the 19th century, Polly Pains Bottom. It is perhaps the dene
Dene (valley)
A Dene, derived from the Old English denu and frequently spelled dean, used to be a common name for a valley, in which sense it is frequently found as a component of English place-names, such as Rottingdean and Ovingdean....
or valley between two hills.
The first two dwellings appeared in 1842, and improvements began on the cottages in 1857, now number 6 and 7 The Enterdent. These buildings were enlarged with an extension at the rear and five further cottages were added, making a row of seven. A second terrace of cottages, this time eight in number, appeared further up the valley.
Today the fifteen original cottages have been converted to eight homes. The additional five cottages from the original terrace have since been converted into two larger properties, number 1 comprising three cottages, and number 5 comprising the remaining two. Numbers 6 and 7 still remain as individual cottages. At the entrance to the Enterdent, from Eastbourne Road, is a Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
-style house, which was a tea room and a hotel from the 1920s to the 1940s. It has since been converted into two cottages, River Cottage and White Cottage.
Despite all the changes, the Enterdent has essentially remained relatively unaltered. The cottage gardens and vegetable allotment
Allotment (gardening)
An allotment garden, often called simply an allotment, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-professional gardening. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families...
s stand to this day, so too does the sandpit
Sandpit
A sandpit or sandbox is a low, wide container or shallow depression filled with sand in which children can play. Many homeowners with children build sandpits in their backyards because, unlike much playground equipment, they can be easily and cheaply constructed...
, the brook
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
, the woods and the bluebells
Hyacinthoides
Hyacinthoides is a genus of the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It has also been placed in the separate family Hyacinthaceae and before that the Liliaceae. The genus is included within Scilla by some botanists....
.
Today
Godstone Village School is situated near Godstone Green. It caters for children between the ages of 3 and 11.The Orpheus Trust Centre
Orpheus Trust
The Orpheus Trust Centre is an inclusive performing arts centre founded in 1998 by British entertainer and musician Richard Stilgoe in his former family home in Godstone, Surrey, in the United Kingdom.- Aims :...
is an inclusive performing arts centre
Performing arts center
Performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is used to refer to* A multi-use performance space that is intended for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre....
founded in 1998 by British entertainer and musician Richard Stilgoe
Richard Stilgoe
Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe OBE is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician. He is noted for clever wordplay as much as for his music....
in his former family home in the village. Godstone Farm is a popular destination for family and school outings.
Godstone Vineyards is a local wine producer selling wine from the premises on Quarry Road.
Godstone is situated at the junction of the A22 and A25 trunk roads. Junction 6 of the M25 motorway is just to the north of the village, immediately south of this junction is the town's Fire Station. Godstone is also the traffic control centre for the southern M25. Godstone railway station
Godstone railway station
Godstone railway station is on the Redhill to Tonbridge Line and serves Godstone in Surrey, England. It is located approximately two miles south of the village centre, at South Godstone, a settlement which was non-existent until the coming of the railway....
is situated in South Godstone (which used to be known as Lagham), approximately 2 miles to the south of the village.
Godstone is the home of Godstone Football Club, who currently play in Redhill and District division 3 having been reformed last season.