Wanborough, Surrey
Encyclopedia
Wanborough is a small hamlet in Surrey
approximately 6 km west of Guildford
on the northern slopes of the Hog's Back
. Neighbouring villages include: Puttenham
and Christmas Pie
. Wanborough has grown up around and to service Wanborough Manor.
was situated south of Wanborough on the top of the Hog's Back.
Wanborough appears in Domesday Book
of 1086 as Weneberge. It was held by Goisfrid (Geoffrey) de Mandville. Its domesday assets were: 3 hide
s; 1 church, 9 plough
s, 6 acres (24,281.2 m²) of meadow
, woodland
worth 30 hogs. It rendered £7. It also states that it had been held before the Norman conquest by two thegn
s, Sweign and Leofwin, who may have been brothers of King Harold.
In 1130 the Manor was sold to Waverley Abbey
for £80 and put to use to farm sheep to supply the Cistercians. The present Great Barn
was built in 1388 and was used for storing and processing crops (threshing
and winnowing). Having been built for the Cistercian Abbey, the barn was not a tithe barn
, and 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.
In 1511 the Abbey
obtained the right to hold an annual fair at Wanborough for 3 days from August 23. By 1536 the fair was making £35 for the abbey and had a pie poudre court to try trading offences.
The present manor house was built starting in about 1670 by Thomas Dalmahoy, MP for Guildford
for most of the reign of Charles II
.
Whilst nearby Puttenham
church was closed for repairs it was decided by their Rector, the Rev. W A Duckworth, to hold services in Wanborough's church. He thus arranged and paid for the restoration of St Bartholomew's by architect Henry Woodyer. It was rededicated in 1861.
From 1880, Sir Algernon West
lived at the manor. West
was Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Gladstone
. West entertained many political figures at the manor including Gladstone
, Queen Victoria
, and Bismarck
. West
was also a director of the South Eastern Railway
and he caused a new station, named Wanborough but actually in Normandy
, to be opened in 1891. In 1900, the manor was passed onto Asquith
until he became Prime Minister. In 1908 West
returned to stay until his death in 1921.
the manor was converted into a training centre for Special 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, a Coldstream guards officer in World War I
. Many agents in 'Section F' (France) passed through STS5 and courses lasted 3 weeks. Each course was specific to one country and, during the course, all conversation 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.
One of the 'tests' that was done at the manor house, was to invite beautiful women to seduce the agents through alcohol and flirtation with the intent of get them to divulge secrets. This test however, was so effective that it was dropped, as almost all the agents seem to have failed to keep sensitive information to themselves.
The village church is small, only 13.5 m by 5.5 m internally. It was originally built around 1060 replacing an earlier wooden Saxon
church. It was rebuilt in the 13th century and restored
in 1861. Thus the various walls and windows have significantly different heritage. The Victorian
west brick wall now supports an external bell.
, which is served by South West Trains
, who manage the station, and by First Great Western
. It is situated on the Ascot to Guildford line
and the North Downs Line
.
The A31 runs along the top of the Hog's Back
.
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...
approximately 6 km west of Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
on the northern slopes of the Hog's Back
Hog's Back
The Hog's Back is a part of the North Downs in Surrey, England, that lies between Farnham, Surrey in the west and Guildford in the east.-Name:Compared with the main part of the Downs to the east of it, it is a narrow elongated ridge, hence its name....
. Neighbouring villages include: Puttenham
Puttenham
Puttenham may refer to:* George Puttenham , English literary critic* HMS Puttenham, a Ham class minesweeper* Puttenham, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom* Puttenham, Surrey, England, United Kingdom...
and Christmas Pie
Christmas Pie
Christmas Pie is a hamlet, in the parish of Normandy in the borough of Guildford in Surrey, England. The curious name of Christmas Pie, which has excited much humorous comment, owes its name to property owned by a prominent local family named Christmas...
. Wanborough has grown up around and to service Wanborough Manor.
Pre-dissolution
According to a local publication Wanborough and its Church, early man travelled along the Hog's Back, found the spring in the village and had settled there by 8000 BC. The Saxon name of Wenberge means bump-barrow, this barrowTumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
was situated south of Wanborough on the top of the Hog's Back.
Wanborough appears in 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 as Weneberge. It was held by Goisfrid (Geoffrey) de Mandville. Its domesday assets were: 3 hide
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
s; 1 church, 9 plough
Plough
The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
s, 6 acres (24,281.2 m²) of meadow
Meadow
A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...
, woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
worth 30 hogs. It rendered £7. It also states that it had been held before the Norman conquest by two thegn
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
s, Sweign and Leofwin, who may have been brothers of King Harold.
Waverley Abbey
Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128 by William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester. It is situated about one mile south of Farnham, Surrey, in a bend of the River Wey.-History:...
for £80 and put to use to farm sheep to supply the Cistercians. The present Great Barn
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
was built in 1388 and was used for storing and processing crops (threshing
Threshing
Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of cereal grain from the scaly, inedible chaff that surrounds it. It is the step in grain preparation after harvesting and before winnowing, which separates the loosened chaff from the grain...
and winnowing). Having been built for the Cistercian Abbey, the barn was not a tithe barn
Tithe barn
A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing the tithes - a tenth of the farm's produce which had to be given to the church....
, and 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.
In 1511 the Abbey
Waverley Abbey
Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128 by William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester. It is situated about one mile south of Farnham, Surrey, in a bend of the River Wey.-History:...
obtained the right to hold an annual fair at Wanborough for 3 days from August 23. By 1536 the fair was making £35 for the abbey and had a pie poudre court to try trading offences.
Post-dissolution
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, but by the 18th century the Quaker Birkbeck family were farming the hamlet innovating with 'modern techniques' and they used the church as a wood store and barn.The present manor house was built starting in about 1670 by Thomas Dalmahoy, MP for Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
for most of the reign of Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
.
Whilst nearby Puttenham
Puttenham
Puttenham may refer to:* George Puttenham , English literary critic* HMS Puttenham, a Ham class minesweeper* Puttenham, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom* Puttenham, Surrey, England, United Kingdom...
church was closed for repairs it was decided by their Rector, the Rev. W A Duckworth, to hold services in Wanborough's church. He thus arranged and paid for the restoration of St Bartholomew's by architect Henry Woodyer. It was rededicated in 1861.
From 1880, Sir Algernon West
Algernon West
The Rt Hon Sir Algernon Edward West GCB was Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Gladstone.-Biography:He was the son of Martin John West and Lady Maria Walpole, daughter of the second Earl of Orford...
lived at the manor. West
Algernon West
The Rt Hon Sir Algernon Edward West GCB was Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Gladstone.-Biography:He was the son of Martin John West and Lady Maria Walpole, daughter of the second Earl of Orford...
was Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
. West entertained many political figures at the manor including Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
, Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
, and Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
. West
Algernon West
The Rt Hon Sir Algernon Edward West GCB was Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Gladstone.-Biography:He was the son of Martin John West and Lady Maria Walpole, daughter of the second Earl of Orford...
was also a director of the South Eastern Railway
South Eastern Railway (UK)
The South Eastern Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent...
and he caused a new station, named Wanborough but actually in Normandy
Normandy, Surrey
Normandy is both the name of a civil parish in the borough of Guildford in Surrey, England and the name of the largest village in that parish. It lies close to the western edge of the county of Surrey close to the border with Hampshire and just north of the chalk hill known as the Hog's Back...
, to be opened in 1891. In 1900, the manor was passed onto Asquith
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
until he became Prime Minister. In 1908 West
Algernon West
The Rt Hon Sir Algernon Edward West GCB was Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Gladstone.-Biography:He was the son of Martin John West and Lady Maria Walpole, daughter of the second Earl of Orford...
returned to stay until his death in 1921.
World War II
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the manor was converted into a training centre for Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
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, a Coldstream guards officer in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Many agents in 'Section F' (France) passed through STS5 and courses lasted 3 weeks. Each course was specific to one country and, during the course, all conversation was in the target language. Trainees were taught theoretical and practical subjects including physical training, shooting, explosives, sabotage, map-reading, Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
, and observation skills.
One of the 'tests' that was done at the manor house, was to invite beautiful women to seduce the agents through alcohol and flirtation with the intent of get them to divulge secrets. This test however, was so effective that it was dropped, as almost all the agents seem to have failed to keep sensitive information to themselves.
St Bartholomew's Church
Anglo-Saxon architecture
Anglo-Saxon architecture was a period in the history of architecture in England, and parts of Wales, from the mid-5th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. Anglo-Saxon secular buildings in Britain were generally simple, constructed mainly using timber with thatch for roofing...
church. It was rebuilt in the 13th century and restored
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...
in 1861. Thus the various walls and windows have significantly different heritage. The Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
west brick wall now supports an external bell.
Transport links
The nearest railway station is WanboroughWanborough railway station
Wanborough railway station is situated in Flexford in Surrey, England and serves the village of Normandy to the north and Wanborough to the south. The station is served by South West Trains, who manage the station, and by First Great Western...
, which is served by South West Trains
South West Trains
South West Trains is a British train operating company providing, under franchise, passenger rail services, mostly out of Waterloo station, to the southwest of London in the suburbs and in the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire and on the Isle of Wight...
, who manage the station, and by First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
. It is situated on the Ascot to Guildford line
Ascot to Guildford line
The Ascot to Guildford Line is a railway line operated by South West Trains.The name refers both to a service between Ascot and Guildford and a physical railway line between Ascot to Ash Vale....
and the North Downs Line
North Downs Line
The North Downs Line is the name of the passenger train service connecting Reading, on the Great Western Main Line, to Gatwick Airport, on the Brighton Main Line...
.
The A31 runs along the top of the Hog's Back
Hog's Back
The Hog's Back is a part of the North Downs in Surrey, England, that lies between Farnham, Surrey in the west and Guildford in the east.-Name:Compared with the main part of the Downs to the east of it, it is a narrow elongated ridge, hence its name....
.