Worplesdon
Encyclopedia
Worplesdon is a village in Surrey
, England
, located three miles (5 km) north of Guildford
. Worplesdon is also the name of the parish that also includes the settlements of Fairlands
, Jacobs Well
, Perry Hill, and Wood Street Village
. Nearby villages include Pirbright
and Deepcut
, with significant military presences.
Worplesdon has a medieval village church, St Mary's. Worplesdon appears in Domesday Book
of 1086 as Werpesdune. It was held by Turald (Thorold) from Roger de Montgomery. Its domesday assets were: 6½ hide
s; 1 church, 9 plough
s, 1 mill
worth 2s 6d, 8 acres (32,374.9 m²) of meadow
, wood worth 60 hogs. It rendered £10. Adjacent to the church, a semaphore tower (now demolished) served in the Napoleonic wars
.
Worplesdon is served by the Worplesdon Memorial Hall, built in 1922 to recall those who died in World War I
; it and the adjacent recreation grounds are managed by trustees representing the donors and the Parish Council. A caretaker lives nearby. Beside the Hall are a playground and tennis and cricket facilities. There are a large events room, a meeting room, and the Sidney Sime Memorial Gallery.
The Worplesdon and Burpham Cricket Club traces its origins to 1890, and there is also Worplesdon Phoenix FC playing in the Surrey Counties Intermediate League and Guildford and Woking Alliance League and, since 1991, Worplesdon Tennis Club, with a new Clubhouse (2005).
Worplesdon Rangers FC is another football club based in and around the parish; the club was founded in 2001 and caters for pre-reception to Under 18 age-groups playing in the Surrey Primary League. Committee meetings are held monthly at Jacobs Well Village Hall.
Worplesdon no longer has shops or banking facilities but there is the Worplesdon Place Hotel and Worplesdon railway station
is located approximately a mile and a half to the north-east of the village. There are a number of heavily wooded commons, managed by Surrey Wildlife Trust, in the area, including Broadstreet & Backside Commons, Stringer’s Common, Littlefield Common and Chitty’s Common.
Agricultural College stands on the hill to the west of Worplesdon encompassing a wood and pond, a plant nursery, an arboriculture training area, an equestrian center, a golf course, and a farm.
The village school, Perry Hill, closed in 1976. There is now a new school, Worplesdon Primary, in Fairlands. Worplesdon Primary School caters for 409 students from the ages of 4-11. The head teacher
is Mr A Parsons.
, best known for magazine illustration and work on the books of the prolific author Lord Dunsany.
In his later life, Frederick Courteney Selous
chronicled many of his adventures from his home in Worplesdon. Selous was a British
explorer, officer
, hunter, and conservationist
, famous for his exploits in south and east of Africa. His real-life adventures inspired Sir H. Rider Haggard
to create the fictional Allan Quatermain
character.
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...
, located three miles (5 km) north 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...
. Worplesdon is also the name of the parish that also includes the settlements of Fairlands
Fairlands
Fairlands is a settlement in Guildford Borough of the county of Surrey, England. It is part of the parish of Worplesdon, and is about three miles from the centre of Guildford...
, Jacobs Well
Jacobs Well, Surrey
Jacobs Well is a village in the county of Surrey, England with a population of 1,171. The village is located on the northern outskirts of Guildford, in the parish of Worplesdon, the village which lies to the west...
, Perry Hill, and Wood Street Village
Wood Street Village
Wood Street Village is a village in the county of Surrey, England with a village green. It is located three miles west of Guildford and is part of the parish of Worplesdon. Local ameneties include a church, infant school, post office and public houses....
. Nearby villages include Pirbright
Pirbright
Pirbright is a village in Surrey, England. Neighbouring villages include Worplesdon, Deepcut, Brookwood and Normandy. Pirbright parish has an area of some falling into two distinct communities with the military area to the north of the railway and the village to the south...
and Deepcut
Deepcut
Deepcut is a village in Surrey, situated close to Camberley. It is home to the Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut.Malacologist Major Matthew Connolly lived at the Lock House at Deepcut where he brought up his son the writer and critic Cyril Connolly....
, with significant military presences.
Worplesdon has a medieval village church, St Mary's. Worplesdon 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 Werpesdune. It was held by Turald (Thorold) from Roger de Montgomery. Its domesday assets were: 6½ 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, 1 mill
Mill (grinding)
A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. Historically mills were powered by hand , working animal , wind or water...
worth 2s 6d, 8 acres (32,374.9 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...
, wood worth 60 hogs. It rendered £10. Adjacent to the church, a semaphore tower (now demolished) served in the Napoleonic wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
.
Worplesdon is served by the Worplesdon Memorial Hall, built in 1922 to recall those who died 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...
; it and the adjacent recreation grounds are managed by trustees representing the donors and the Parish Council. A caretaker lives nearby. Beside the Hall are a playground and tennis and cricket facilities. There are a large events room, a meeting room, and the Sidney Sime Memorial Gallery.
The Worplesdon and Burpham Cricket Club traces its origins to 1890, and there is also Worplesdon Phoenix FC playing in the Surrey Counties Intermediate League and Guildford and Woking Alliance League and, since 1991, Worplesdon Tennis Club, with a new Clubhouse (2005).
Worplesdon Rangers FC is another football club based in and around the parish; the club was founded in 2001 and caters for pre-reception to Under 18 age-groups playing in the Surrey Primary League. Committee meetings are held monthly at Jacobs Well Village Hall.
Worplesdon no longer has shops or banking facilities but there is the Worplesdon Place Hotel and Worplesdon railway station
Worplesdon railway station
Worplesdon railway station is near to the village of Worplesdon, Surrey, England. The station on the Portsmouth Direct Line between Woking and Guildford, 43 km south west of London Waterloo....
is located approximately a mile and a half to the north-east of the village. There are a number of heavily wooded commons, managed by Surrey Wildlife Trust, in the area, including Broadstreet & Backside Commons, Stringer’s Common, Littlefield Common and Chitty’s Common.
Education
Merrist WoodMerrist Wood
Merrist Wood is part of Guildford College of Further and Higher Education. The college is to the north of Guildford, Surrey . It specialises in horticulture, floristry, landscaping, garden design, animal care, countryside, golf, sports turf, arboriculture and equine studies. It also consists of 400...
Agricultural College stands on the hill to the west of Worplesdon encompassing a wood and pond, a plant nursery, an arboriculture training area, an equestrian center, a golf course, and a farm.
The village school, Perry Hill, closed in 1976. There is now a new school, Worplesdon Primary, in Fairlands. Worplesdon Primary School caters for 409 students from the ages of 4-11. The head teacher
Head teacher
A head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....
is Mr A Parsons.
Famous Individuals of Worplesdon
In the early 20th century, Worplesdon was home to the artist Sidney SimeSidney Sime
Sidney Sime was an English artist in the late Victorian and succeeding periods, mostly remembered for his fantastic and satirical artwork, especially his story illustrations for Irish author Lord Dunsany.-Early life:...
, best known for magazine illustration and work on the books of the prolific author Lord Dunsany.
In his later life, Frederick Courteney Selous
Frederick Selous
Frederick Courteney Selous DSO was a British explorer, officer, hunter, and conservationist, famous for his exploits in south and east of Africa. His real-life adventures inspired Sir H. Rider Haggard to create the fictional Allan Quatermain character. Selous was also a good friend of Theodore...
chronicled many of his adventures from his home in Worplesdon. Selous was a 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...
explorer, officer
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, hunter, and conservationist
Conservationist
Conservationists are proponents or advocates of conservation. They advocate for the protection of all the species in an ecosystem with a strong focus on the natural environment...
, famous for his exploits in south and east of Africa. His real-life adventures inspired Sir H. Rider Haggard
H. Rider Haggard
Sir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire...
to create the fictional Allan Quatermain
Allan Quatermain
Allan Quatermain is the protagonist of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines and its various prequels and sequels. Allan Quatermain was also the title of a book in this sequence.- History :...
character.