Horsell
| Horsell | |
| Surrey | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | |
| Location: | 51°19’43"N, -0°33’42"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Woking |
| Postcode: | GU21 |
| Dialling code: | 01483 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Woking |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Woking |
Horsell is an ancient village in Surrey near to the more modern 19th-century Woking. It was dragged unwillingly to worldwide fame by H G Wells in his book The War of the Worlds: Wells lived in Horsell at the time and he placed the book's narrator here too. The common was the landing site in the book of the first Martian transport vessel.
Horsell is the home of the McLaren F1 headquarters.
It is also the home of Woking and Horsell Cricket Club, whose members have included Alec and Eric Bedser, the twins who played cricket for England.
Numerous 500-plus-year-old buildings are still to be seen, and the village still very much retains its own atmosphere amid much commonland and greenery.
Horsell was originally planned to have a railway station, although the plan was refused and the station was built in Woking instead. Horsell was allowed to remain a quiet village.
Parish church
The parish church is St Mary the Virgin, which dates back to the middle of the 12th century, and still retains the original doors. The church has strong links with one of the village's junior schools.
Horsell Common
Horsell's main attractions are the green and Horsell Common. The Common is a wild, wooded green space. While the War of the Worlds was a fantasy, war did once come to this peaceful spot; a bomb crater is still visible. There was a Home Guard base on the Common too, though this has long since disappeared. It has a sandpit with a large pond, an open field where many model aeroplane flyers fly their aeroplanes and extends to the grounds of Maclaren. The Common has many different species of wildlife and plants.
The Common is popular with dog walkers, model-aircraft flyers, children and artists.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Horsell) |