Fernhurst
| Fernhurst | |
| Sussex | |
|---|---|
 The Green and Red Lion | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU896284 |
| Location: | 51°2’56"N, -0°43’23"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 2,942 (2011) |
| Post town: | Haslemere |
| Postcode: | GU27 |
| Dialling code: | 01428 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Chichester |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Chichester |
Fernhurst is a village in the north of Sussex, on the A286 Milford, Surrey, to Chichester road, three miles south of Haslemere.
The parish church, St Margaret's was built around 1100. It and the village pub, the Red Lion,are on the green, where several old houses still remain.
The wider parish includes such hamlets as Henley Common, Kingsley Green and Bell Vale. The 2011 census recorded a parish population of 2,942.
The village is surrounded by hills, including Telegraph Hill at 676 feet, Marley Heights at 700 feet, Bexley Hill at 600 feet, Fridays Hill at 675 feet and the highest hill in Sussex, Blackdown at 919 feet, to the northeast. Fernhurst is surrounded by miles of footpaths, the path to the summit of Blackdown commencing at the Red Lion pub.
St Margaret's Church
The parish church, St Margaret, was rebuilt in the nineteenth century, the south aisle in 1859 and the tower and spire as part of a general restoration by Anthony Salvin in 1881. The interior is plain.[1]
History
The village, on the Weald, originally developed around crossroads (The Cross) and the village green, and ancient remains (Stone Age and Roman) have been found here. Iron working took place in the 17th/18th centuries;[2][3] and a turnpike ran through the village.
With the coming of the railway to Haslemere, the village developed around and beyond The Cross, and since the 1960s the village has expanded further westwards. The village houses a commuter population, attracted by the proximity of Haslemere railway station.
May Revels
Every May the traditional "Revels" fete is held on the green, raising funds for village societies and some local charities. The event includes various local May-time celebrations, such as maypole dancing, and the May queen is elected from the local area. In May 2006 a film of the village for the Meridian ITV programme "Village voices" was filmed involving the revels and local craftsmen.[4] It was screened on 15 August 2006.
Verdley estate
About a mile south east of the village lies the Verdley estate. Verdley Castle, probably a 14th-century fortified manor house, or hunting tower, now demolished, lay in present-day Henley Wood. Its concealed wooded location in a hollow afforded protection for smugglers bringing goods from the south coast.[5]
Closer to the village, Verdley Place was built by architect Anthony Salvin in 1873–5, as a country house for Charles Savile Roundell.[6] Baron Davey was living here with his wife, three daughters and a son at the time of the 1891 census. This building and the surrounding estate was the home of Imperial Chemical Industries' Plant Protection Division and its predecessors from 1945 at the Fernhurst Research Station and subsequently a Zeneca research and development centre.[7] It has since been sold and converted to a residential development.[8]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Fernhurst) |
- The Fernhurst Society includes a history of the village
- Deeds relating to Fernhurst at the National Archives
- Information on Fernhurst from GENUKI
References
- ↑ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Sussex, 1965 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09677-4page 220
- ↑ Pearce, H (2012). Hammer and Furnace Ponds – Relics of the Wealden Iron Industry. Lewes: Pomegranate Press. pp. 46, 48. ISBN 978-1-907242-15-1.
- ↑ "History: Furnhurst Furnace also known as North Park Furnace, Linchmere.". http://www.fernhurstfurnace.co.uk/?page_id=23.
- ↑ "Fernhurst Furnace Preservation Group". Fernhurst Society. May 2006. http://www.fernhurstsociety.org.uk/assets/Furnace_FFPG_newsletter01.pdf.
- ↑ Tollemache Roundell, Julia Anne Elizabeth (1884). Cowdray: the history of a great English house. London: Bickers & Son. p. 154. https://archive.org/stream/cowdrayhistoryof00roun#page/n193/mode/2up.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1274920: Verdley Place (Grade II listing)
- ↑ "Fernhurst History". The Fernhurst Society. 1 July 2000. http://www.fernhurstsociety.org.uk/parishhistory.html.
- ↑ "Fernhurst archives". The Fernhurst Society. http://www.fernhurstsociety.org.uk/archives.html.
- 'Voices of Fernhurst' (The Fernhurst Society, 2006)