Ash, Surrey
| Ash | |
| Surrey | |
|---|---|
 Ash Post Office | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU890506 |
| Location: | 51°14’55"N, -0°43’29"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 17,549 (2001) |
| Post town: | Guildford |
| Postcode: | GU12 |
| Dialling code: | 01252 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Guildford |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Surrey Heath |
Ash is a village in Surrey, in the west of the county in the Blackwater Valley. It is one of the half-conurbated towns of that valley, on the Surrey side of the river, opposite Aldershot in Hampshire.
Ash Vale is a newly developed town stretching in a ribbon north of Ash along the east side of the valley. Ash Green is a village to the southeast.
Ash is partly in Godley Hundred and partly in the Woking Hundred.
About the village
The southern part of the parish, including St. Peter's Church and Ash village, is on the London Clay; but the greater portion, once reaching toward Frimley, covers the western side of the ridge of Bagshot Sands, which is divided from Chobham Ridges by the dip through which the Basingstoke Canal and railway run, and is known as Ash Common, Fox Hills and Claygate Common. Much of the common land to the east of Ash is used by the Ministry of Defence.
Ash Green
- Main article: Ash Green
Ash Green is the hamlet closer to the Hog's Back along which the east-west A31 road. Here are broad farms and the Whitegate Copse. It is a green buffer on all sides.
History
Of prehistoric artefacts a few neolithic implements, in the Surrey Archaeological Society's Museum at Guildford, have been recorded.
There is no mention of a mill here in Domesday Book, but it is certain that a mill existed at Ash from comparatively early times, for in 1322 the Abbot of Chertsey ordered a new windmill to be built at Ash. Windmills were comparatively new in England then, and it may have been in place of a small water-mill of earlier date. There seems no later record of it.
The two manors existed. Ash (Esche, 7th C; Asshe, Assche, 14th C.) and Henley (which gives a name to Henley Heath). The Domesday Book records that "Azor granted [part of Henley known as Ash] for his soul to Chertsey in the time of King William. Chertsey Abbey held Ash until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1537 and it passed to Winchester College. The manor of Henley (Henle, (14th cent.) and Suth henle and Henle on the Heth) had a number of prominent lords. The de Molyns were recorded to enjoy an unusual right:
whose right unusually had included the right of erecting gallows on the soil of the manor, and of passing judgement on malefactors apprehended there
The crown held the manor of Henley from Edward I to Charles I, after which it passed through a number of private hands until bought by John Halsey in the eighteenth century.
Parish church
The parish church is dedicated to St Peter.
Ash became a parish under Gilbert's Act. In 1848 it included Frimley (a chapelry) and Normandy tything and together at that time had 2,236 inhabitants.
Geology
The parish is intersected by the Basingstoke Canal and a branch of the South Western Main Line and comprised. Much of the wider parish is common or waste, comprising wet lowland heath. A type of sandstone, dug from the common, was used for building for centuries.
[Locally] pebbles are found, susceptible of a bright polish, which are commonly called Bagshot diamonds. The village is long and scattered, and situated in a dreary part of the country: south-eastward of it is Henley Park, which, being on an eminence, forms a beautiful contrast with the wild heath around. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books [for land tax liability] at £15. 18. 11½.; net income, £473; patrons, the Warden and Fellows of Winchester College. The church [before] the dissolution of monasteries, was attached to the abbey of Chertsey. There is a chapel at Frimley. Dr. Young is said to have written a portion of the Night Thoughts at the rectory-house, then the residence of Dr. Harris, who married a sister of the poet, and was incumbent from 1718 to 1759.[1]
Wyke near Worplesdon was added to the parish in 1880.
Significant homes and listed buildings
In 1911, Henley Park, Normandy Park (of P G Henriques JP) and Westwood House (of Lieut.-Colonel Coussmaker) were recorded as significant historic homes. The following are listed buildings:
- St Peter's Church - Grade II* [2]
- Azar Place - Grade II [3]
- Tudor House - Grade II [4]
- Ashe Grange - Grade II [5]
- Oast house, Stable, Barn south of Ash Manor House - Grade II [6] [7]
- York House - Grade II [8]
- Hartshorn - Grade II [9]
- 92 Ash Street - Grade II [10]
- Ashmead House - Grade II [11]
- Merryworth - Grade II [12]
- Ash Manor / Old Manor Cottage - Grade II [13]
- The Post Office - Grade II [14]
- Memorial Chapel- Grade II [15]
Sport
- Football: Ash United is the local football club
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Ash, Surrey) |
- Ash Residents Association
- Ash Parish Council
- Old photos
- Ash War Memorial Rolls of Honour:
- Stained Glass Windows:
References
- ↑ Arvans, St – Ashburton: Samuel Lewis – A Topographical Dictionary of England, 1848
- ↑ St Peter's ChurchNational Heritage List 1029647: Ash, Surrey with the Parker Chest Tomb
- ↑ Azar PlaceNational Heritage List 1029648: Ash, Surrey
- ↑ Tudor HouseNational Heritage List 1029649: Ash, Surrey
- ↑ Ashe GrangeNational Heritage List 1029650: Ash, Surrey
- ↑ Oast House, StableNational Heritage List 1029651: Ash, Surrey
- ↑ BarnNational Heritage List 1029652: Ash, Surrey
- ↑ York HouseNational Heritage List 1029653: Ash, Surrey
- ↑ HartshornNational Heritage List 1188299: Ash, Surrey
- ↑ 92 Ash StreetNational Heritage List 1188315: Ash, Surrey
- ↑ Ashmead HouseNational Heritage List 1188335: Ash, Surrey
- ↑ MerryworthNational Heritage List 1188338: Ash, Surrey
- ↑ Ash Manor / Old Manor CottageNational Heritage List 1294794: Ash, Surrey
- ↑ The Post Office National Heritage List 1294827: Ash, Surrey
- ↑ Memorial ChapelNational Heritage List 1390713: Ash, Surrey
- Jenkinson, S. (1990). Ash and Ash Vale - A Pictorial History, Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN 0-85033-773-9