Compton, Surrey
| Compton | |
| Surrey | |
|---|---|
 The Withies Inn | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU958468 |
| Location: | 51°12’50"N, -0°37’53"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Guildford |
| Postcode: | GU3 |
| Dialling code: | 01483 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Guildford |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Guildford |
Compton is a village in Surrey, found in the hills south of the Hog's Back southwest of Guildford and north of Godalming. Compton lies off the A3 and is crossed by the North Downs Way.
Within the village is the Watts Mortuary Chapel, built to the memory of the symbolist painter George Frederic Watts, a resident of the village.
History
Building material reused in the tower of the parish church, St Nicholas', suggest that the area was settled during the period of Roman occupation of Britain, and indeed the site of a Roman villa has been found a little north of Compton.
Compton appears in Domesday Book of as Conton(e). It was held by Walter, son of Othere. Its assets were: 11 hides; 1 church, 9 ploughs, 7 acres of meadow. It rendered £9.[1]
St Nicholas' Church contains one of the oldest surviving carved Norman screens. The basic structure, including the tower, is Anglo-Saxon but it has been much altered over the centuries. For example, the influence of the Normans can be seen in the arches, the timber roofing (thought to have been built in 1165) and the unique carved wooden screen in the chancel. Other features were added in the generations that followed, such as the spire (14th century), the pulpit and the clock (17th century).
On the outskirts of Compton is the 16th century stately home Loseley Park. The Great Hall contains panelling taken from Henry VIII's palace at Nonsuch Park, which stood at Cheam until its demolition in the seventeenth century.
The Withies Inn is one of the oldest buildings in the village. Just off the main road, it was built in the 16th century.
Art and literature
Compton Potters' Arts Guild
The Compton Potters' Arts Guild was formed in 1899 by Mary Fraser-Tytler (who later married George Watts). Initially the Guild used a source of local clay discovered during the building of Limnerslease. It continued until 1954.
Artist and historian Mary Wondrausch lives and works in the parish[2] at the site of a former brickworks.
George Frederic Watts
One of Compton’s best known residents was the painter George Frederic Watts who lived at a house called "Limnerslease", close to which the Watts Gallery, dedicated to his work, was built. The gallery is open to visitors. After his death, Watts Mortuary Chapel and cloister designed by his wife Mary Seton Watts were built on a hill overlooking the village.
The Huxleys
Leonard Huxley, schoolmaster and writer, was buried in Compton; the son of Thomas Henry Huxley, an eminent biologist, he wrote biographies of his father and other figures of the revolution in biology in which he worked. (Thomas Huxley was a tutor at the Royal College of Science to HG Wells, and is mentioned in his novel The Island of Doctor Moreau.) Leonard Huxley's son was the author Aldous Huxley, whose work began to eclipse his grandfather's student and after his death, Aldous Huxley's ashes were brought from America and on 27 October 1971 were interred in his parents' grave in Compton.
References
- ↑ Surrey Domesday Book
- ↑ Brickfields : My Life at Brickfields As a Potter, Painter, Gardener, Writer and Cook (2004) Wondrausch, Mary ISBN 0-9548237-0-2
Sources
- Forster, David. (2001). AA 50 Walks in Surrey.