Shere Gomshall and Peaslake Local History Society

Due to the number of spam emails the following email is not linked. Please type into your email program

Shere, Gomshall and Peaslake Local History Society

Newsletter 2008

SHERE, GOMSHALL & PEASLAKE LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY - NEWSLETTERS 2008

How quickly the year has gone. A year ago we met Geoffrey Hutton from Netley House who brought his specialist dog, 'Lottie', a Labrador-cross, to demonstrate the art of seeking out dry rot in buildings. Acquired from the Blue Cross, Geoffrey trains his dogs in a special test chamber until ready to don a harness and get to work professionally. We saw detailed pictures of the fire at Windsor Castle & the restoration undertaken by Hutton & Rostron. They have installed hundreds of sensors throughout the castle to relay information on temperature, moisture & humidity to monitor the lengthy drying out process. Relayed to the Netley House office, problems can quickly be addressed.

In April the topic was Gomshall Tannery we convened, most appropriately, in Tanyard Hall. Colin Woolmington had worked there as a laboratory technician & had developed an extensive knowledge of tanning processes from inspection of new skins to the analysis of the effluent discharged from the factory to ensure it was clean. The local area was ideally suited to provide oak bark, chalk & water, all used to treat about 1.5 millions skins a year, 80% of which came from New Zealand. We heard that the local Tannery had a key role in Gomshall life, at one time employing over 200 people.

Journalist Extraordinaire - William Cobbett, was the title for Barbara Biddle's lecture. Born in Farnham in 1763 he became the foremost political journalist of his age and a radical, reforming politician. In 1822 he visited Shere on his famous Rural Rides. William Pitt offered him the editorship of a newspaper but Cobbett preferred to remain his own man, starting Cobbett's Political Register which sold 4,000 copies weekly, continuing until his death in 1835. He helped to start Hansard, the official report of the House of Commons. He championed the rights of the labouring classes and strenuously fought corruption in politics.

The Lovelace Bridges are the focus of the Horsley Countryside Preservation Trust. The group, formed in 2002, meticulously records & then carefully attempts to restore these splendid Grade II listed masonry structures. William, Earl of Lovelace (1805-93) was a keen forester and architect, building up the estate to 10,000 acres. The 15 horseshoe-shaped bridges had name plaques, with titles such as Falcon, Hermitage, Robin Hood, Raven and Troy. Restoration is costly with limited grants. Volunteer help is welcomed.

Going south in July, we welcomed Janet Balchin, long term resident and author of Ewhurst - Houses & People. Her second book and 10 years in the writing, it is a beautiful, informative and detailed work. Ewhurst is a long narrow Parish stretching from Pitch Hill to Ellens Green & no more than 2 miles wide. It has many splendid houses whose owners were attracted by the views and wildness. Summerfold, built in 1911 by the 5th Duke of Sutherland, was visited by Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor. Coneyhurst-on-the-Hill, designed by Philip Webb, is an important Arts and Crafts house. Woolpits, Coverwood, Wykehurst, Rumbeams Farms, Baynards. Great history emanating from so many great houses.

Guildford's Lost Railway by Howard Mallinson was an intriguing tale involving low UK land prices (in the 1880's), Lord Onslow trying to sell 2,000 acres for a new railway, London South Western Region resisting, Queen Victoria objecting to noise close to Claremont, and a final parliamentary compromise with Lord Onslow the winner with a station at Clandon (and £50,000) and Cobham the loser, with no station in the village.

Stephen Furniss made a welcome return presenting The Victorian Attitude to Death. For years he has been collecting funereal items including exquisite black crepe clothing, china, jet, hair jewellery, cards, funeral bills and memorial inscriptions. We heard how in the early 1800's major city populations doubled and the overcrowding and disease caused mortality rates to rise dramatically . Parish churchyards became overcrowded with paupers buried 18 to a grave, coffins sold for firewood, lead stolen and bodies sold to surgeons. The new Victorian middle classes demanded new places to bury their relatives & in the style and solemnity befitting the wealth & importance of the deceased.

Our outing was an appropriate location after Stephen's lecture - Highgate Cemetery and Kenwood House. A full coach party arrived on time & were guided in 2 groups around the extraordinary, amazing, overgrown, mystical, imposing and utterly fascinating closed southern cemetery. Open by appointment to groups, where new burials do continue, the area is so dangerous that guides must take a torch & keep in radio contact. The Egyptian tombs surrounding the magnificent cedar tree, Frederick Warne's headstone, the founder of Crufts - just a few of the famous people interred there. The northern cemetery has the famous statue of Karl Marx, visited by thousands.

In November it was the turn of Andy Thompson who spoke on Images of War. Last year was the 90th anniversary of the formation of the War Graves Commission. Andy, a retired headteacher, has accumulated great knowledge on the 1914-18 battlefields in France and Belgium and leads visits by schoolchildren and other groups. We saw work by the 3 architects who established the monuments such as the Menin Gate at Ypres and Tyne Cot, two of the 21,000 sites in 150 countries managed by the Commission.

And in February we had an excellent presentation by David Taylor on Cobham Park - An Estate for all Seasons, a review of which will be in the March Parish magazine.

Our grateful thanks go to Alice Noyes who continues to run our website so efficiently. This brings many enquiries and book sales. Ann Noyes and David Hicks continue to work on Gomshall's history as part of the Surrey Villages Project. Thanks are also due to Susan Pears who manages the book stock so well. We also finally completed the recording of the lower graveyard of St. James'. A copy of the list of headstones and inscriptions is readily available to visitors in the church & Shere Museum.

We have another cracking list of speakers and subjects planned with the possible highlight being the visit of the Keeper of the Palace Clocks, which coincides with the 150th anniversary of Big Ben's construction. Do please join us again. We look forward to seeing you at the AGM.