Katana VentraIP

Hindhead

Hindhead is a village in the Waverley district of the ceremonial county of Surrey, England. It is the highest village in the county and its buildings are between 185 metres (607 ft) and 253 metres (830 ft) above sea level. The village forms part of the Haslemere parish.[4] Situated on the county border with Hampshire, it is best known as the location of the Devil's Punch Bowl, a beauty spot and site of special scientific interest.

Hindhead

3,874 [1][2]
4,292 (2011 Census. Ward)[3]

SU886360

England

United Kingdom

Hindhead

GU26

01428

Surrey

Surrey

South East Coast

The A3 between Portsmouth and London was crossed by the A287 between Hook and Haslemere. The A3 now passes under Hindhead in the Hindhead Tunnel and its route along the Punch Bowl has been removed and landscaped, but the crossroads still exists for local traffic, as a double mini-roundabout.[5] Hindhead is 11 miles (18 km) south-west of Guildford and on the border with Hampshire. It is a ward in the district of Waverley, and part of the civil parish of Haslemere. The ward, which includes Beacon Hill, had a population of 4,292 at the 2011 Census.[3] The name "Hindhead" is first attested in 1571, and means "hill frequented by hinds", or female deer.[6]

Geography[edit]

Land use, elevations and soil types[edit]

The settled parts of the village are elevated relative to all of the surrounding parishes and are a mixture of paved streets and wooded roads as well as agricultural smallholdings, which are few compared with other parts of Waverley District. Hindhead has the 2nd and 13th highest hills in Surrey: Gibbet Hill and Hatch Farm Hill, at 272 metres (892 ft) and 211 metres (692 ft) above sea level respectively.[7] These rise gradually from the rest of the village towards the north of the Greensand Ridge, upon which the village wholly lies. The soil is near its surface a sort of crumbly sandstone here known as greensand which breaks up forest into acidic heathland in many places. It supports endemic types of fungi, ferns, gorse and heather.[8]

Features[edit]

The north of the village forms the Devil's Punch Bowl, a large wooded beauty spot and a site of special scientific interest. Much of the north and east of the village is rolling woodland which forms part of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

(1848–1899), the Canadian-born novelist, lived at "Hilltop". Conan Doyle was one of Allen's neighbours and became his friend; he completed Allen's novel Hilda Wade after Allen's death.[13]

Grant Allen

(1931–2020), professional golfer and commentator, lived in Hindhead.[14]

Peter Alliss

lived at "Undershaw" from 1897 to 1907. Here he wrote some of his best-known novels, including The Hound of the Baskervilles. Undershaw later became a hotel and restaurant, but this closed in 2004 and the property is now a school.[15] Conan Doyle was Hindhead Golf Club's first President in 1904.[16]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

built and lived at West Down, donating land to the National Trust which now features Miss James' Walk and the Miss James footbridge over the A3 road.[17]

Miss James

Sir Bernard Montgomery (1887–1976) took the title of "Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, of Hindhead in the County of Surrey" when he was raised to the peerage in 1946.[18]

Field Marshal

Playwright lived at "Blen Cathra" in Hindhead, now the site of St Edmund's School.[19]

George Bernard Shaw

Diplomat and writer was born at the parsonage in Hindhead.[20]

Humphrey Trevelyan

The scientist (1820–1893) lived and died at "Tyndalls", now known as "Hindhead House". He is best known for his work on the discovery of the greenhouse effect.[21]

John Tyndall

Government[edit]

For the purposes of local government, Hindhead is within the civil parish of Haslemere, the district of Waverley and the county of Surrey. Hindhead forms a ward for elections to Haslemere Town Council and Waverley Borough Council, and is part of the Waverley Western Villages electoral division for Surrey County Council elections. The ward elects a single county councillor, two district councillors and five town councillors.[22][23][24][25]


Hindhead is within the UK constituency of South West Surrey and was in the European constituency of South East England.[22]

List of places of worship in Waverley (borough)

Highways Agency A3 Hindhead improvement

— documenting 66 authors who lived in and around Hindhead at the end of the Victorian era

Hilltop Writers, a Victorian Colony among the Surrey Hills

Hindhead Together: A Joint Advisory Committee for the Redevelopment of Hindhead