Shalford, Surrey
Shalford is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England on the A281 Horsham road immediately south of Guildford. It has a railway station which is between Guildford and Dorking on the Reading to Gatwick Airport line.
For other places with this same name, see Shalford (disambiguation).
It has one named locality, occupying the west of the area, Peasmarsh.
Shalford's village sign was designed by Christopher Webb and W H Randall Blacking in 1922, as part of a competition run by the Daily Mail. It shows Saint Christopher carrying the Christ Child over a shallow ford.[2]
Geography[edit]
The River Tillingbourne joins the River Wey at Shalford adjacent to the parish church. For centuries, the river provided an important source of income for the village with various local industries, such the manufacture of gunpowder, utilising it as a source of power. Cranleigh Waters joins the Wey at the northern terminus of the Wey and Arun Canal. Shalford was a landing place for barges, and continues to be visited by boats today – but for pleasure rather than trade.
The surviving mill is now preserved as a tourist attraction: Shalford Mill, a Grade II* listed building,[7] situated in the centre of the village opposite the Sea Horse public house, was built in the 18th century[8] and is now owned by the National Trust.
Notable residents[edit]
Some claim that the author of The Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan, once lived in hiding in a cottage called Horn Hatch on Shalford Common[9] and drew his inspiration from the fair held on the common and from the ancient route known as the Pilgrims' Way, which passes nearby, on its way to Canterbury.
Lt.Col. Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen (1834–1923), topographer, geologist, naturalist and explorer who surveyed the Himalayan region, including K2, sometimes known as Mt. Godwin-Austen, for a time had an estate in Shalford.
A watercolour sketch titled 'In Captain Pierrepont's Grounds' was painted by Anthony Devis (1729–1817) not long after Captain William Pierrepont of HMS Naiad acquired Shalford Manor in 1800.
Brigadier George Roupell, a Victoria Cross recipient, died in Shalford in 1974.
The Genesis singer/drummer Phil Collins had a home in Shalford named Old Croft, where he wrote music which would end up on his first solo album Face Value, and also the Genesis album, Duke.[10]
Localities[edit]
Peasmarsh[edit]
The settlement of Peasmarsh on the left bank of the river Wey between Artington and Godalming is contained in the parish. It consists of a retirement home; Astolat and Weyvern business parks; and four short residential roads close to the River Wey Navigation including Tilthams Green. A woodland surrounding the rebuilt manor house, being higher up than most of the reclaimed marshland, is named Peas Marsh. A barn at Littlemarsh Farm, one at Tilthams Farm and Tilthams farmhouse are grade II listed.[11][12][13] There is a C of E church; St Michael's. The water meadows form the Wey Valley SSSI.[14]