ALBURY
Eldeberie (xi cent.), Aldebur (xiii. cent.), Aldebury (xiv cent.), Aldbury (sometimes in xviii cent.).
Albury is a parish 5 miles east of Guildford and 7
miles west of Dorking. The parish is bounded on the
north by Merrow and West Clandon, on the west by
St. Martha's and Wonersh, on the south by Cranleigh,
on the east by Shere. A detached portion, the manor
of Wildwood, used to lie in Alfold to the south, and
detached portions of Cranleigh, Shere, and Wonersh
lay in Albury. These were transferred to the parishes
surrounding them respectively in 1882. The existing parish contains 4,405 acres of land and 14 of
water. It is 6 miles from north to south, and nowhere more than 2 miles from east to west. It is of
the typical form and soils of the parishes to the south
of the chalk ridge. The northern boundary is on the
crest of the chalk, the village is in the valley upon the
sand south of the chalk hill, but close to it, and the parish
extends across the sand on to the Atherfield clay and
Wealden clay for a short distance, to the south. There
is open common on the chalk. Southwards the extensive heaths of Blackheath and Farley Heath are
partly or wholly in the parish. The continuation of
the high ridge of Greensand, of which Leith Hill, Holmbury, and Ewhurst Hills are part, further eastward,
reaches across the southern end of the parish, but
falls away into the valley through which the Guildford and Horsham line runs, bending northward to
form its eastern side. The views here across the
Weald, and westward to Hascombe Hill and Hindhead beyond, are very beautiful. Below the escarpment of these hills part of Smithwood Common is in
Albury. But it is to the north, on the chalk, at Newlands Corner, where the old road from Shere to Guildford runs up the down, and where Albury Downs reach
600 ft. above the sea, that the most famous view in
the parish is to be seen. Its beauty consists not in
extent merely, but in the broken foreground, east and
west along the valley between the chalk and the sand.
Some very ancient yew trees mark the line of the old
road, commonly called Pilgrims' Way, along the slopes
of the downs. The ancient bridle-way over St. Martha's
Hill comes down into Albury through a deep lane.
The modern road from Guildford to Dorking traverses
the parish, and also the Redhill and Reading branch
of the South Eastern Railway. Chilworth and Albury
station is just outside the parish.
The Tillingbourne stream runs through the parish
from east to west, working two mills. It is augmented
by the water from the deep springs in the chalk which
form the Shireburn Ponds, deep pools at the foot of
the slope of the down surrounded by trees. The
upper and more picturesque is usually called the
Silent Pool. The springs which supply them are
supposed to have connexion with those which break
out on the other side of the chalk, due north, in
Clandon Park. The operations of the Woking Water
Company, who have tapped the chalk between them,
have undoubtedly led to a diminution of the supply in
the Shireburn Ponds.
Albury parish is somewhat rich in antiquities. At
Newlands Corner is a large barrow, not marked on the
Ordnance map, and neolithic flints are fairly numerous on and below the hills. The name Harrowshill
borne by part of the down may indicate an AngloSaxon holy place. But the most considerable antiquity
of the parish is on Farley Heath, near the road from
Albury to Cranleigh. The banks, with a very slight
exterior ditch forming three sides of a quadrangular
inclosure, are fairly well marked, especially to the
west. The east bank is not now visible. The inclosure is not exactly rectangular, but the north-west
angle is slightly acute, the south-west slightly obtuse.
The sides are 220 yds., and the interior space must
consequently have been 10 acres. In the middle of
this was a smaller quadrangular inclosure which Manning and Bray describe as of 22 yds. each way. This
is now not to be traced, but stone foundations are
visible where it was, and a great abundance of Roman
tiles and some pottery are easily found in the whole
inclosure. Many Roman coins were found by excavations conducted in 1839 and 1840 by the late Mr. Martin Tupper, and it is said British coins also. (fn. 1) A gold
coin of Verica found here is in private hands.
When Aubrey wrote he saw, or imagined, the ruins
of a Roman temple on the spot, and the bases of the
two pillars in the south arcade of old Albury Church
are reputed to have been brought from this place.
Further inclosing banks to the east are said to have
formerly existed. Some of the coins found here
by Mr. Tupper, and some found afterwards by
Mr. Lovell, the schoolmaster of Albury, were sent
to the British Museum. A systematic exploration,
and a classification of remains, and pending this
a cessation of the practice of taking road metal from
the surface of the common, are much to be desired.
The Roman road traced in Ewhurst parish would, if
continued, have come close by here, and went on no
doubt either to Newlands Corner or to the gap in the
hills at Guildford. This is the Old Bury which gave
its name to the parish.
The old village of Albury had grown up by the
banks of the Tillingbourne, and partly within what is
now Albury Park, around the village green, which
adjoined the churchyard; but Mr. Drummond, in
1842, finally removed it bodily half a mile to the
westward, leaving the ancient church intact, and built
a new parish church in the new village that grew up
at what formerly had been known as the hamlet of
Weston Street.
Albury Park also used to extend on to the chalk
hill above Shireburn Lane, over what is now farming
land. The road up the hill was called Old Park Pales
Lane. (fn. 2) Early in the 19th century a Maypole still
stood at the corner where Blackheath Lane joins the
west end of Weston Street.
Albury Park, the Surrey seat of the Duke of Northumberland, K.G., is famed both for the sylvan beauty
of its park and for its gardens. The magnificent trees—especially a noble avenue of old beeches, some huge
walnut trees and clumps of hawthorns—the irregular
levels of velvety turf across which stretch long vistas,
including peeps of the little Tillingbourne stream and
of the lake before the house, with its swans; the halfruined ancient church, almost hidden by its stately
cedars, and the house—make this park, though its area
is but small, one of the loveliest in Surrey. The
gardens also merit the praise bestowed on them by
William Cobbett: 'Take it altogether,' he says, 'this
certainly is the prettiest garden I ever beheld. There
was taste and sound judgment at every step in the
laying out of this place.' The famous John Evelyn,
in 1667, at the request of Thomas Howard, Earl of
Arundel and Duke of Norfolk, 'designed the plot of
the canal and garden, with a crypt through the hill.'
Although the canal has been drained, a terrace of
beautiful green sward, about a quarter of a mile in
length, remains, together with the 'crypt,' and a
wonderful yew hedge, 'or rather,' as Cobbett writes,
'a row of small yew trees, the trunks of which are
bare for about 8 or 10 ft. high, and the tops of
which form one solid head of about 10 ft. high, while
the bottom branches come out on each side of the
row about 8 ft. horizontally. This hedge or row,'
he adds, 'is a quarter of a mile long. There is a
nice, hard sand road under this species of umbrella;
and summer and winter, here is a most delightful
walk.' (fn. 3)
The Catholic Apostolic Church, close to Albury
Park, is a cruciform building, with a western tower
and an octagonal chapter-house, designed in a starved
imitation of late 15th-century architecture, and built
about 1840 by Mr. Drummond. Immediately opposite, on the south side, is a fine old timber-framed
house, with square and circle patterns in its main
gable, moulded barge-boards, projecting upper stories
and mullioned windows, recalling the design of Great
Tangley, in Wonersh parish, a few miles to the west.
This was no doubt an important house at one time.
In and around Albury are many half-timber cottages
and houses, as at Madgehole, Jelleys, Colman's Hollow, Mayor House Farm, and Shophouse Farm. (fn. 4)
Pit House is another ancient house with an old roof not
far from the site of a Roman settlement. Many years
ago there was in Albury village an important house
called Weston House after the ancient family of that
name, who held the manor for centuries. Its staircase, of Spanish mahogany, was re-erected in the
County Club at Guildford. This was at the west
end of Weston Street, and is not to be confused with
Weston House, still standing, at the east end.
Weston House, in Weston Street, is the seat of
Mr. W. W. Wright; Weston Lodge, of Colonel
Martindale; Dalton Hill, of Colonel Malthus.
Albury has had several distinguished residents.
William Oughtred, the famous mathematician of his
day, was rector from 1610 to 1660, holding the preferment through the Civil War time till he died in
possession a month after the Restoration. Samuel
Horsley, afterwards Bishop of Rochester and of
St. Asaph, was rector 1774–80. The Rev. Edward
Irving resided a good deal in the parish when the
Catholic Apostolic Church was being founded. Mr.
Martin Tupper was a resident till a few years before
his death, and composed his once-famous Proverbial
Philosophy here. The scene of his romance, Stephen
Langton, is laid in the neighbourhood, but embodies no
real local history.
MANORS
The history of ALBURY MANOR
before the Conquest is obscure. It is
quite uncertain whether the two
'mansae' in Albury, held by Chertsey before the
Conquest, and attributed (falsely) to the grant of
Frithwald of the 7th century, (fn. 5) were part of their East
Clandon Manor reaching into this parish or at one of
the two other places in Surrey called 'Aldeberie.'
D'Abernon. Azure a cheveron or.
In Domesday it appears that Azor held it of the Confessor, and it was granted after the Conquest to Richard
de Tonbridge, ancestor of the de Clares and their descendants, (fn. 6) in whom the overlordship was vested till it
lapsed in the 16th century. (fn. 7) Roger D'Abernon was
tenant under Richard, (fn. 8) and his descendants were
lords of the manor for more than five centuries. (fn. 9) In
the 13th century (fn. 10) it formed the dower of Joan widow
of Ingram D'Abernon. John
D'Abernon obtained a grant
of free warren here in 1253. (fn. 11)
The manor passed with Elizabeth daughter and co-heir of
William D'Abernon, who died
in 1359, to the Croyser family, (fn. 12) and through Elizabeth's
granddaughter Anne to Henry
Norbury. (fn. 13) From them it descended to Joan wife of Sir
Urian Brereton, (fn. 14) who conveyed it in 1550–1 to Henry
Polsted and his wife Alice in consideration of an
annuity to Joan and her heirs. (fn. 15) The manor was so
settled that after the death of Alice, who survived
her husband, it remained to Vincent, son and heir
of Edward Randall. (fn. 16) His estates descended to Sir
Edward Randall of Edlesborough, Buckinghamshire, (fn. 17)
who sold the manor in 1633–4 to John Gresham of
Fulham. (fn. 18) In 1638 John Gresham and George Duncombe conveyed it to the trustees of Thomas, Earl
of Arundel. (fn. 19) After some delay, owing to the sequestration of the earl's estates, (fn. 20) during which time
George Duncombe resumed possession and held courts,
Mr. Henry Howard paid the purchase money to the
Duncombes before 1655, (fn. 21) and acquired Albury. He
was grandson to the Earl of Arundel, and later
succeeded as Duke of Norfolk. He conveyed it to
trustees for sale in 1680. (fn. 22) It was purchased by
Heneage Finch, first Earl of Aylesford, Solicitor-General to Charles II, who presented to the church in
1691, (fn. 23) and was in possession
of the manor in the latter part
of the 17th century. (fn. 24) His
son the second earl lived at
Albury. The fourth earl sold
the manor to his brother, Captain William Clement Finch, (fn. 25)
of whom Samuel Thornton,
Governor of the Bank of England, bought it in 1800. He
made it his residence. (fn. 26) In
1811 John Thornton and his
wife Eliza sold the rent from the
manor to Charles Wall, (fn. 27) who
appears to have sold in 1819 to Henry Drummond,
M.P. for West Surrey from 1847 to 1860, an enthusiastic supporter of Irving. The 'little prophetic
parliament' which originated the Catholic Apostolic
Church met at his house at Albury, and at a later date
he built a church for the community near his park. (fn. 28)
From Henry Drummond the manor descended through
his daughter Louisa to her son the present Duke of
Northumberland. (fn. 29)
Finch, Earl of Aylesford. Argent a cheveron between three griffons passant sable.
An engraving of 1645 gives a clear idea of the
ancient house that then stood upon the site of the
present building. This shows an irregular elevation of
half-timber gables, backed by a long ridge of roof with
many chimneys, and flanked by a square-topped wing
on the right, the whole inclosed within a walled courtyard, in which is an arched gateway. This picturesque
and rambling structure, which must have had many
points of resemblance to the old house of the Evelyns
at Wotton, judging by John Evelyn's drawing of the
latter, was burnt down in Queen Anne's reign and
rebuilt by the Earl of Aylesford. Mr. Samuel Thornton, M.P., owner from 1800 to 1811, altered it again.
It was remodelled in red brick and stone by Pugin
during Mr. Drummond's ownership. Perhaps the
most interesting of its treasures is the fine collection of
old paintings formed here by Mr. Drummond, which
include a portrait of Melanchthon by Holbein, Cornelius Schall's 'Four Doctors,' and portraits of many
royal and noble personages connected with the
Northumberland family.
WESTON MANOR
WESTON MANOR, known in the 17th and 18th
centuries as Weston Gomshall, possibly to distinguish it
from the second Weston, is situated about the village
now called Albury, but formerly known as Weston
Street. It gave its name to an ancient Surrey family
who occur as lords of many manors, and now hold
West Horsley. Early in the 13th century David son of
Nicholas was dealing with land in Weston. (fn. 30) In 1254–5
John of Weston granted a messuage, mill, and a carucate of land in Weston to Thomas of Weston to held
of him and his heirs. (fn. 31) Early in the next century John
D'Abernon unjustly dispossessed Thomas of Weston
of his common of pasture in
Albury. (fn. 32) He seems to have
been succeeded by William of
Weston, who obtained licence
to hear service in the chapels
of his manors of Weston and
West Clandon. (fn. 33) In 1335
this William of Weston was in
possession. The manor was
to revert at his death to his
grandson William. (fn. 34) Margery
widow of the William Weston
of Weston and Clandon died
seised of a tenement in Albury
called Weston in 1361; (fn. 35) and John Weston of Weston
died in 1440, leaving a son who died without issue
and three daughters, of whom the one, Anne, married
Thomas Slyfield; (fn. 36) another, Joan, Thomas Pope; and
the third, Margaret, William Wells.
Weston of Weston. Sable a cheveron or between three lions' heads razed argent.
Thomas Slyfield and his son John granted the
manor to Richard Eliot, (fn. 37) whose son Richard mortgaged and finally sold it to George Holman of London. (fn. 38) He conveyed to George Duncombe of Shalford in 1610–11. (fn. 39) Sir Richard Onslow and his son
Arthur seem to have had some
claim on the manor from 1644
to 1677, (fn. 40) but it remained in
the possession of the Duncombe family, for in 1693
George Duncombe was dealing with it, (fn. 41) and his daughters Hester Woodroffe and
Anne Sturt sold it in 1724
to Abel Alleyne, (fn. 42) after whose
death it was sold to Sir Robert
Godschall. He died in 1742,
and it descended to Nicholas
Godschall. (fn. 43) His only daughter and heiress Sarah married
William Man, F.R.S., (fn. 44) who
took the name of Godschall and lived at Weston. (fn. 45)
His son, the Rev. Samuel Man Godschall, succeeded.
After his death it was sold to Henry Drummond,
then lord of Albury, (fn. 46) since when its history has been
coincident with that of Albury.
Duncombe. Party cheveronwise and engrailed gules and argent three talbors' heads razed countercoloured.
There was a second Weston Manor near the parsonage house of Albury, but lying in a detached part
of Shere parish, and called Weston in Shere. (fn. 47)
Alderbrook, the seat of Mr. Pandeli Ralli, is possibly the site of 'Aldrebrook,' sold in 1374–5 by
Roger Libbesofte and Joan his wife to Robert Brown. (fn. 48)
CHURCHES
The old church of ST. PETER and
ST. PAUL lies close to the stream,
and within a short distance of the
house of Albury Park. It is a most picturesque building, containing features of great archaeological interest.
The chancel has for many years been roofless, and
the whole building is covered with masses of ivy,
which is slowly but surely disintegrating the walls.
The church is constructed of ironstone and sandstone rubble, with dressings of Bargate stone, clunch,
and firestone, chiefly plastered. The nave roof is
partly covered with Horsham slabs, the aisle and
porch with tiles, the transept with slates, and the
tower has a domed covering of shingles and lead.
The plan is unusual in several respects, consisting
of a nave 30 ft. 9 in. by 19 ft. 4 in. with north
porch, a south aisle 13 ft. 1 in. wide and 32 ft. 6 in.
long, a tower to the east of the nave 15 ft. 6 in. by
14 ft. 2 in., a south transept opening out of the aisle
and tower 20 ft. by 15 ft. 10 in., and a chancel
26 ft. 3 in. by 14 ft. 4 in.
In origin the nave is that of the pre-Conquest
church, or at least of that mentioned in Domesday.
The character of the north-east quoin and the lofty
walls rather favours the former date, but all the original
windows and other features have
been replaced by later insertions,
so that the evidence is meagre.
The tower, between the nave and
the chancel, either stands upon
the site, or incorporates part of
the walls, of the original chancel;
probably the internal area is that
of the latter, and its walls have
been thickened in an outward direction to 3 ft. 10 in., the two
upper stages being decreased in
thickness. There is no staircase,
and the tower is now open to the
roof. The walls are plastered externally. The ground story is
lighted only by a small roundheaded window on the north side,
6 in. wide, splaying out, without a
rebate, to 2 ft. on the inside. In
the next stage is a very interesting
two-light opening in the north wall,
under a semicircular arch, having a central shaft with
scalloped capital and base, recalling those in the tower
of Cobham Church in this county. (fn. 49) This and other
features suggest a date of about 1140–50. On the
east and south sides of the middle stage are other
coupled lights, but with plain piers of masonry instead
of the little column. Above these again, in the topmost stage (which was crowned with brick battlements
about 1820), are two separate openings on each face,
large, with square heads, on the west, and small and
round-headed on the other sides. The round-headed
arches towards the nave and chancel are in firestone,
on square jambs, with chamfered and hollow-chamfered imposts, each about 9 ft. wide, and high in proportion. The eastern has a quirked roll on the angle,
with a chamfered hood-moulding having a plain sunk
zigzag or hatched pattern on its outer face. The
western arch has a similar roll-moulding with a hollow
cut set on the angle, and above it a shallow ornament
like a circular cusping, with balls at the points of the
cusps. (fn. 50) The arch to the transept from the tower is
of late 13th-century character, but it has been much
modernized.
Of the 12th-century chancel no trace remains, and
the walls of the present chancel are apparently a good
deal later. They incline markedly to the north on
plan, and the partly-destroyed windows in the north
and south walls and the gutted opening of a late
tracery window in the east wall give no certain clue
to the date, while no piscina or aumbry is now visible.
Probably the 13th-century chancel was re-modelled
in the 16th century.
Plan of Albury Church
A spacious south aisle was added to the nave about
1280, with an arcade of three pointed arches of two
chamfered orders, on octagonal columns with moulded
capitals, the eastern and western arches having a corbel
of similar section in place of a respond. (fn. 51) The bases of
the columns are evidently spoil from some more ancient
building, being circular capitals in Sussex marble,
turned upside down and mutilated to fit their new
position. These are mounted upon rough circular
plinths of Bargate stone, which may be older than
the bases themselves, the mouldings of which indicate
work of about 1200. Upon the western face of both
columns is a small shallow square-headed niche. All
the windows of the nave and aisle have been robbed
of their tracery, so that they present a very forlorn
and gaping appearance. This is the more to be
regretted, as, from the delicacy of the mouldings, they
must have been very graceful examples of early bar
tracery when perfect. They are built of a curious
mixture of chalk, or clunch, and dark red-brown ironstone. The window in the west wall of the aisle
has been altered in the 17th century, its head being
made circular. That in the west wall of the nave
was of three lights, and above it in the apex of the
gable is a plain circular opening, also devoid of tracery;
another smaller one is in the corresponding gable-end
of the aisle. The buttresses of the west and south
walls, and the wide south doorway, appear to be all of
the 1280 period. Owing to the rise in the ground
outside, there are now three steps down into the aisle.
In the eastern part of this south wall there are
indications of a blocked piscina.
Albury Old Church: The Porch
The transeptal chapel, which opens by a modern
or greatly modernized arch, with a screen in it, into
the aisle, is apparently only a little later than the
aisle. It has two buttresses at either angle, and the
setting of a large ancient window filled with modern
tracery, and in its east wall are two windows of two
lights worked in chalk, which appear to be ancient;
the sub-arches are simply pointed, and there is no
cusping in the head. Under the southern of these is
an ancient piscina. This transept, which has been
incongruously roofed with slate, was restored and
richly decorated in colour, from the designs of
Mr. Pugin, as a mortuary chapel for the Drummond
family, whose motto, 'Gang warily,' with the initial
D, is powdered on the walls, roof, and screens inside.
All the windows are filled with stained glass. Between the two eastern windows is a modern niche,
containing a carving of the Crucifixion, with our Lady
and St. John; and against the south wall, on a raised
platform, is an altar-tomb to Mr. Drummond, members of whose family are commemorated by slabs with
brass crosses in the floor below.
The roofs over the nave and aisle, much patched,
and covered with lath and plaster, are ancient. The
floors are paved with old stone slabs, and some ancient
tiles remain in the aisle.
One of the most interesting features of the building is
the beautiful timber porch on the north side of the nave.
The north doorway, to which it conducts (which retains
its original oak door and strap-hinges, oak lock-case, and
a key over a foot long), is a century and a half earlier
(c. 1330), the porch dating from about 1480. A
curious point is that it is nearly a foot longer on its
eastern side (9 ft. 6 in.) than on its western. The
openings in the sides are square-headed and delicately
moulded, (fn. 52) with a moulded cornice on the inside and
a richly traceried and carved barge-board, in which
are pierced quatrefoils with rosettes in their centres.
The wide outer opening has a flat four-centred head,
with roses in the spandrels.
This porch door—the principal entrance from the
old village—commands a view of a remarkable
painting of St. Christopher, over the opposite
door in the south wall of the aisle, which was
brought to light during some repairs a few years
ago. The details (such as the pleated shirt worn
by the saint) fix the date of the painting at
about 1480, the same as the porch. On the
east wall of the aisle is a fragment of earlier
painting, probably nearly two centuries older,
and there are traces of colour on the columns
and elsewhere. Probably the nave and arcade
walls would yield other subjects if carefully
searched.
The early font has been carried off to the
new parish church, but its base block, a great
circular drum of Bargate stone, remains close to
the western column of the arcade.
In the floor of the aisle is a slab of blue
marble, slightly tapering, 6 ft. 3 in. long by
2 ft. 1 in. at the head, with a very worn inscription, which appears to read as follows:—
Willemvm: Ternvm: de: Westone: Svscipe:
Cist (for Christe): Lvmen: Eternvm:
Qvem: Deprimit: Hic: Lapis: Iste:
From the character of the lettering, which
appears to have been filled with a black substance, this may be the tomb slab of the founder
of the western aisle or chantry towards the end
of the 13th century.
Westward of this is another marble slab in the
pavement, bearing the brass of John Weston of
Weston, who died in 1440. He is represented in
complete plate armour. Above the head is the
matrix of a shield, set diagonally, and over it
there may have been a helm and crest. It is somewhat
singular that, point for point, down to the minutest
detail, this brass agrees with that of Sir John Throckmorton, dated 1445, in Fladbury Church, Worcestershire. Each shows a small spring pin passing through
a ring, or staple, on the left side of the breastplate,
and another on the left elbow-piece—both connected
with extra defences to the left, or bridle, arm. (fn. 53) The
ground on which the feet stand is covered with
flowers. Beneath is the inscription:—Hic jacet Johis
West[on..] de West[on..] Armiger qui obijt xxiiio die:
Novembris · Anno d[omini] Mill[essim]o CCCCo xl 'cuiō
a[nimae] [propic]iet' de' amē:
There is also a small brass on the north wall, framed
into a tablet, commemorating Henry Wicks, a servant
of Queen Elizabeth, King James, and King Charles
(1657); and monuments to Elizabeth Merrye, 1652,
Edith Duncombe, daughter of John Carrill, late of
Tangley, 1628 (south wall), and others to the Duncombe, Risbridger, and other local families of the
17th and 18th centuries. These are all of good
design, according to their periods, and of rich materials; alabaster and black and white marble being
employed, and the heraldry coloured and gilt.
Of the new church all that need be said is that it is
in brick, and modelled upon the church of Than,
near Caen, in Normandy, that it is transeptal, with
an apsidal chapel, added by the late Duke of Northumberland, and has a tower at the north-west angle.
There is much stained glass, including a memorial
window to Mr. Drummond, painted by Lady Gage;
and the font, probably of early 12th-century date,
was removed here from the old church.
The registers date from 1559.
The plate includes a silver cup, paten cover, flagon,
and silver alms-bason, of 1714, the last-named inscribed:—'The gift of Heneage, Lord Guernsey
[Master of the Jewell House] to the Parish of Albury
the place of his birth, 1714.'
The bells, brought from the old church, are six in
number, and, with the exception of the treble, which
was added in 1841, they date from 1695, and bear
the name of William Eldridge.
ADVOWSON
Albury Church is mentioned in
the Domesday Survey of the manor.
The advowson was and is vested in
the lord of Albury Manor. The living was valued
at £12 in 1291, (fn. 54) and at £18 in 1535. (fn. 55)
CHARITIES
The charities are numerous; in
addition to the usual Smith's Charity,
an annuity of £1 12s., charged on
land, was left by Alice Polsted in 1586 for distribution
among the poor; the interest on £400 was left by
William Risbridger in 1754 to put poor children to
school, to be given in bread, and to provide a sermon,
with a gratuity for the poor who listened to it. The
Duncombe Charity, for the poor generally, was left in
1705 and 1712 by Olive daughter of John Child of
Guildford and widow of Henry Duncombe of Weston,
Albury, who died 1688. This was invested in land
and produces £200 a year. (fn. 56)