SHALFORD
Scaldefor (xi cent.); Scaudeford (xiii cent.);
Shaldeford (xiv cent.); Shalforde (xvi cent).
The parish of Shalford lies south-east of Guildford.
It is intersected by the River Wey from south to
north, and the Tillingbourne running east and west
joins the Wey close to the village. It is bounded on
the north by St. Mary's and Holy Trinity parishes,
Guildford, and by Stoke; on the east by Chilworth;
on the south-east by Wonersh; on the south by Bramley; on the south-west by Godalming; on the west
by St. Nicholas Guildford. The parish contains
about 2,560 acres. It is 6 miles long from north to
south, 2 miles broad, generally, with a narrow tongue
running out further to the west.
The soil is chiefly the Lower Greensand, with an
outcrop of Gault, and also of Wealden Clay at Shalford Park. But like all the parishes on the southern
side of the chalk range the northern boundary extends on to the chalk down, where a suburb of
Guildford, called Warwick's Bench, is in Shalford
parish, not included in Guildford Borough.
Shalford Common is a stretch of open grass extending from near Tangley Manor in Wonersh to the
Wey. Trunley Common and Gosden Common are
almost touching it to the south-west of the parish,
and part of Peasemarsh Common is in Shalford to
the west. From near Shalford village towards
St. Martha's Hill, the Chantry Woods, so named
from part of them having formed the endowment of
the Norbrigge Chantry in Trinity Church, Guildford,
are a wooded ridge on the highest part of the Greensand. Half the parish is open common or wood.
The old Common Fields, finally inclosed in 1803,
lay between Shalford village and Guildford, on the
east side of the road. On the west side is Shalford
Park. This road intersects the parish, and divides on
Shalford Common, leading south to Horsham, east to
Dorking.
The parish is also intersected by the Red Hill and
Reading Branch of the South Eastern Railway. Shalford Station was opened in 1849. The London
Brighton and South Coast and London and South
Western Railways intersect the parish, but there are no
stations upon them. The canal, made in 1813, connecting the Wey and the Arun, left the former river
in Shalford parish. It became unnavigable about 1870,
and is now quite abandoned.
There is a brewery at Broadford on the Wey. At
Summersbury there is a tannery, which has been established over a century. (fn. 1) Cloth-making was carried on
at Shalford in the 17th century. (fn. 2) There are chalk
pits and lime kilns on the slope of the downs, in the
northern part of the parish.
In 1086 there were three mills at Shalford. (fn. 3) One
water-mill only is mentioned in an extent of East
Shalford in 1332. (fn. 4) When the manor was divided
the lords of each moiety had half the mill. In 1547
Christopher More of Loseley held the mill, which
had recently belonged to Robert Wintershull. (fn. 5) This
is Pratt's mill now existing on the Tillingbourne.
The other two mills seem to have been upon the
River Wey, near Unstead, and near the weir above
St. Catherine's lock (fn. 6) respectively, being referred to in
a lawsuit in 1379 between the inhabitants of Shalford
and Robert de Chisenhale, &c. (fn. 7)
A cottage near the old way from St. Catherine's
Ferry to St. Martha's Hill, isolated from the village
by the old Common Fields, is traditionally called the
Pest House. It is usually known now as Cyder House
Cottage. In the last house of the parish on the lefthand side of Quarry Hill on the road into Guildford,
John Bunyan is said to have held a meeting.
Neolithic implements and a few Roman coins have
been found near East Shalford Manor House, (fn. 8) and
palaeolithic implements have been found between the
Chantry Woods and the chalk down.
Opposite the church is an old house called Dibnersh, the residence of the Misses Morris. It
formerly belonged to the Duncombe family (see Albury and Ockley), and was sold to Mr. Robert
Austen in 1755.
Bradstone Brook is the seat of Mr. J. H. Renton;
it was built in 1791 by Mr. Thomas Gibson.
Gosden House, the property of Mr. F. E. Eastwood,
is the residence of Mr. S. Christopherson. A considerable number of small gentlemen's houses have
been built in the parish, and a large residential suburb
of Guildford is springing up about Pewley Hill in
Shalford.
There is a Wesleyan chapel on Shalford Common,
originally established in 1843. A new building was
erected in 1895. Near the eastern border of the
parish is a small iron church where services are held,
and another on the borders of Peasemarsh.
The cemetery was opened in 1886. The Village
Hall, presented by Mr. Edward Ellis of Summersbury in 1886, is near the station. It contains a
refreshment room, meeting room, and reading room.
The school was built as a Church of England
school in 1855. In 1881 it was transferred to a
school board, and the buildings were enlarged in
1882.
Shalford is one of the prettiest and most charmingly situated villages in Surrey, lying as it does in
the midst of water meadows, with tall poplars and
other fine trees, between the River Wey and its tributary the Tillingbourne. The village consists of a
winding street of picturesque old cottages, with a few
others straggling up side lanes and down to the water.
The Seahorse Inn is a pleasant old-world hostelry
with square-leaded panes to the windows. Many of
the cottages appear to have been smartened up as to
their fronts in the beginning of the 19th century,
but the backs and interiors show them to be really
old. A short lane leads down to the little watermill, tile-hung almost to the ground, and having a
large projecting upper story carried on wooden pillars.
It is probable that its proximity to Guild
ford made Shalford a favourite country retreat, and
that this accounts for there being several houses of
some pretension. Among others, near to the mill, is
one which as it does not face the road is easily overlooked. It has a gable of stone with very ornamental
brick dressings, and this and the other gables, which
are curved and pedimental, bear a close resemblance
to the early examples of brickwork in Godalming,
Guildford, Farnham, &c., and both inside and out it
has many points in common with the old manorhouse of Slyfield, in Great Bookham parish.
This house, called Old House, but formerly Mill
House, has some good mullioned windows with lead
glazing, in square and diamond panes, and a good
door-head. It is panelled in nearly all the rooms, and
there is a particularly fine staircase, very like that at
Slyfield, with rusticated newels, and instead of balusters pierced arabesque scroll-work cut out of the solid.
As a relic of the past, the stocks and whipping-post,
shaded by the yew tree under the churchyard wall,
are of interest.
MANORS
The manor of SHALFORD or EAST
SHALFORD
(fn. 9) was held jointly by two
brothers in the time of Edward the
Confessor. (fn. 10) In 1087 it was held by Robert (possibly
de Wateville) of Richard de
Tonbridge. (fn. 11) The latter was
the ancestor of the de Clares,
and the manor continued to
be held of the honour of
Clare. (fn. 12) It is probable that
the de Watevilles were the
under-tenants until the reign
of Henry II, when Robert de
Wateville is said to have sold
the manor to Robert de Dunstanville. (fn. 13) Walter de Dunstanville gave the manor with
his sister Alice in marriage, but repossessed himself
of it, whereupon Gilbert Bassett, son of Alice, obtained a confirmation of his rights from King John. (fn. 14)
Richard de Camvill and his wife Eustacea (daughter
and heiress of Gilbert Bassett) are said to have had
the custody of Shalford during the minority of the
heir of Walter de Dunstanville. (fn. 15) Richard's daughter
Idonea married William Longespée son of the Earl of
Salisbury, (fn. 16) and with him seems to have retained the
manor (fn. 17) in spite of continued suits by a certain
Sibyl. (fn. 18) Finally, William Longespée granted the manor
to John son of Geoffrey, Earl of Essex. (fn. 19) His son
John died seised of it, leaving a brother and heir
Richard, (fn. 20) whose widow Emma, afterwards wife of
Robert de Montalt, (fn. 21) held it in dower. (fn. 22) She conveyed
her right in it to Hugh le Despenser the younger, to
whom Idonea Crumbwell, one of the heirs of Isabel
sister and co-heir of Richard son of John, (fn. 23) also released
her claim in that moiety of the manor which should
have descended to her at the death of Emma de
Montalt, (fn. 24) this conveyance being forced on her
against her will. (fn. 25) Robert, Lord Clifford, the other coheir of Isabel, (fn. 26) made no quitclaim to the Despensers.
Therefore when, at the forfeiture of the latter's estates,
Shalford was taken into the king's hands, (fn. 27) this
moiety remained with Robert Clifford and became
the manor of Shalford Clifford. (fn. 28)
Clare. Or three cheverons gules.
Longespée. Azure six lioncels or.
Despenser. Argent quartered with gules fretty or with a bend sable over all.
SHALFORD CLIFFORD
SHALFORD CLIFFORD was settled by Robert,
Lord Clifford, on his youngest son Thomas for life. (fn. 29)
In 1373 Sir Roger Clifford, kt., second son, but ultimately heir, of Robert, conveyed the reversion at his
brother's death to his own son Thomas and his
wife Elizabeth, (fn. 30) who survived her husband. (fn. 31)
Their grandson and heir, Thomas, Lord Clifford,
was killed at St. Albans in 1455, leaving a son
and heir John, Lord Clifford, who was killed at
Ferrybridge and attainted in 1461. (fn. 32) His lands were
granted to an usher of Edward IV, Nicholas Gaynesford, (fn. 33) who was himself attainted at the accession of
Richard III. (fn. 34) The manor was granted by that
king to Sir John Neville. (fn. 35) On the accession of
Henry VII it was restored to Henry, Lord Clifford,
'the shepherd lord,' with the other possessions of his
father, John, Lord Clifford. (fn. 36) His grandson Henry,
second Earl of Cumberland, sold Shalford to Sir
Anthony Browne in January 1543–4. (fn. 37) Sir Anthony
had inherited Shalford Bradestan, the other moiety of
the original manor. Thus the two moieties were reunited and descended to Sir Anthony's son, who was
created Viscount Montagu in 1554. (fn. 38) Francis,
third viscount, sold the manor to Sir John Nicholas
in 1677. (fn. 39) In 1733 the executors of Edward Nicholas,
his son, who died in 1726, sold the manor to Thomas,
Lord Onslow, (fn. 40) in whose family it has since remained,
the present owner being William Hillier, Earl of
Onslow.
Clifford, Earl of Cumberland. Checky or and azure a fesse gules.
Browne, Viscount Montagu. Sable three lions passant bendways between double cotises argent.
When the manor was taken into the king's hands
in 1333 (vide supra) the custody of SHALFORD
BRADESTAN, the second moiety of Shalford, was
granted successively to William
Hatton, Henry Hussey, and
Thomas de Ponings. (fn. 41) The
last held it for life. At his
death it was granted in tail to
Sir Thomas de Bradestan,
from whom it obtained the
name of Shalford Bradestan.
He was succeeded in 1360
by his grandson and heir
Thomas, (fn. 42) who died a minor
in 1374, leaving an infant
daughter Elizabeth, (fn. 43) who married Walter de la Pole. (fn. 44) He
died seised of Shalford Bradestan in right of his wife in
1434. (fn. 45) Their grandson Sir Edmund Ingaldesthorp,
kt., inherited the manor. (fn. 46) At his death in 1456
his widow Joan held the manor in dower, her husband's heirs being the children of his daughter Isabel,
Marchioness Montagu. One of these, Lucy Fitz
William, inherited Shalford Bradestan at Joan's death
in 1494, (fn. 47) and bequeathed it to her son William
Fitz William and his wife Mabel (fn. 48) for life, with reversion to her son Sir Anthony Browne, who had purchased the other part of Shalford Clifford (vide supra), so
that the whole was reunited and descended as above.
The demesne of the whole manor called East Shalford
Manor was purchased in 1779 by Robert Austen,
and is the property of Colonel Godwin Austen, his
descendant.
Bradestan. Argent a quarter gules with a rose or therein.
There was a custom that the
lord of Shalford might tally
his bond-tenants 100s. yearly. (fn. 49) In the 13th century John
son of Geoffrey, lord of Shiere,
unjustly appropriated view of
frankpledge to himself there. (fn. 50)
The right of free warren was
appurtenant to the manor. (fn. 51)
In the 14th century the lords
of Shalford Clifford and Bradestan paid Romscot to the vicar
of Shalford. (fn. 52)
Austen of Shalford. Azure a cheveron argent between three choughs or.
The early history of the reputed manor of UNSTEAD (Townhampstead, Ownstead, or Unsted,
xvi cent.) is obscure. In 1256–7 William de
Wintershull acquired land in Dunsfold, Hascombe,
Bramley, and 'Tunchamstede,' from Geoffrey de
Braboeuf. (fn. 53) Late in the 13th century William son
of Eustace of East Catteshull granted lands in East
Catteshull in Bramley to John son of Ralph de Tonhamstede, in exchange for land called Pinnokesland. (fn. 54)
In 1385 William Webbe complained at the Godalming Hundred Court of trespass upon his land at
'Tunhamstede.' (fn. 55) Later in the 15th century Henry
Stoughton was seised of Unstead, and his son Thomas
was in possession in 1459–90.
Thomas had a son Gilbert, and in 1517 Gilbert
Stoughton died seised of Unstead, held of the manor
of Selhurst (or Wintershull), his son Laurence being
his heir. (fn. 56)
In 1547 Laurence Stoughton conveyed it to John
Parvish, jun., in exchange for lands in Stoke. (fn. 57) John
Parvish of Unstead was buried in 1583. (fn. 58) His
nephew Thomas Parvish sold the manor in 1588 to
his cousin Henry Parvish, citizen and haberdasher of
London, who died 4 August 1593, having settled his
estate on his sons and their heirs female. (fn. 59)
The capital messuage was bought in 1608 by Sir
George More of Loseley from Gabriel Parvish, son
of Henry, (fn. 60) and he in 1609 conveyed to George
Austen, (fn. 61) who died seised of it in 1621, and was
succeeded by his son John. (fn. 62) He sold it in 1626
to the trustees of Henry Smith's Charity in Godalming, (fn. 63) and they conveyed it to the Corporation of
Godalming for a sewage farm in 1894.
The reputed manor was apparently divided among
the Parvish family, and Unstead Manor Farm was
a possession of the Onslow family during the 17th
and 18th centuries. (fn. 64) It was exchanged by George,
first Earl of Onslow, with John Sparkes, from whom
it eventually came to Captain Albemarle Bertie, (fn. 65)
who sold it in 1800 to Captain William Pierrepont. (fn. 66)
He conveyed it to Mr. H. Trowers. It is now
part of the property of Mr. L. Phillips. The farm
is on the right-hand side of the road leading from the
Portsmouth road to Bramley, formerly called Trowers.
SHALFORD RECTORY MANOR.
King John
granted to John of Guildford, parson of Shalford, a
yearly fair to be held in the church and churchyard on the vigil, day, and morrow of the Assumption. The parson took no toll, but claimed the
stakes fixed in the cemetery and his fee outside,
and held pleas for merchants staying in his
fee. When the fair grew so large that it extended
into Bramley Manor, the lords of Bramley took the
stakes of merchants in their fee, and also held courts
for them. (fn. 67) In 1304–5 Edward I granted two messuages
and land with the services of
free tenants in Shalford and
the advowson of Shalford to
the Hospital of St. Mary
Without Bishopsgate. (fn. 68) The
prior evidently leased the rectory from time to time. Roger
Elliot, who had obtained such
a lease in 1475–6, complained
that the prior forced him, being 'a stranger not acqueynted
in the Cite of London and ferr
from his frendes and wife,' to
pay his rent a second time. (fn. 69)
After the Dissolution Queen Elizabeth granted the
rectory of Shalford with court leet, view of frankpledge, law-days, and assize of bread and ale, to her
secretary John Wolley. (fn. 70) He sold it in 1590 to his
brother-in-law, George More, (fn. 71) afterwards Sir George
More, from whom it was purchased in 1599 by John
Austen, (fn. 72) who built Shalford House on a place called
the Timber Yard, on the rectory manor, 1608–10. (fn. 73)
The rectory still remains in the possession of his
descendants. George Austen died at Shalford in 1621,
leaving a son John, who inherited the rectory
manor. (fn. 74) Robert Austen and his mother Elizabeth
were in possession in 1714, at which date Robert
Austen was living in the 'Parsonage House.' (fn. 75) The
present owner is Lieut.-Colonel Henry Haversham
Godwin Austen, of Nore, Bramley.
Hospital of St. Mary without Bishopsgate. Party argent and sable a mill-rind cross counter-colured with a martlet gules in the quarter.
The house of Shalford Park is said to be close to the
site of the old rectory manor-house, but the actual
site was called the Timber Yard. In 1609 Sir George
More conveyed the manor of Unstead to George Austen, subject to redemption on the payment of £800
in 1611, in the tenement of the said Austen, 'now in
building upon a parcel of land called the Tymber
Yarde parcel of the parsonage of Shulforde in the
Parish of Shulforde.' (fn. 76) Colonel Godwin Austen, lord
of the manor, has the building accounts from 1608 to
1610, showing that it was built in stone and brick.
The house was much altered, and a top story added by
Sir Henry Edmund Austen, who succeeded, as a minor,
in 1797. The front part of the house, now quite
modernized in appearance, is internally of the original
date; but the carved wooden mantelpiece in the
room to the left of the front door, bearing the date
1631, was brought from elsewhere. The oak room,
on the right hand of the front door, has good panelling, mantelpiece, and ceiling of the later 17th century. The carved mantelpiece bears the curious
motto Heyme incalesco, aestate refrigero—which, as Mr.
Ralph Nevill remarks, is 'a proof that our ancestors
were sufficiently alive to the advantages of open fireplaces.' The library was originally the kitchen. The
mantelpiece bears the date 1681, and the iron fireback has the royal arms of Charles II. The diningroom was built by the late owner in 1875. The
mantelpiece, chalk, with the date 1609, was brought
from Tyting Farm. (fn. 77) There was a fine gallery of
pictures, some of which are still in the house, which
is at present let as a private hotel.
CHURCH
The church of ST. MARY is the
third that has stood on the present
site since 1789, in which year the
mediaeval building, possibly retaining parts of that
mentioned in Domesday, was rebuilt. A view of
the church from the south-east, as it appeared in
1780, shows a picturesque irregular building of cruciform plan, having a short and rather high nave with
a south porch, a central tower, and shingled spire,
apparently of 12th or 13th-century date, beneath
which is a transept, or rather two transeptal chapels,
conjoined, and having a double-gabled roof, with
15th-century windows, and a longish chancel with a
priest's door and a three-light east window of 15th-century date.
In 1789 the church was rebuilt in local stone
rubble with brick dressings—a very ugly, heavy
structure—having a squat tower with domed roof of
copper, surmounted by a cupola. There was no chancel,
only an alcove or shallow apse, projecting from the
east end of the nave. Cracklow's view of 1824 preserves the memory of this building, which, in 1847,
was in its turn entirely demolished to make way for
the present structure, an ambitious but unsatisfactory
example of the 13th-century style. This consists of
nave, aisles, transepts, and chancel, with south porch
and tower with shingled spire at the north-west
angle. The whole building is excessively high in
proportion to its length, and the detail is starved
and bad.
There are no monuments of any interest except
some tablets to the Austens and to the local family of
the Eliots, of 17th and 18th-century dates.
The old font is at present turned upside down, and
placed as a mounting block outside the vicarage. It
may shortly be restored to the church. There are two
pieces of old glass, preserved from the original church,
showing the arms of Canterbury and Winchester.
The church plate is of the 18th century, and of no
great interest.
There are five bells of 1789, and one of 1866, all
by the firm of Warner. When the six were complete
they each bore a part of the verse:—
'Thy glory Lord we will resound | to all the
listening nations round | and with our tongues | our
voices raise | to Thee O God | in songs of praise.'
Before 1789, four, dated 1613, by Robert Eldridge,
bore the verse:—
'Lord plead my cause against my foes | Confound
their force and might | Fight on my part against my
foes | That seek with me to fight.'
In the Edwardian inventory eight bells and a
'sawnce' bell are mentioned.
The registers begin in 1564, but there are no
marriages till 1581. There is a gap between 1651 and
1653, and the marriages are lost from 1754 to 1782.
ADVOWSON
The church is mentioned in the
Domesday Survey. (fn. 78) In 1224 it was
stated that the king's ancestors had
always presented to Shalford and its chapelries, but
that Ralph de Fay, lord of Shalford, last presented in
the time of the war. (fn. 79)
It was granted with the rectory to the Hospital of
St. Mary Without Bishopsgate in 1304–5. After
the Dissolution it passed into the possession of various
persons. (fn. 80) Towards the close of the 17th century the
Crown presented and continues to do so. (fn. 81)
There seems to have been a chapel attached to the
manor of Shalford Bradestan, for in 1374–5 Ellen,
mother of Sir Robert Bradestan, held in dower the
chancel of the chapel there. (fn. 82)
CHARITIES
Smith's Charity is distributed as
in other Surrey parishes. Many
small rents and payments were due to
the church. (fn. 83)
In 1715 Dr. Shortrudge, Sir Francis Vincent, and
others settled the residue of the profits on estates in
Hertfordshire on the vicars of Shalford, Great Bookham, Effingham, and Letherhead, on condition of
their reading prayers in church on Wednesdays and
Fridays, and preaching appropriate sermons on 30 January and on Good Friday. (See Great Bookham.)