WONERSH
Wonherche (xiv cent.); Ognersh and Ignersh (xvi
and xvii cents.).
Wonersh is a village about 3½ miles south by
east of Guildford. The parish is bounded on the
north by Shalford and St. Martha's, on the east
by Albury, on the south by Cranleigh, on the
west by Bramley and the ecclesiastical parish of
Graffham, formed from Bramley and an outlying part
of Dunsfold. It measures rather over 5 miles from
north-west to south-east, and at the widest part a
little over 2 miles from east to west; it tapers towards the south. The northern part of the parish is
upon the Greensand, with an outcrop of Atherfield
Clay at its base. The southern part reaches on to
the Wealden Clay. About the village itself, however,
the soil is sand and gravel washed down by a tributary of the Wey, which, rising in Cranleigh parish,
traverses Wonersh and falls into the Wey in Shalford. The road from Guildford to Cranleigh and
Horsham traverses the parish, and the disused Wey
and Arun Canal also. The London, Brighton
and South Coast line from Guildford to Horsham
cuts the southern part of it. Bramley station on
this line is close to the village of Wonersh, though in
Bramley parish. The two villages are curiously close
to each other. The parish is agricultural, and there
is a good deal of waste land. Part of the heathcovered high ground of Blackheath is included in
Wonersh, also part of Shalford Common, Shamley
Green, once spelt Shamble Lea, and part of Smithwood Common in the south end of it. Along the
road to Guildford is a great extent of roadside waste.
Wonersh was one of the flourishing seats of the
clothing trade in West Surrey. The special manufacture was blue cloth, dyed, no doubt, with woad,
licence to grow which was asked in the neighbourhood in the 16th century. (fn. 1) Her Majesty objected
to the too free growth of woad as prejudicial to her
customs. (fn. 2) The blue cloth of Wonersh commanded
a sale in the Canary Islands, among other places.
Aubrey (fn. 3) tells the story of how the market was lost
by the dishonesty of the makers in stretching their
webs. But the clothing trade was dwindling in
the whole neighbourhood in the 17th century, (fn. 4) and
Wonersh only shared in the general decay.
Prehistoric remains are rather abundant. Numerous
palaeolithic flints have been found in the drift gravel
near the stream, neolithic implements and flakes are
abundant, especially on Blackheath and near Chinthurst Hill. In 1900 a small round barrow was
opened on Blackheath. It had contained a cinerary
urn, broken to pieces when found, in which were
burnt bones. The urn had been inclosed by flat
slabs of ironstone. In the barrow were two neolithic
flints, a round disc, and an axe-head or hammer of
rude make. (fn. 5)
There is a Congregational chapel in Wonersh.
St. John's Seminary, built as a place of education for
Roman Catholic clergy for the diocese of Southwark,
was opened in 1891. It stands near the road to
Cranleigh between Wonersh and Shamley Green. It
is built in the Italian Renaissance style, and will
accommodate over one hundred students as well as
the teaching staff.
On Blackheath is a Franciscan monastery with
accommodation for students, built in 1892; this is
a handsome building with a chapel of stone in the
Renaissance style.
Wonersh: The Post-office, Shamley Green
The churchyard is closed to interments. The
cemetery, between the village and Blackheath, was
given by Mrs. Sudbury of Wonersh Park in 1900.
Burials previously took place in the new churchyard
at Shamley Green.
There is a Liberal club in the village.
Among the many interesting old cottages and
houses in the village are two or three with very
perfect half-timber fronts, having projecting upper
stories showing the ends of the floor-joists, with
boldly-curved brackets, or jutty-pieces, at intervals,
ogee-curved braces, and in one case a recessed centre
flanked by projecting wings, of which one has been
removed recently. Several good chimneys of various
patterns are noteworthy. On the eastern side of the
village is a good example of early 18th-century architecture with hipped roof and sash windows.
Shamley Green, an outlying hamlet, contains a
most interesting collection of old houses and cottages,
some of which have evidently seen better days. The
post-office (fn. 6) presents a charming study in roof-lines,
and has a fine pair of chimneys and a timber-framed
gable of very sharp pitch, filled in with brick. This
gable possesses a good foliated barge-board of early
character, very like one in the rear of West Horsley
Place and another at Alfold. At the top of the Green
is another good timber house with a projecting gable
with a moulded bressummer on brackets
and a barge-board of tracery work in
the form of small quatrefoils pierced
through the solid board. There is a
good chimney, rising from the ground,
with moulded brick bases to the shafts
of the flues. More interesting still is a
house with a half-timber front, a good
projecting window, and a fine chimney.
On the left side of the front is a wing
of rubble and brick with tile-hung gable;
the centre braces and a gable on the
right are framed in squares, with braces
cut into ogee curves. (fn. 7) The gable is
framed on a bressummer, and has a bold
projection on spurs or brackets, the soffit
being coved in plaster with moulded
wooden ribs. The curved braces occur
in the gable-end also, and the gable is
framed with a rich barge-board of pierced
quatrefoils set in moulded circles, resembling that in the before-mentioned
example. In the apex of both gables
is a clever arrangement for concealing
the junction of the two sides of the
barge-board. The story beneath this
gable rests upon an elaborately moulded
joist-board or bressummer. The ground
story has been built out in brickwork.
This house may date from about 1500. (fn. 8)
Wonersh Park is a beautifully-timbered park through which runs a small
stream. It formerly belonged to Richard
Gwynn, who died in 1701, aged seventytwo. (fn. 9) His heiress was Susan Clifton,
whose daughter and heiress Trehane married in 1710
Sir William Chapple, serjeant-at-law in 1723, who
became a judge of the King's Bench in 1737 and
died in 1745. He probably rebuilt the house. Sir
William's eldest son, William, is said (fn. 10) to have been
unmarried. In the Wonersh Registers his marriage is entered, but is erased with such success that
though his name and parentage are legible that of the
lady is entirely gone, and the details of the probable
mésalliance are consequently
lost. All Sir William's sons
died without issue, except one,
whose two daughters predeceased him. His surviving
daughter Grace therefore became his heiress, and married
in 1741 Fletcher Norton of
Grantley in Yorkshire, who
was Solicitor-General in 1761,
Attorney - General in 1763,
Speaker of the House of
Commons 1770, being then
M.P. for Guildford, and was
created Lord Grantley in 1782. His family held
Wonersh Park till 1884, when it was sold to
Mr. Sudbury, husband of Mrs. Sudbury, the present
owner. The house contains some pictures of note,
and is a good example of early 17th-century architecture, inclosing the remains of a much older house.
On the floor above the state rooms is a long gallery,
and the staircase is so placed as to suggest its being
part of the original plan. The western wing contains
a fine suite of reception-rooms. Sir Fletcher Norton
added a library and billiard-room of noble proportions, and further additions in the shape of an eastern
wing were made about 1836.
Norton, Lord Grantley. Azure a sleeve ermine with a bend gules over all.
The 'Grantley Arms' public-house is a fine old
timbered house, with curiously arched wooden heads
to the gable windows. It may be of 15th-century
date in part. Plunks, another early house, has a
double-gabled front, dating from the end of the 15th
or the beginning of the 16th century. There is a
quatrefoil barge-board here also, and doubtless good
half-timber work is behind the present plaster face.
The joist-board, of good section, is also a noticeable
feature. The rear of the house is of more ordinary
character, but a picturesque medley of roofs, gables,
and chimneys.
Other old cottages and houses lie scattered around
the lanes and hamlets in Wonersh parish, including
good cottages at Blackheath; a long timber farmhouse at Halldish, or Aveldersh; Northcote Farm,
Hull Hatch, an old timber-framed house, and Reel
Hall.
The schools (National) at Norley Common were
built in 1840 and enlarged in 1884. The infant
school at Lawns Mead was opened in 1890, that at
Blackheath in 1892.
The ecclesiastical parish of Shamley Green was
separated from Wonersh in 1881. A Congregational
chapel was built there in 1870.
Wood Hill, in the same parish district, is the residence of Captain Sparkes, R.N., C.M.G., J.P., one
of the principal landowners in the whole parish.
Longacre is the residence of Sir Charles Crosthwaite, K.C.S.I.; Willinghurst of Captain Ramsden,
D.L., J.P.
The original Wonersh Schools, built in 1840, are
in this part of the parish.
MANORS
Wonersh is not named in Domesday. All the subsequent manors were
included in the manors of Bramley
and Shalford.
TANGLEY or GREAT TANGLEY
TANGLEY or GREAT TANGLEY (Tangeley,
xiii cent.) was originally parcel of the manor of
Bramley. (fn. 11) In 1238–9 Walter of Tangley and his
wife Maud were dealing with land in Worplesdon. (fn. 12)
In the same years Ernald son of Richard of
Tangley was proved to be nephew and heir of John
of Burningfold. (fn. 13) This Ernald' held a messuage and
a virgate of land in Bramley of William Brokere and
his wife Edith. (fn. 14) About 1315–16 Sir Robert Fitz
Pain held 'a tenement called Tangelee' by lease from
Roland Vaux, who held it for life by right of his wife,
then deceased. (fn. 15) Tangley then came into the possession of the Burley family. John
Burley and his wife Agatha
were dealing with land in
Wonersh, and the service of
Richard Tigenor, William
Loxley, and others in 1367–8. (fn. 16)
In 1542 another John Burley
and his wife Katherine were
seised of Tangley. (fn. 17) In 1545
John Burley entailed the reversion of it, after the death
of himself and his wife Sybil,
on Richard Carrill of Bramley. (fn. 18) John son of Richard
Carrill inherited the manor after the death of Sybil,
who survived her husband. (fn. 19) Thenceforward its descent is identical with that of the Carrills' manor of
Bramley till 1677, when, at the partition of John
Carrill's estates, it was assigned to his daughter Lettice,
wife of John Ramsden. (fn. 20) In 1693–4 they sold it to
John and Leonard Child. (fn. 21) In 1759 John's greatgrandson Charles Searle sold the manor to Sir
Fletcher Norton, (fn. 22) with whose estates it has since
descended. (fn. 23)
Burley. Sable a chief argent three tilting spears palewise counter-coloured.
In 1808 court leet and court baron are mentioned
as appurtenant to the manor. (fn. 24)
The manor-house, where Hester wife of John
Carrill lived during her widowhood, (fn. 25) is very ancient.
It lies in the northern part of the parish, and has been
made the subject of innumerable paintings, and has also
been well described and illustrated. (fn. 26) The moat by
which the present house is surrounded would appear to
have been intended for purposes of defence as well as
to drain away the water from the house, which lies
somewhat low. Remains of stone buildings have been
discovered. Within late years the house has twice
been enlarged, having been rescued by its late owner,
Mr. Wickham Flower, from the somewhat neglected
state into which it had sunk as a mere farm-house, and
surrounded by flower-gardens and covered walks.
The south front, built in 1582 by John Carrill, can
challenge comparison with any ancient house of its
class in Surrey. This is not, however, the earliest
part of the house: although subdivided into three
floors in 1582, the hall, of the middle of the 15th
century, with its original open roof, remains. It
was of four unequally spaced bays, and the framed
principals of the roof can be seen in the bedrooms.
They consist of heavily-cambered tie-beams, 1 ft. 8 in.
deep in the centre by 10 in., having under them a
four-centred arch of solid timber, 4 in. thick, serving
as braces to the massive story-posts, 10 in. by 9 in.,
on which the beams rest. A short king-post, with
an arched brace 3 in. thick from each face, rises from
the centre of the beam to support the collar and leon
beams. The width of this hall was 20 ft., and its
length, including the musicians' gallery, which was
built out as an upper floor over the entry or vestibule,
29 ft. This hall, as was commonly the case, must
have had a central hearth, the smoke from the wood
fires finding its way out at the upper windows, or
through a louvred turret in the roof. The original
front door still remains. Doubtless there were various
outbuildings and offices, beside double-storied wings
with parlours and sleeping apartments, which have
been either removed to make way for the later
additions, or so masked as to be indistinguishable
from them. The new front of 1582 was built on
in advance of the old hall. It is of two stories, and
its elevation consists of two gables of unequal size
with a smaller gable between, below which is the
porch entered by a wide doorway, having a fourcentred arch. The most interesting features of this
front are the barge-boards with moulded hip-knobs, or
pendants, at the apex; the overhanging upper stories;
the mullioned and transomed oriels and other windows,
some on carved brackets; and the 'square and circle'
patterns of the timber framework. The latter is
in some cases enriched with shallow carving of fleursde-lys—a very rare feature in half-timber treatment.
Many other details worth notice might be cited, such
as a doorway in the garden wall, chimneys (one with
a crow-stepped base), panelling, doors, and internal
fittings. It is now the property of Colonel
Kennard.
LITTLE TANGLEY
LITTLE TANGLEY was assigned to Elizabeth
Ludlow at the partition of John Carrill's estates. (fn. 27)
After her daughter Elizabeth's death it was sold to
William Hammond of Bramley. (fn. 28) It is now the
residence of Mr. Cowley Lambert, F.R.G.S.
The reputed manor of CHINTHURST (Chilthurst xvi cent.) formed, together with a moiety of
Loseley, the dower assigned to Thomasine widow of
William Sidney by his son William in 1452. (fn. 29) It
had then lately been held by John Hover. It passed
with Loseley to Sir Christopher More in 1532, and
descended to his son (fn. 30) William More of Loseley, who
exchanged it in 1557 for Polsted Manor in Compton
with John Wight and his wife Agnes. (fn. 31) John Wight,
a descendant of this John (see Artington), sold the
manor to John Sparkes of Gosden in 1791. (fn. 32) The
manor was then held successively by his son and grandson, both being his namesakes. (fn. 33) It is now the seat of
Mr. W. V. Cooper.
HALLDISH
HALLDISH is a small farm in Shamley Green.
In the 14th century indulgence was granted to
Bartholomew of 'Haveldersh' and his wife Joan,
who were buried in Wonersh churchyard. (fn. 34) In the
17th century it was in the possession of the Duncombe family, and descended with Weston in Albury
to Nathaniel Sturt and his wife Anne. (fn. 35) Their grandson, the Rev. George Chatfield, was owner in 1808. (fn. 36)
It was purchased before 1841 by Henry Drummond
of Albury, (fn. 37) and belongs to the Duke of Northumberland his grandson.
Green Place, the present residence of Mrs. Leighton,
was reported in the 17th century to have been ' sometime a fair and large house now ruinated,' and formerly
the property of Baron Roos. (fn. 38) It was the property of
the Elyots, afterwards of Busbridge, in the 15th
century. (fn. 39) Thomas and Henry Elyot have brasses
in Wonersh Church.
LOSTERFORD
LOSTERFORD in Wonersh is called a manor in
the 16th century. In 1547 John Scarlet died seised
(inter alia) of the manor of Losterford, held of the
Countess of Southampton (Fitz William) as of the
manor of Shalford Bradestan. (fn. 40) He left a son John
aged seven years and upwards. In 1576 Thomas
Paston bought a moiety of the manor of Losterford
and Wykes of John Scarlet. (fn. 41)
In 1579 William Tycknor bought the manor of
Losterforde alias Lastarforde of Nicholas and Thomas
Parson, no doubt the same as Paston above. (fn. 42) Losterford House is now the residence of Colonel Cust.
ROWLEYS
ROWLEYS, another reputed manor, was bought
by Robert Harding, goldsmith, in 1508, of Humphrey
Sydney. Robert's son William had a daughter Catherine (see Bramley), who married Richard Onslow, in
whose family Rowleys descended, (fn. 43) till in 1806 the
Earl of Onslow sold it to Richard Sparkes, (fn. 44) who was
succeeded by his son John Sparkes. (fn. 45)
CHURCHES
The church of ST. JOHN THE
BAPTIST is approached by a short
lane from the village street, through
iron gates in the lofty inclosing wall of Wonersh Park,
its churchyard adjoining the park. The churchyard
is surrounded by noble old trees and is beautifully kept.
The old parts of the church are built of ironstone
rubble, conglomerate, chalk rag, Bargate rubble and
other materials, with hard chalk or clunch for the
dressings and a good deal of what seems to be Caen
stone in the inside of the chancel and north chapel.
The roofs are tiled. The nave and south aisle (thrown
into one area and under one roof) and the transeptal
chapel on the south were largely rebuilt in 1793 by
the then Lord Grantley—it is said from plans by his
butler—in red brick and in the plainest sort of
meeting-house style.
In the alterations of 1793, the end of the chancel
was cut off so as to make it coterminous with the
transeptal chapels, a small alcove being built out to
contain the altar. In the recent restoration (1901–2)
some of the worst of these mutilations were undone,
the chancel being extended to what was probably its
original length, and the north chapel or chancel aisle,
which had also been reduced in length, prolonged
eastward on the old foundations.
The present dimensions therefore are:—nave
39 ft. 6 in. by 20 ft., or, with the space that originally
formed an aisle on the south, 30 ft. 6 in. in width;
chancel, 32 ft. 5 in. by 20 ft. 3in.; north chapel,
21 ft. 5 in. by 14 ft. 5 in.; tower, on the north of
the nave, opening into it and into the chapel, 13 ft.
9 in. by 13 ft. 5 in.; and south chapel (now used as
organ-chamber and vestry), 21 ft. 3 in. by 18 ft.
The tower, somewhat unusually placed on the north
side of the nave at its eastern end, (fn. 46) and with its
western wall askew, is in three stages, the topmost,
which is embattled and contains the bells, being an
addition of 1751, and taking the place of a shingled spire.
The upper stage is of brick and rubble, with broad
brick string-courses and wide, round-headed, louvred
openings. A peculiarity of the lower stages is that
there are no dressed stone quoins to the angles, which
are formed of thin layers of ironstone rubble, the
construction resembling that of the late 12th-century
church at Wisley. As however, all the openings are later
insertions, it is difficult to pronounce with certainty
as to its date: but it seems to have been built up
against a nave of pre-Conquest date, in which traces
of round-headed windows finished in
plaster were discovered in 1901. This
nave was probably that of the chapel
built in pre-Conquest times, or at any
rate before the close of the 11th century. The early windows were not
preserved at the restoration. Until the
early years of the 13th century this
tower was detached on three sides. It
opens into the nave by a plain squareedged pointed arch, having chamfered
abaci, and this may date from about
1180. Early in the 13th century the
chancel was also rebuilt, on a much
wider and larger plan. The fine lofty
chancel arch, of unusually bold span,
shows by its mouldings that it was executed about 1220, and there are the
outlines of three blocked lancets in each
of the side walls of the chancel, a piece
of string-course on its north wall, and
remains of a low side window or priest's
door on the south, which agree with
that date. At about the same time the
lancet that lights the ground story of
the tower was inserted, replacing perhaps a smaller and earlier opening.
Towards the close of the 13th century a chapel was thrown out on the
south of the chancel, and as evidence
of this the arch of communication between the two, with characteristically
moulded capitals, remains. The piers
and arch are of the same section, of two
orders with narrow chamfers, and the
capital is really no more than an impost
moulding breaking their junction. Nothing but this arch remains of the chapel,
which was rebuilt in brick in 1793.
In about 1400—perhaps slightly earlier—a corresponding chapel was made on the north side, opening
to the chancel and tower by somewhat elaborately
moulded arches, of two orders, with shafts having
moulded capitals and bases. A good image-niche of
this period, with ogee cinquefoiled head and carved
brackets, remains high up in the south wall of this
chapel, and hard by is a roughly formed squint having
a piscina in its sill; while eastward of both on the
chancel side is a door, low in the wall, with a flight
of steps leading to what was perhaps a charnel behind
the altar, paved with tiles of various dates. This is
shown in an 18th-century engraving as having a
low lean-to roof of stone, just above the ground,
with two small lancet slits under gablets abutting
against the east wall of the chapel. This curious
and rare roofing was destroyed in 1793. Another
curious doorway, also of this period, now blocked, is
set beneath the lancet window in the north wall of the
tower. It also is very low down in the wall and is
planned to open outwards: the head is pointed
within a square, with a shield and foliage in one
spandrel: its presence here is hard to explain, but
probably it was merely inserted in the 18th century,
being brought from elsewhere in the church, as Cracklow's view shows a small porch, now no longer
existing, against this wall of the tower. The door
to the rood-loft, also of 15th-century date, is visible,
its sill being at a height of some 8 ft. from the floor,
in the south wall of the tower, close to the west face
of the chancel arch; and on the opposite side, against
the east wall of the nave, is some wrought clunch,
which has formed the jamb of an opening at the
corresponding level through the south wall of the
nave. This wall, with its arcade to the aisle, was
removed when the nave was gutted in 1793. A
lancet to the west of the tower in the north wall
appears to be modern, and the only ancient feature
in this wall is a large embattled corbel, set at some
height above the floor towards the western end. The
soffit of the chancel arch retains a groove for a boarded
tympanum, which originally formed a background for
the rood and attendant images.
Wonersh Church from the North
The modern extensions of the chancel and north
chapel are in excellent taste and in general conformity
with the old work: they include a fine east window,
piscina, and sedilia, new windows in the chancel and
north chapel, and a door in the latter.
In 1793 the nave and the space formerly occupied
by the aisle were re-roofed under one span, with great
queen-post trusses, and the whole ceiled. The ceiling
has now been removed, exposing the somewhat naked
constructional timbers. The roofs of the chancel and
north chapel are modern (except for a moulded beam,
of 15th-century date, in the former, which, however,
appears to have crowned a screen or rood gallery), and
are elaborately ornamented with bosses, on which are
carved sacred emblems, shields of arms, &c., the whole
being coloured and gilt. The painted glass is all
modern and exceptionally good, especially that in the
east window of the north chapel, with figures of St.
George and St. Alban. A few slight traces of mediaeval colour decoration remain, as on the voussoirs of
the chancel arch. The altar-pace in the north chapel
is paved with old tiles dating from the 13th to the
15th centuries. The chancel is paved in black and
white marble, laid in squares and patterns, and the
sanctuary is raised three steps above the nave. The
chapel altar is brought forward to allow of the passage
way behind it. Both the chancel and chapel altars
have stone slabs, incised with the five crosses, on
wooden framework, that of the high altar being handsomely carved in several woods. The chancel seats
are elaborately carved in oak, with figures of saints as
finials to the stall-ends, and the nave and tower are
seated with benches in elm, very beautifully figured.
There are one or two pieces of old oak beams lying in
the 'crypt' passage behind the chapel altar, and within
the arch to the south chapel is a good plain oak screen
of 15th-century date, having moulded work, but no
tracery. This has been copied in a modern screen in
the opposite arch. There is a fine old Flemish
chandelier hanging in the centre of the chancel, and
in the north chapel is a pair of Georgian altarcandlesticks.
Plan of Wonersh Church
The font, of cup-shaped bowl, stem and base, is a
restoration in sandstone, incorporating a curious band
of ribbed work in a coarse grit-stone below the bowl,
which, from its archaic character, may be of pre-Conquest date. This font was found buried beneath the
floor at the restoration.
In the nave, aisle, and chapels are a few old slabs
and ledgers, some with armorial panels. There is a
large Purbeck marble altar-tomb in the north chapel,
of 15th-century date, probably that of the founder of
the chapel, but without name or inscription of any
kind. Its sides are ornamented with quatrefoiled
tracery panelling and shields, originally filled with
coats-of-arms in latten, but these have all disappeared.
An earthenware jar, now in the vestry, was found
under the floor near this tomb. It is
said that the person interred in the
tomb was embalmed, as the cassia used
in the embalming still exudes from the
tomb in damp weather. In the south
chapel, now the vestry, is another
altar-tomb with a marble slab to the
memory of Robert Gwynn, a 'Filezar
of London,' with a fine heraldic panel
and the date 1701. Built into the
west wall of the nave are the fragments of a fine Elizabethan mural
monument, with cornice pilasters and
a foliaged scroll-work panel of good
design: the inscription is missing.
One of the grave-slabs, now missing,
recorded the death of one of the
Carills of Tangley, and the rhyming
epitaph ended with the line, 'Caryll
sings carols in the heavenly quire.'
On the floor of the chancel is a
brass with figures of a civilian and
wife and an imperfect inscription to
'Thomas Elyot de Wonersh' and
his wife Alicia, dated 146—. Another, with figures of a civilian and
lady and groups of twelve sons and eleven daughters,
bearing date 1503, is to Henry Elyot and Johanna his
wife. Within the chancel rails are two small brass
inscriptions, to Elizabeth, one of the daughters of
Thomas Blennerhayset, 1513; and to Elizabeth,
daughter of Henry Bossevile: 'who died the 9 daye
of February 1578, beinge 27 dayes olde."
Some of the tool marks on the 12th and 13th century arches are very well preserved, and on the arch
between the tower and the nave is a dial, or incised
circle.
The bells are modern.
Among the church plate are a silver cup and cover,
with the usual band of arabesque foliage round the
bowl of the latter, and the date 1569, with the corresponding hall-marks. Another silver paten bears the
hall-marks of 1811, with the inscription— noteworthy
for the date:— 'Ut dignius celebretur Eucharistia in
Eccl. par. de Wonersh in Co[mitatu]. Surriensi, haec Patina
Deo dicata est A.D. 1812. Gulmo H. Cole Vicario.
J. Sparkes et E. Chitty Sacrorum Custodibus.'
The registers date from 1539.
Christ Church Shamley Green was built in 1864 as
a chapel of ease to Wonersh. It is in the 13th-century style, of sandstone with a west turret and spire.
On Blackheath is a chapel of ease to the parish
church. It is built of stone in Italian Gothic or
Romanesque style.
ADVOWSONS
The church of Wonersh was
formerly a chapel of Shalford, and
as such was in the presentation of the
king. (fn. 47) In 1304–5 Edward I granted it to the Hospital
of St. Mary without Bishopsgate and called it a church
in his charter. (fn. 48) The Prior of St. Mary held the advowson till the Dissolution, when it came into the hands
of the Crown. (fn. 49) In 1590 Queen Elizabeth granted it
with Shalford rectory to her secretary Sir John Wolley. (fn. 50)
His son and heir Sir Francis Wolley died holding the
advowson in 1609. (fn. 51) George Duncombe was dealing
with it in 1650, Roger Duncombe in 1677, and
George Duncombe in 1693. (fn. 52) In 1765 George
Duncombe sold it to Sir Fletcher Norton, whose son,
William Lord Grantley, held it in 1808. (fn. 53) It was
acquired by Lord Ashcombe after the sale of the
Grantley estates, and presented by him to Selwyn
College, Cambridge.
Shamley Green was formed into a parish from
Wonersh in 1881. (fn. 54) The living is in the gift of Lord
Ashcombe.
CHARITIES
Smith's charity is distributed as in
other Surrey parishes. Mr. John
Austen of Shalford left money for
poor relief in 1620. Mr. Henry Chennell of Wonersh
left land, the produce to be devoted to putting six
poor boys to school, in 1672. Mr. Gwynne of London
gave land and bank stock, in 1698, to put four poor
boys to school and to distribute bread to fifteen poor
persons every Sunday after service.
The charities are now (1908) being amalgamated
under a scheme by the Charity Commissioners.