WEST CLANDON
Clandun (xi cent.); Clandon Regis (xiv cent.).
West Clandon is a small parish 4 miles east-by-north of Guildford. It is bounded on the north by
Send and Ripley, on the east by East Clandon, on the
south by Albury, on the west by Merrow. It measures
2 miles from north to south and rather over half a
mile from east to west. It contains 1,003 acres.
The parish meets Albury on the top of the chalk
down, and extends over the northern slope of the
chalk, across the Thanet and Woolwich Beds, on to
the London Clay. The church and village, according
to the usual rule, lie just below the chalk, or on its
extreme boundary. The village is scattered along a
road from north to south with many picturesque old
cottages. Clandon Downs, on the chalk, are still
partly open common. The Guildford and Epsom
road runs through Clandon. It was made a turnpike
road in 1758, (fn. 1) and diverted in places out of the
narrow ravine into which, as usual, the old unmade
road was worn down. The old line can be seen in
places in this and the neighbouring parishes by the
side of the modern road.
Clandon station, on the Guildford and Cobham
line, opened in 1885, is at the north end of the
village street, and the line passes through the parish.
The old maps mark 'Common Fields' on the chalk
downs. The only inclosures, however, recorded are
of the Park (see below).
The Woking Water Works are in West Clandon
parish. They draw water from the chalk, and supply
not only Woking but the two
Clandons, the two Horsleys,
part of Merrow, Send, and
part of Worplesdon. The
works have seriously diminished
the flow of springs on both
sides of the chalk range.
Giffard of Brimsfield. Gules three lions passant argent.
MANORS
At the time of
the Domesday
Survey WEST
CLANDON was held of Edward of Salisbury by a certain
Hugh; Fulcui had held it in
the time of the Confessor. (fn. 2)
The later mentions of the overlordship represent it as
belonging to the family of Giffard of Brimsfield. (fn. 3)
This manor was also called CLANDON REGIS, (fn. 4) and
it was stated in 1279 that part had been in the king's
hands, (fn. 5) and part in those of William de Braose in his
manor of Bramley. It is a fact that some houses are
in the manor of Tangley, which represents William's
Bramley manor. (fn. 5a) In 1255 Christina de Alsefeld
released to Matthew de Bovill one messuage and lands
in West Clandon, (fn. 6) which seem to have been part of the
original manor. Matthew de Bovill left a daughter
Alice, who in 1294 was the wife of William de Weston. (fn. 7)
She had, however, made two previous marriages. (fn. 8) Her
first husband was John de Aqua, (fn. 9) who was probably a
member of the Atwater family, who in later years
tried to assert their claims to this manor. She married
secondly Robert de Boclynton, (fn. 10) and in 1290 a settlement was made, probably on their marriage, by which
the manor was secured to them for life with remainder
to the heirs of Alice. Robert was found dead at Send
in the autumn of 1290, having been slain by William
Atwater 'qui percussit dictum Robertum in capite
et praeterea in sinistra parte collis cum hachia quae
vocatur polhax.' (fn. 11) The sheriff of Surrey was afterwards
ordered to release Atwater, on the grounds that his
attack had been provoked. (fn. 12)
The Atwater family seem to have had certain
rights in the manor; in 1279 John Atwater claimed
to have liberty to buy and sell in Guildford without payment of tolls 'for himself and his men of
Clandon,' and won his case. (fn. 13) It therefore seems as
though the quarrel which proved fatal to Robert de
Boclynton may have originated in some dispute
touching the manor. At any rate, after Robert's
death, William and Alice de Weston enjoyed peaceable
possession of the manor. (fn. 14) Their son William, who
succeeded them, married first Isabel, daughter of Walter Burgess, by whom he was the father of another
William, who inherited West Clandon, and secondly
Margery de Romaine, (fn. 15) who was custodian of the manor
during the minority of her stepson. In 1336 the elder
William made a settlement of the manor on himself
and his wife with remainder to his son William, and
contingent remainders to Edmund and Richard his
sons by Margery. (fn. 16)
After William's death the old Atwater dispute
reappeared. Robert son of William Atwater brought
a suit against Margery de Weston, with intent to
recover the manor of West Clandon, into which, so
it was declared, 'she would not have had ingress but
for the disseisin wrongfully wrought by Robert de
Boclynton and his wife Alice on Robert Atwater,
grandfather of the plaintiff.' (fn. 17) Some six years later
Robert released to Margery and to William son of
William de Weston all his right in the manor. (fn. 18)
Margery died seised in 1361. (fn. 19)
The manor seems to have descended in the Weston
family from father to son until the death of John
de Weston, great-grandson of William son of William
and Margery, in 1441. (fn. 20) John left no male issue,
and his lands were apparently divided among his three
daughters, Agnes wife of John Athall of Horsham,
Joan wife of John Skynner, and Agnes, who carried
West Clandon to her husband Thomas Slyfield of Great
Bookham. (fn. 21) His son Henry was given possession by
his father's trustees in 1487. (fn. 22)
In 1531 John Slyfield, presumably his son, died
seised of the manor, leaving Edmund his son and heir. (fn. 23)
He had entered into an agreement with one Walter
Lambert, citizen and goldsmith of London, by which
the one of John's three sons, Edmund, John, or
Richard, who first reached the age of fifteen was to
take to wife either of Lambert's two daughters, Elizabeth or Margaret. (fn. 24) Edmund the eldest was only ten
years old at the time of his father's death, and there
seems no record to show whether the agreement was
ever carried out. In 1598 Henry Slyfield, who was
the eldest son of Edmund, (fn. 24a) died seised, leaving
Edmund as his son and heir, then aged eighteen. (fn. 25)
By Henry's will, dated 1598, the manor was secured
to his wife Elizabeth for life with remainder to his
son Edmund and contingent remainders to his other
sons Thomas and John. (fn. 26) Elizabeth soon afterwards
became the wife of Henry Vincent, (fn. 27) brother of Sir
Thomas Vincent of Stoke D'Abernon, and appears as
Elizabeth Vincent in the list given by Symmes of
persons who held their court at West Clandon as late
as 1631. (fn. 28) Of Henry's younger sons, Thomas died
in 1608, (fn. 29) and John, who had become a member of
Gray's Inn, was convicted of felony and murder and
attainted; he contrived to escape the extreme penalty
of the law, but his lands and remainders were forfeited
to the Crown. (fn. 30) West Clandon was not affected, not
being his, and in 1615 Edmund and William Slyfield
united in conveying the reversion after their mother's death
to George Duncumbe, (fn. 31) who
held courts from 1638 to 1645.
Onslow, Earl of Onslow. Argent a fesse gules between six Cornish choughs.
The Duncumbes, however,
did not retain possession long.
Sir Richard Onslow had bought
the Lodge in the park in
1642, (fn. 32) and a series of transactions with the Onslow family,
begun in 1650, (fn. 33) was finally
concluded in 1711 by the
transference of the manor to Sir Richard Onslow. (fn. 34)
The Earl of Onslow, a descendant of Sir Richard, still
holds it.
The second Lord Onslow built the house in 1731
from designs by Giacomo Leoni. The house is of red
brick with stone dressings, and has the merits of its
style, with large and lofty rooms and good ornament.
The second manor in West Clandon, represented
originally by the manor of William de Braose, noticed
above, is described under Bramley, of which it was
part.
On 25 May 1530 Sir Richard Weston of Sutton
had licence by charter to impark his land at Merrow
and Clandon. The Clandon Park so formed, chiefly
in Merrow, was disparked later. In 1642 a later Sir
Richard Weston, the agriculturist and canal projector,
sold this land to Sir Richard Onslow, the recusant
naturally giving place to the Parliamentarian, who
inclosed the park again.
CHURCH
The church of ST. PETER AND ST.
PAUL has a chancel 24ft. 1 in. by 18 ft.
5 in., nave 50 ft. 8 in. by 23 ft. 4 in., northeast vestry, north tower 13 ft. 9 in. by 13 ft. 6 in.
and south porch; all these measurements are internal.
The church is mentioned in the Domesday Survey of
1086, but of this building nothing is now left.
Plan of West Clandon Church
The earliest portion of the present structure is the
nave, which dates from about 1180; it is of its
original size, but now only retains (of the date) the
north and south doorways; the chancel is a rebuilding
of about the year 1200, and may have superseded
a small apsidal chancel to the first building, or more
probably the wooden chancel of the earlier Saxon
building which may have been left standing after the
nave was rebuilt in stone; of this date a lancet
window in the north wall remains; the tower was
probably added at the same period, but it has since
been re-cased and much altered. Windows were
inserted in the south wall of the chancel and in the
two side walls of the nave about 1250, and the sedile
in the chancel was put in at the same time. The
east window of the chancel is the work of about 1330,
three original lancets being destroyed to make room
for it, and it is probable that the angle buttresses against
this wall were work of the same period. The porch,
although it has since been reconstructed, may contain
timbers of 13th-century date. Much restoration of
the windows has taken place, and the chancel arch has
been considerably widened; the vestry is a modern
addition.
The east window is a mid-14th-century one of
three trefoiled ogee lights under a two-centred arch
containing cusped net tracery; it is of two chamfered
orders and has a moulded label outside. The tracery
has been almost wholly restored with clunch and the
jambs partly, in Bath stone. To the north and south
of it in the same wall are the remains of the original
lancet windows. In the north wall is a complete
original lancet modernized outside; under it is a plain
square recess with rebated edges, all of chalk; it has the
holes for the hinge staples and bolts, and another deep
hole in its head. To the west of these are the modern
doorway and archway to the vestry and organ
chamber.
In the south wall are two ancient piscinae; the
eastern has a plain round head chamfered like the
jambs and a half-round basin; it is also set higher in
the wall than the other, which is shallower and of a
square shape with chamfered edges and a threequarter round basin. Both basins have three grooves
in the bottom radiating from the
drain; the sedile west of these is of
mid-13th-century date and has an
engaged shaft in each jamb (between
two hollow chamfers) with moulded
base of three rounds and moulded
bell capital with a scroll mould
abacus; the arch is of two hollowchamfered orders and has a head
and scroll mould label with mask
stops. The first of the two south
windows is a lancet, inserted or enlarged about the same time, whilst
the other lancet in the same wall
was also replaced by the present trefoil headed light. The chancel arch
is modern and is pointed.
The vestry has a two-light window
in its north wall and a doorway to the
east; a modern arch opens into it from
the tower through the east wall of the
latter. The tower has its north angles
strengthened by modern square buttresses and a vice
rises in its south-west angle. The arch opening into
it from the nave is of chalk in two chamfered orders
without imposts in capitals; the chamfers are
finished with pyramidal stops a short distance above
the floor. In the north wall of the tower is a
modern window of three lights and tracery; there
was formerly a lancet in the east window, now
removed for the vestry arch; the stone portion
of the tower has been heightened and recased in
modern times and has a modern cornice over which
is a timber bell-chamber with an octagonal spire.
The north doorway of the nave has a round head of
two chamfered orders continuous with the jambs;
they are now modernized outside in chalk with stone
bases. The only window north of the nave is a
13th-century lancet either re-cut or modernized
outside.
The first window in the south wall of the nave is
of three ogee trefoiled lights with intersecting tracery
and a two-centred arch with a moulded label; the
tracery is of modern stone and the label in chalk. On
a keystone in the external arch is a curious shield
carved with the arms of the Westons: a cheveron
between three lions' heads, the whole very rudely
carved.
In the east jamb is a piscina of late 12th-century
date; it is the square head of a former pillar piscina
beautifully carved with leaf ornament; a rudely
pointed arch is cut out of the jamb over. The south
doorway is similar to the north doorway and has an
old arch with a moulded label, but modern jambs
outside. East of it is a portion of a 14th-century
holy-water stoup under a pointed head; the front half
of the basin has been cut away. On one of the
stones inside are three cuttings which appear to be
wide sundials. The westernmost south window has
two pointed lights re-tooled or modernized outside.
The west window was inserted late in the 15th
century, and has three cinquefoil lights under a flat
segmental arch. It is largely glazed with heraldic
glass of the 18th century, placed there by an Earl
of Onslow.
The walling is of flint with stone dressings; diagonal
buttresses strengthen the angles at both ends; the one
to the north-west of the nave is modern; in the
modern square buttress against the south-east of the
nave is a stone on which is cut an early circular sundial probably of the 12th century; it has three circles
and is divided in twenty-four spaces by radiating lines;
four dots mark the hour of noon and a small cross
that of six p.m.
The south porch has ancient timbers; it is open at
the sides, in which were formerly balusters or posts.
The roof of the chancel is of low pitch and with
heavy timbers, and may date from the 14th century.
The nave roof is of late 15th-century date, although it
appears to have been reconstructed in 1716; the
wall plate has a handsome embattled cornice fixed to
it, probably original.
The font has a bowl of Sussex marble, square, with
shelving sides, in which are arcades of shallow circularheaded arches which have been partly chiselled off;
it is of the earliest date of the building; the stem and
base are modern.
In the chancel are preserved, in a glass case, some
ancient panels of oak; it is doubtful whether they
belonged to a 'table' behind an altar or to a rood
screen; but they appear to be of late 13th or early
14th-century date; the figures upon them are undoubtedly those of St. Peter and St. Paul on either
side of St. Thomas of Canterbury; the two apostles
bear their respective emblems, the keys and the sword;
the martyred archbishop between them has his right
hand raised in benediction, while the left holds the
cross staff; there are traces of gold on the nimbus of
each saint, and the figures are coarsely outlined in
black. Much of the pewing in the western part of
the nave is nicely carved in dark wood imported from
abroad by a former Earl of Onslow.
The six bells were all by Thomas Lester, 1741, but
the third, fourth, and fifth were re-cast by Mears and
Stainbank in 1875. One is inscribed in capitals 'At
propper times my voice II raies, unto my bennifactor
praise.'
The communion plate includes an Elizabethan cup
and cover paten of the date 1569; also another paten
of 1712 given by Sir Richard Onslow.
The registers begin in the unusually early year of
1536. In the first book, which is of parchment, the
baptisms, marriages, and burials are mixed thence to
1583, then written separately from 1584 to 1699,
followed by a short gap, the baptisms continuing
from 1700 to 1755, marriages 1701 to 1735, and
burials 1700 to 1746. In a second parchment book
are baptisms and burials from 1653 to 1663 and marriages 1654 to 1657; there are also two baptisms of
1675. The third book has baptisms and burials from
1756 to 1807; the fourth has marriages from 1778
to 1812; the marriages between 1735 and 1778
appear to be missing. The fifth continues the baptisms and burials from 1807 to 1812.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of the church of
West Clandon always descended with
the manor.
CHARITIES
Smith's Charity is distributed as in
other Surrey parishes.
Land was purchased
for the benefit
of the poor at an uncertain date, and vested in the
churchwardens (now not known).
— Balcuin left about £25 to the churchwardens
for the poor at an unknown date.
William Stovall left money for bread, for the poor,
also at an unknown date, and Lord Onslow gave a
small piece of land for the same object. (fn. 35)
The various charities produce about £30 a year.