WEST HORSLEY
Horsaleges (ix cent.); Orselei (xi cent.); Horslegh
(xiii cent.).
West Horsley lies 6 miles north-east of Guildford
and the same distance south-west of Letherhead. It is
bounded on the north by Ockham, on the east by East
Horsley, on the south by Shere, on the west by East
Clandon and Send and Ripley. Blackmoor Heath, in
the north of it, was transferred to Ockham 15 March
1883, (fn. 1) and an outlying fragment of Wisley which
bordered on West Horsley was also made part of
Ockham at the same time. The parish is over 3
miles from north to south, and over one mile from
east to west, and contains 2,672 acres. Like its
neighbours east and west it reaches from the top of
the Chalk Downs, across the chalk, the Thanet and
Woolwich Beds, and part of the London Clay. The
church is just upon the edge of the chalk, the scattered village on the next soil. Netley Heath, however,
which is in the parish, is a bed of sand and gravel
lying upon the chalk. There is still some open
ground upon the Downs, but the greater part of the
commons has been inclosed. The village is scattered about the lanes, but a few houses are clustered
together at Horsley Green. The church has very few
houses near it, except West Horsley Place, and is close
to the border of East Horsley parish.
The road from Guildford to Epsom passes through
West Horsley, and the Guildford and Cobham line
is in the northern part of the parish.
West Horsley Place (see below) has literary interests
connected with it. It was the seat of John Lord
Berners, who made the first English translation of
Froissart's Chronicle in the reign of Henry VIII. It was
shortly afterwards the house of the Earl of Lincoln,
whose wife, in whose right he held it, was the widow
of Sir Anthony Browne, and was by birth Lady
Elizabeth Fitzgerald, daughter of the Earl of Kildare,
celebrated by Surrey the poet as the 'Fair Geraldine.'
She resided at West Horsley after her husband's death,
and corresponded in very unpoetic style with Sir
William More at Loseley, where several of her letters
are preserved, including an invitation to Sir William
to come to her house during the crisis of the Spanish
invasion of 1588, dated 30 July, and expressing the
consternation in the court at the news that the
Spaniards were over against Dover in Calais Roads.
Carew Raleigh, son of Sir Walter, was a later owner,
and he sold it to Sir Edward Nicholas, Secretary of
State to Charles I, who died in 1669. Sir Edward's
son, Sir John, was Clerk to the Privy Council and died
in 1704. His son Edward, who died in 1726, was
Treasurer to Queen Mary. Their correspondence
was preserved at West Horsley, and a schedule of the
papers was drawn up by Edward Nicholas in 1720. (fn. 2)
A considerable part of the collection was purchased
for the British Museum in 1879, and now forms part
of the Egerton MSS. 2533–2562. But it is unfortunately only a part of what once existed. The
whole collection seems to have passed into the possession of Sir John Evelyn of Wotton, after the death of
William Nicholas in 1749. Dr. Thomas Birch made
transcripts and a catalogue of the papers in 1750–1, describing them as in the possession of Sir John Evelyn.
Some of them are still at Wotton, and were printed
by Bray at the end of his edition of John Evelyn's
Diary and Correspondence, 1818. The rest are supposed
to have been returned to West Horsley, whence they
passed to the Museum in 1879, but a great many
papers referred to by Birch, whose transcripts are
in the British Museum, (fn. 3) are now lost. The missing
part included a History of the Long Parliament,
covering 285 pages in Sir Edward Nicholas's own
hand. Only fragments of this and of three letterbooks, from 1648 to 1658, survive.
Extracts from the papers have been edited for the
Camden Society and the Royal Historical Society in
1886, 1892, 1897, and a fourth volume is in the
press. Inferior to the Loseley MSS. in local interest,
they are by far the most valuable general historical
collection preserved in any Surrey house.
There is a valuable collection of historical portraits
at West Horsley of the Nicholas family and 17thcentury persons of note, Raleigh, Weston Earl of
Portland, Clarendon, Hobbes, Compton Bishop of
London, Ben Jonson, Anne of Denmark, Nell Gwynn,
and others.
Woodcote Lodge in this parish is the residence of
the Rt. Hon. Sir Henry Roscoe. The Rectory house
was built by the Rev. C. H. S. Weston in 1819, a
mile away from the church, near Horsley Green.
In West Horsley were 362 acres of common fields
and 16 acres of common meadow. The Inclosure
Act was in 1802. (fn. 4) By it 79 acres of common arable
and 88 acres of waste on Netley Heath were appropriated as a glebe. Five acres and a half are assigned
for the repairs of the church.
There is a Wesleyan chapel in this parish.
Broomhouse on the Epsom road is the property of
Lord Rendel, and is used as a convalescent home for
Poor Law children.
In 1786 (fn. 5) a house and orchard were recorded as
left for a school by an unknown donor. In 1813
Mr. Weston Fullerton built and endowed a school.
The Rev. C. H. S. Weston further endowed a school
with £760 in 1845. The present school (National)
was built in 1861. Mr. Weston's endowment is paid
to this, and it seems that Mr. Fullerton's school had
been previously amalgamated with Mr. Weston's.
MANOR
The earliest mention of WEST HORSLEY occurs in the 9th century, when a
certain Dux Alfred granted it to Werburg
his wife. (fn. 6) Bricsi held it in the time of Edward the
Confessor, (fn. 7) and at the time of the Survey it was in the
possession of Walter son of Other, (fn. 8) from whom the
family of Windsor descended. (fn. 9) Hugh de Windsor,
grandson of Walter, (fn. 10) held a knight's fee in West
Horsley in 1166. Hamo de Wudecote in 1232
brought a suit against Hugh de Windsor, who seems
to have been a younger son of the Hugh last mentioned,
concerning services which Hugh claimed from him. (fn. 11)
Some ten years later Hugh de Windsor bought the
right of common pasture in eighty acres of land in
West Horsley. (fn. 12) In 1271 Hugh son of Hugh de
Windsor granted the manor to Ralph de Berners and
Christina his wife in return for an annual rent of
£10 during the life of Hugh. (fn. 13) This Christina was
probably the daughter of Hugh de Windsor; most of
the old historians agree in asserting that the manor
passed to the Berners family by reason of the succession of heirs female. (fn. 14) The manor still continued to
be held of the main line of the Windsor family. (fn. 15) In
1297 Ralph de Berners died, leaving a son and heir
Edmund, (fn. 16) who was reported to be in Normandy at the
time of his father's death, although it was uncertain
whether he were alive or dead. (fn. 17) Christina wife
of Ralph survived both her husband and her son,
and in 1317 was party in a fine with Richard
de Berners touching lands held by him in West
Horsley and elsewhere. (fn. 18) In 1325 another fine
was levied: Christina had died in the meanwhile, and
the manor had passed to her grandson John son of
Edmund. (fn. 19) A final conveyance of these lands was not
made until some ten years later, when Thomas son of
Richard released all his right to John. (fn. 20) In 1332 John
settled the manor on himself and his wife Elizabeth,
probably on the occasion of their marriage. (fn. 21) He died
in 1361, and the manor passed to his grandson James,
who was then a minor. (fn. 22) James de Berners grew up to
be a person of some influence in the government, but
was accused of taking advantage of the youth of
Richard II for his own purposes, and was beheaded in
1388. (fn. 23) His lands were forfeited to the Crown, but
his widow Anne secured West Horsley by a special
grant from the king. (fn. 24) Henry IV confirmed this grant,
while deprecating the fact that his predecessor had
alienated the manor without the consent of Parliament. (fn. 25) Anne de Berners married a second husband,
John Bryan, who seems to have held the manor
jointly (fn. 26) with her until her death (fn. 27) in 1403, when
her son Richard de Berners came into possession.
Bryan released his right in the manor to Richard in
1406. (fn. 28) Three years later Richard enfeoffed trustees
of his estate to the use of himself and his wife
Philippa, with remainder to their heirs. (fn. 29) He died in
1417. (fn. 30) Philippa married a second husband, (fn. 31) Thomas
Leukenore, (fn. 32) but did not live long afterwards, and at
her death Margery daughter of Richard de Berners
was found to be her heir. Margery while still a child
was married to John Fereby, (fn. 33) who held his first court
at West Horsley in 1420. (fn. 34) He died in 1441, (fn. 35) and
she then became the wife of Sir John Bourchier. In
1442 certain trustees released the manor to Sir John
Bourchier, called Berners, summoned to Parliament
in 1455 as Baron Berners, and to Margery his wife,
which was probably a form of marriage settlement. (fn. 36)
By her second husband Margery had issue Humphrey,
who, however, died before his mother, being killed at
Barnet in 1471, so that at her death in 1475 the
manor passed to her grandson John Bourchier, Baron
Berners, then a child of eight. (fn. 37) John, known as the
translator of Froissart, was also a distinguished soldier
and courtier in the expensive court of Henry VIII,
and in 1518 he mortgaged the manor to Thomas
Unton (fn. 38) and others. He died in 1522.
Berners. Quarterly or and vert.
Bourchier. Argent a cross engrailed gules between four water-bougets sable.
Thomas Unton was probably father of Alexander
Unton who married Mary, Lord Berners' daughter, who
died childless. Joan, his other daughter, married Edmund Knivett and had livery as heiress to the estate in
1534. (fn. 39) The Lady Knivett's steward is referred to in
a document at about this date. (fn. 40) The manor afterwards
passed into the possession of Henry, Marquis of Exeter,
who was seised of it at his attainder in 1539. (fn. 41) His
estates were forfeited to the king, who in 1547 granted
West Horsley to Sir Anthony Browne. (fn. 42) His widow,
daughter of the Earl of Kildare, Surrey's 'Fair Geraldine,' married Lord Clinton, afterwards Earl of Lincoln, and held West Horsley for life. She and her
husband resided here till her death, which took place
after 8 December 1589. (fn. 43) Her stepson Viscount
Montagu succeeded and died here in 1592. His
grandson and heir succeeded. His son, who made
great sacrifices for the king in the Civil War, apparently mortgaged some of his estates to Sir John Evelyn
and sold West Horsley in 1656 (fn. 44) to Carew Raleigh (fn. 45)
son of the great Sir Walter, who conveyed it to Sir
Edward Nicholas (fn. 46) in 1664. (fn. 47) Sir Edward died in
1669 and was succeeded by his son John. John,
clerk to the council, married Penelope daughter of the
Earl of Northampton, and died in 1704. He left
three sons: Edward, who died unmarried in 1726,
John, who left daughters and died in 1742, and
William, who succeeded his brother and died in
1749. (fn. 48) He left West Horsley by will to Henry
Weston, son of John Weston of Ockham. (fn. 49) Weston
died in 1759, and was succeeded by his son Henry
Perkins. After Henry's death in 1826 the manor
passed in turn to his sons Ferdinand Fullerton and
Charles Henry Samuel. (fn. 50) The latter died in April
1849, (fn. 51) leaving his nephew Henry Weston, father of
the present owner, as his heir. The manor is now in
the possession of Mr. Henry Macgregor Weston, of the
ancient Surrey family of Weston of Weston in Albury
and Ockham, not to be confounded with Weston of
Sutton who held land in West Clandon (q.v.).
West Horsley Place, lately the residence of Mrs.
Fielder, is also the property of Mr. H. M. Weston,
who himself resides at Cranmere. West Horsley Place
used to be commonly known as the Sheep Leze, from
the flat meadow in front of it next the road; but West
Horsley Place is the name in the 16th century. It is
a large red-brick building which has been much
altered from time to time. Some parts of the back
are of timber, and possibly of 16th-century date, but the
front was rebuilt in 1749. It faces south-east, and it
has projecting wings at each end, which, however,
have been shortened. The west wing originally had
a long gallery, which has since been divided up into
rooms. The front is of two stories, separated and
crowned with large moulded brick cornices. The
upper story is divided into bays by projecting pilasters with moulded bases and Ionic capitals. Over the
centre is a large gable, and the wings have smaller and
plainer gables. All the windows have square heads
and wood frames.
West Horsley Church from the South-west
It appears to have been largely rebuilt in the early
17th century by the second Lord Montagu, who
resided there. The two wings formerly projected
farther than they do now: foundations exist outside
them. Probably Montagu built the gallery in the
west wing. Henry Weston who succeeded in 1749
is said to have made alterations. (fn. 52) He probably cut
down the wings, destroying the gallery, and built
the present 18th-century brick façade. It was again
altered in the 19th century.
CHURCH
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN has a chancel 31 ft. 10 in. by
16 ft. 2 in., south vestry, south chapel 16 ft.
by 13 ft. 10 in., nave 47 ft. 3 in. by 19 ft. 8 in., north
aisle 16 ft. 6 in. wide, north porch, south aisle 13 ft.
10 in. wide, west tower 12 ft. 10 in. square, and a
west porch; all these measurements are internal.
The plan is very irregular and difficult to analyse,
the centre line of the tower being about 1 ft. to the
north of that of the nave, which is itself 15 in. north
of that of the chancel. The tower, which is of the
12th century, is built against the west wall of the nave,
which is therefore of earlier date than the tower.
The length of the nave, and the line of its north wall,
probably represent those of an early aisleless nave, and
the north wall of the chancel may also stand on the
foundations of an equally early chancel.
A north aisle was added to the nave about 1210,
at which time the chancel was rebuilt in a very irregular way, its north wall preserving the line of the older
chancel, while the south wall fell partly beyond that
of the nave. The south aisle and south chapel were
both built in the 16th century, but probably the aisle
preceded the chapel by a few years; the north aisle
has been widened in modern times, the 13th-century
north doorway moved out with the wall, while the
stonework of the north arcade has been for the greater
part either recut or renewed.
The external wrought stonework of the angles and
window dressings has been renewed, for the most
part in chalk, which is already in very bad condition;
the window tracery has been renewed in Bath stone,
and the whole church except the tower is covered with
modern plaster.
The east wall of the chancel is pierced by three
13th-century lancet windows, their inner jambs having
detached shafts with moulded bases and capitals, and
pointed chamfered rear arches; and there are two
contemporary lancets, set close together, at the northeast and south-east, but these have no internal shafts;
a plain roll string-course runs along the eastern half
of the chancel below the windows on both sides.
The third window in the north wall is of three
cinquefoiled lights under a pointed head filled with
flowing tracery of mid-14th-century style, the tracery
being renewed, but the inner jambs are old and have
moulded angles brought out square above the windowledge by semicircular stops. Below the window is
a contemporary tomb recess with a feathered cinquefoiled arch and a crocketed label containing a raised
tomb on which lies the effigy of a priest in mass
vestments; his hands are broken off, and now lie loose
on the figure. In the opposite wall is an arch opening
into the south chapel and contemporary with it, of
very poor late Gothic detail, four-centred, and of
two chamfered orders. Across the chancel runs a
step of Purbeck marble. The chancel arch dates
from the 13th century; it has double chamfered jambs
and a pointed arch with chamfered bases and abaci.
The south chapel has an original south window of
three cinquefoiled lights in a four-centred arch; the
jambs are of equal depth inside and out, and are
moulded with a wide casement moulding on both sides:
there are traces of a vertical joint outside, marking
its junction with the south aisle. The nave has a
north arcade of four bays, the pillars circular, and the
responds half round with water-moulded bases and
moulded capitals. The westernmost of the three
pillars is the only one that shows signs of age and preserves traces of red colour; all the rest, together with
the pointed arches, have a clean, sharp appearance and
have been retooled or renewed. The south arcade
has three bays with octagonal pillars, hollow-chamfered bases, and capitals of a coarse section like those
of the arch to the south chapel from the chancel; the
arches are four-centred and of two chamfered orders.
West Horsley Church: West Porch
All the windows of the north aisle are modern,
the eastern being set high up in the wall and having
wheel tracery in a two-centred arch; the two
north windows are each of two trefoiled lights with
tracery. The north doorway is of 13th-century
date with jambs of three orders, the middle one
with an edge roll and the other two chamfered;
in the arch the middle order has a keeled edge
roll; the label is grooved and hollow-chamfered.
The porch is modern.
The three windows in the south aisle are coeval
with the south arcade, and each of three cinquefoiled lights under a square head. All have been
partly restored. The west window is a modern
one of badly weathered chalk, of three cinquefoiled
ogee lights under a two-centred traceried head.
In the west wall of the nave is a 13th-century
doorway entered from the tower; its jambs and
arch are of two chamfered orders with a moulded
abacus, and grooved and hollow-chamfered label.
Over it is a modern doorway presumably to a
former gallery. The tower is of three stages,
setting back on the outside at each stage; it is not
bonded in with the west wall of the nave, its north
and south walls being built against its plastered
face.
The west doorway has jambs of two chamfers,
changing in the pointed arch to a double ogee and
wave mould. The tower is exceedingly plain, having
single pointed openings in each face of the upper stage,
and a curious shingled spire which is four-sided in the
lower half and octagonal in the upper. The west
porch is of wood set on a low wall of flint and stone
repaired with brick; and has a cusped barge-board;
the sides have lost the vertical studs which formerly
closed them in.
The chancel roof is open-timbered and appears to
be modern; the nave and aisle have semicircular
plaster ceilings with old tie-beams; the north aisle
roof is modern.
The rood screen is early 16th-century work with
twelve traceried bays, four of which are over the
central opening, which retains its double doors and a
moulded cornice. On either side of the chancel are
stalls, returned against the screen, and the south
chapel is closed in by screens on the north and west.
The font has a retooled 13th-century circular bowl
with tapering sides on a modern stem flanked by
four shafts with scalloped capitals.
In the nave hangs a very good brass chandelier said
to have been presented by William III; it bears the
following inscription: 'Martin Kaisinx et Anne
Chacon son epouse, 1652: Pour parvenir au roiaume
sans fin j'esper en Dieu. Fai a Namur par Pierre
Rock maistre fondeur de cuivre et potin.' In the
south chapel is an ancient chest with plain iron bands
around it.
In the east window of the chancel are two small
panels of 13th-century glass, one of the martyrdom
of St. Katherine, and the other of the Last Supper,
and in the 14th-century north window is the kneeling
figure of a man wearing a mail hauberk, plate arm
and leg defences, and a surcoat of his arms; below is
the inscription: 'Jacobus Berners patronus istius
eccl'ie.' Above is his crest, a lion standing. The
date must fall between 1361 and 1388, when James
Berners was beheaded.
On the east wall of the nave is a small panel of
English alabaster of 15th-century date; it represents
the Nativity. On the floor are two small brass
inscriptions; one is inscribed: 'Pray for ye soules of
Martyn Whyth and Annes his wyf ye which Martyn
decessid ye XI day of May ye 3ere of oure Lord
MCCCCC & VI on whos sowles ihũ have mercy Amen,'
while the other reads: 'Hic jacet Henricus Darckam
qui obiit IX° die Augusti Ao dni M Vo IIII° cui' aie
ppicietur deus.' There are two large monuments in
the south chapel, one on the east wall to Edward
Nicholas, 1669, and the other on the south side to
John and Penelope Nicholas, who died in 1704 and
1703 respectively.
There are three bells, hung in an old cage; the
first is by Bryan Eldridge, 1645, the second by William Eldridge, 1687, and the third by Bryan Eldridge,
1621; the last is cracked and disused.
The communion plate comprises a silver cup and
stand paten of 1634 and a large flagon and stand
paten of 1666.
The first book of the registers contains baptisms from
1605 to 1754, marriages from 1600 to 1754, and
burials from 1600 to 1686; the second repeats the
baptisms and burials from 1653 to 1660, and the marriages for 1654. The third has burials from 1682 to
1783, of which ten years were omitted. The fourth
has marriages from 1754 to 1783, the fifth baptisms
from 1755 to 1783, the sixth continues them to
1812; and the seventh has marriages from 1784 to
1812; the eighth has burials to 1812.
The churchyard surrounds the building and runs a
long way to the south, evidently a modern extension.
The roadway passes to the north of the church and
along it are some tall elm trees.
ADVOWSON
There was a church at West Horsley at the time of Domesday. Edward II claimed the presentation in
1309, and actually presented twice, (fn. 53) but the archbishop ordered the Bishop of Winchester to institute
the nominee of Christina Berners. (fn. 54) This rector,
Roger de Berners, a relative clearly, was removed for
dilapidating the church and rectory and for marriage in
1317. (fn. 55) The lord of the manor has presented since.
CHARITIES
Smith's Charity is distributed as in
other Surrey parishes.
The Rev. Weston Fullerton in
1817 gave £3,200 in the 3 per cents. for the relief
of three men and three women, housekeepers of sixty
years of age and upwards.