CHOBHAM
Cebeham (xi cent.); Chabbeham (in Chertsey
Charter), and Chabham (xiii cent.).
Chobham is a village 3½ miles north-west of
Woking Junction, 6 miles south-west of Chertsey.
The parish is bounded on the north-east by Egham
and Chertsey, on the south by Horsell, Bisley, and
Pirbright, on the west by Ash, on the north-west by
Windlesham. It measures about 6 miles from northeast to south-west, 4 miles from north-west to southeast at the north-eastern part, but 2 miles only
further west. It contains 9,057 acres of land and
22 of water. It is traversed by the Bourne Brook and
its tributaries which flow from the Chobham Ridges
to the Thames near Weybridge, and the village and
to the Thames near Weybridge, and the village and
hamlets are chiefly on the gravel and alluvium of the
stream beds, but the rest of the parish is on the
Bagshot Sands, with extensive peat beds. There are
very extensive open heaths with clumps of conifers.
Ironstone abounds, and there are several strong
chalybeate springs. The Wokingham and Reading
branch of the London and South Western Railway
runs through the northern side of the parish, and
Sunningdale Station is just beyond the border.
Neolithic flints are said to have been found, and
there are several round barrows on the heaths; three
stand close together near Street's Heath, and the
Herestraet or Via Militaris of the Chertsey Charters
ran through Chobham parish. In 1772 silver coins
of Gratian and Valentinian (? the first), and copper
coins of Theodosius, Honorius, and Valentinian, a
spear-head and a gold ring, were found near Chobham Park. (fn. 1)
Near Sunningdale Station is a very large inclosure
of earthen banks on the heath. The old ordnance
map marked it as 'old entrenchment,' but the later
maps ignore it. It is artificial, and not round
cultivated ground; the greater part of the land within
it is probably not susceptible of cultivation except at
great cost, and bears no marks of having been cultivated. It forms a rough parallelogram with the
corners towards the cardinal points; the sides measure
nearly 800 and 680 yards respectively, and it is not
unlike the later form of Roman camp, but is not quite
regular. One side has been cut into by cottages near
the road.
A battery with embrasures for cannon, made in
1853, has been erroneously treated as an ancient
fortification.
There are a few interesting old houses in the
parish of Chobham. Unfortunately Chobham House
is now only represented by a farm-house.
Brook Place, called Malt House on the old ordnance
map, is a small, square, and picturesque 17th-century
building, now a farm-house, situated about a mile to
the west of Chobham village. It is built in red brick
with tiled roofs, and two stories and an attic. The
main front faces north towards the road, and has an
ogee-shaped gable at its west portion, in which is a
panel with the initials and date 'W B 1656.' A
plain string divides the ground and first floors, and a
moulded cornice and string the first and second.
The windows are square with wood frames. On the
south and east fronts are similar gables, but having no
panels; on the west a later timber-and-plaster wing
has been added. From the front doorway (in the
middle of the north front) is an original panelled screen
with open turned balusters at the top, dividing the
passage from the dairy east of it. The stairs are also
old, having square newels with modern tops, and a
plain moulded handrail, the space below the rails
being filled with panelling. Two of the inside oak
doors are good examples of the date. They have
wide stiles or vertical boards joined by narrow
V-shaped fillets. In one of the upper rooms is a fine
cupboard of deal inlaid with oak panels, &c. Between the two rooms occupying the western half of
the plan is a very thick piece of walling, more than
sufficient to contain the flues to the fireplaces opening into it. In 1648 this house was the property of
Edward Bray, a descendant of the Shiere family, who
paid composition for his estate as a Royalist. It
belonged to the manor of Aden, but was not the
manor-house.
Chobham Place is, as it now appears, a fine
Georgian house standing on rising ground north of
the village. The hall was part of a house of much
older date, and the woodwork of the dining-room is
late 17th-century. It is said by Manning and Bray (fn. 2)
to have been the seat of Mr. Antony Fenrother in
Elizabeth's reign. His daughter Joan married
Samuel Thomas, and their son Sir Anthony Thomas
succeeded. (fn. 3) His grandson Gainsford Thomas died
unmarried in 1721 and left it to his first cousin Mary,
wife of Sir Anthony Abdy, bart. (fn. 4) It descended in that
family till Sir William, seventh baronet, sold it in
1809. The purchaser, the Rev. Inigo William Jones,
died very shortly afterwards, and it was sold to
Sir Denis Le Marchant, bart. His son Sir Henry
Denis Le Marchant is the present owner.
Broadford is the residence of Sir Charles George
Walpole; Highams, formerly occupied by Lord
Bagot, is now the seat of Mrs. Leschallas.
The old vicarage house was the butcher's shop next
the churchyard. The present vicarage was built in
1811 by the Rev. Charles Jerram, vicar 1810–34.
Mr. Jerram was a noted tutor whose pupils included
the late Lord Teignmouth, Horace Mann, and
W. T. Grant, brother to Lord Glenelg. Lord Teignmouth's memoirs give a lively account of the
secluded condition of Chobham in the early 19th
century. He says that the small triangular plot
between the churchyard and the White Hart Inn
was the scene of a pig auction on Sunday mornings
before service, the farmers adjourning to church.
Chobham Common was the scene of the first large
military camp of exercise in England since the great
French war. It was held in 1853, and was in fact
the precursor of Aldershot. In 1901 a cross was
erected in memory of Her Majesty Queen Victoria,
on the spot where she had reviewed the troops on
21 June 1853.
An Inclosure Award was made in 1855, (fn. 5) but there
are still several thousand acres of uninclosed land.
Chobham was divided into tithings, Stanners,
Pentecost, and the Forest Tything, lying east, west,
and north respectively, but the modern division is
practically into hamlets. Of these, Valley End, to
the west, is an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1868
from Chobham and Windlesham. West End, at the
west side of Chobham village, is an ecclesiastical
district formed in 1895. Lucas Green, Colony, and
Fellow Green are in Chobham parish.
There are Wesleyan and Baptist chapels in the
parish. Chobham Village Hall was built in 1887.
The Gordon Boys' Home was built in 1885 as a
memorial to Major-General Charles Gordon. The
chapel was added in 1894 as a memorial of the late
Duke of Clarence. The school maintains 240 boys,
who are trained for civil, naval, or military life,
according to their preference.
The schools (National) were built in 1814 and
rebuilt in 1860; those at West End (National) were
built in 1843, and the Valley End (National) schools
by the Hon. Mrs. Bathurst in 1856.
MANORS
CHOBHAM was granted to Chertsey
Monastery by Frithwald, subregulus of
Surrey and founder of the abbey, before
675. (fn. 5a) The grant was confirmed in 967 by King
Edgar as 'v mansas apud Chabeham cum Busseleghe,
cum Frensham et Fremeslye.' (fn. 6) At the Domesday
Survey its assessment was 10 hides, as it had been in
King Edward's time, and it was still held by the
abbey of Chertsey. Of this land, Odmus held 4 hides
of the abbey, and Corbelin held 2 hides of the land of
the villeins. The monks' part was valued at £12 10s.
and the homagers' part at 60s. In King Edward's
time the whole manor had been worth £16. (fn. 7)
The manor of Chobham remained in the possession
of the abbey until the surrender of the latter in 1537, (fn. 8)
when John Cordrey the abbot granted it to the
king. (fn. 9) The manor remained in the Crown for some
time, during which the king kept it for his own use;
he was at Chobham in 1538 and again in 1542. (fn. 10)
Sir Anthony Browne was made keeper of the manor
in 1543. (fn. 11) Christopher Heneage appears to have
had a grant of it during the reign of Elizabeth. (fn. 12)
James I granted the manor to Sir George More in
1614 for the sum of £890 12s. 6d. to be held as of
the manor of East Greenwich. Annual rent from
the manor to the amount of £35 12s. 6d. was also
granted him. (fn. 13) This rent was granted to Lawrence
Whitaker and others in 1620. (fn. 14) The manor was
granted in the same year to Sir Edward Zouch, including the rent previously reserved to Whitaker. (fn. 15)
The grant included Bisley and the manors of Woking
and Bagshot, and henceforth the manor of Chobham
descended with these (fn. 16) and is at present held with
them by the Earl of Onslow.
All rights and privileges pertaining to the manor
of Chobham were enjoyed by the Abbot and convent
of Chertsey, who appear to have exercised very
complete power over their lands in Surrey. (fn. 17) John
de Rutherwyk, who was abbot from 1307 to 1346
and who was noted for the many improvements which
he carried out in his domain, (fn. 18) surrounded the manor-house of Chobham with running water in the first
year of his rule as abbot. (fn. 19) In 1254 Geoffrey de
Bagshot held Chobham under the abbot, and among
the yearly dues of the abbot from that fee are included 10s. 4d. rent, 12 gallons of honey, valued at
6s., 2 sheep or 2s., 2 quarters of oats, 1 ploughshare,
and a horse for carrying a monk to Winchester twice
a year. (fn. 20)
The grant of Chobham to Sir George More and
the later grants include land in Chobham called
Langshott, Chabworth, Hill Grove, and Buttes, and a
pond called Gratins Pond, also called Craches or
Crathors Pond or the Greate Pond. A mill called
Hurst Mill in Chobham was conveyed to the abbot by
John de Hamme in the early 14th century. (fn. 21)
A court roll of the time of Charles II mentions
'Stanners' and 'Pentecost' as presenting tithingmen. (fn. 22)
Sir Charles Walpole of Chobham has a note in his
father's writing, 'I have a deed without date wherein
is a Fine and Recovery by John de Pentecost of
5 acres in Chobham from John de Ardern and
Agnes his wife.' (fn. 23) There is land near Chobham
vicarage now called Penny Pot, which possibly means
Pentecost. Ardern is the local pronunciation of
Aden (q.v. infra).
CHOBHAM PARK
The chief messuage of the
manor of Chobham, called
Chobham Park, was granted to
the king by John Cordrey, Abbot of Chertsey, in 1535,
two years before the surrender of the entire manor of
Chobham. (fn. 24) The Manor Place, commonly called
Chobham Park, was sold in July 1558 by Queen Mary
to Nicholas Heath her chancellor, Archbishop of York,
for £3,000. The land was inclosed by a pale, whence
it was called a park, and is marked as such in Norden
and Speed's map of 1610. This grant was confirmed
by Queen Elizabeth, (fn. 25) but as Heath had been deprived
for refusing the oaths to the queen, the nominal possession was conveyed to his brother William in 1564. (fn. 26)
The ex-archbishop continued, however, to reside, and
died here or in London in 1578, (fn. 27) when his nephew
Thomas is referred to by Lord Montagu as 'the nowe
(or newe) owner.' Thomas forfeited his lands in 1588, (fn. 28)
but was restored, and in 1606 conveyed them to Francis
Leigh. (fn. 29) The next year he conveyed to Antony Cope, (fn. 30)
who in 1614 sold to William Hale. (fn. 31) John Hale conveyed it to Henry Henn in 1654. (fn. 32) The same family
held it in 1681. (fn. 33) The house was let, and before
1720 was the property of John Martin, (fn. 34) who conveyed it in that year to John
Crawley. (fn. 35) Mr. Revel, M.P.
1734–52, is said to have owned
it. (fn. 36) His daughter and heiress
married Sir George Warren in
1758, and their daughter married Lord Bulkeley in 1777.
The latter died in 1822,
having left it to Sir Richard
Bulkeley Williams, his nephew.
From him it was bought by
Sir Denis le Marchant, father
of the present owner, Sir Henry
le Marchant, in 1838. (fn. 37) The
old house was pulled down and the park broken
up in the 18th century. The farm called Chobham
Park is on the old site, and parts of the double moat
round the old house remain.
Le Marchant. Azure a cheveron or between three owls argent.
The manor of STANNARDS, STANYORS, or
FORDS was held of the abbey of Chertsey with the
manor of Ham next Chertsey by John de
Hamme and Alina his wife from the feoffment
of Thomas de Saunterre in 1307. (fn. 38) John de Hamme
died seised of 'Stanhore' in 1319–20. (fn. 39) During
the reigns of Edward II and Edward III it was
held, under the de Hammes, by a family of the name
of Ford, (fn. 40) whose name became attached to that of
the manor, which in later times always appears under
the name of the manor of Stanners and Fords. A
dispute arose in 1343 concerning land in 'Stanore'
which John de Totenhale claimed to have received
from Alice de Ford and Ralph. It was adjudged that
John de Totenhale, being illegitimate, could not
inherit this land, which therefore became escheat to
the abbey. It was afterwards claimed by Agnes, a
daughter of Ralph and Alice. (fn. 41) The manor seems to
have remained united to that of Hamme for some
time longer. It is at least probable that Nicholas
Fitz John, who held the latter (q.v.) about 1400, also
held land at Stanore. (fn. 42) After this date there appears
to be no record of it until 1532, when the manor, then
in possession of William Lambert, was leased for thirty-one years to John Rogers of Chobham at the rent of
£7 2s. 8d. (fn. 43) William Lambert died before 1539,
when his widow Alice and daughter Collubra, wife
of Richard Warde, conveyed the manor to the king
in exchange for other lands. (fn. 44) In 1554 the Crown
extended the lease previously made to John Rogers to
his son Henry for a term of twenty-one years. (fn. 45) The
manor in 1559 was granted to Thomas Reve and
George Evelyn and the latter's heirs, to hold by knight's
service, (fn. 46) Reve being only a trustee. Evelyn died in
1603, and the manor of Stannards passed to his second
son John Evelyn, a settlement having been made on the
marriage of George eldest son of John Evelyn with
Elizabeth Rivers. (fn. 47) In 1618 the moiety of the manor
was conveyed by John Evelyn and his wife to Robert
Hatton as a settlement on his younger son John
Evelyn on the latter's marriage; George Evelyn
released his right to his brother, and in 1621 the other
moiety of the manor was conveyed to him. (fn. 48) John
Evelyn the younger apparently re-sold the manor to
his brother George and his son Sir John in 1624, (fn. 49)
and the latter was in possession in 1636, (fn. 50) when he
conveyed it to George Duncombe and Henry Baldwin
in trust for James Linch, who died seised of the manor
of Stannards and Fords in 1640, leaving as heiresses
his granddaughters Eleanor, Susan, and Elizabeth
Gauntlett. (fn. 51) It is probable that Eleanor and Susan
married Robert Parham and Robert Hussey respectively and released their right in the manor in 1651. (fn. 52)
In 1687 the manor was in possession of Francis
Swanton, (fn. 53) son of William Swanton, who married
Elizabeth the youngest granddaughter of James Linch. (fn. 54)
Francis Swanton is said to have sold it to Nathaniel
Cocke in 1694. (fn. 55) In 1721 his widow Anne Cocke
was seised of it, with reversion to Zachariah Gibson, (fn. 56)
to whom Joseph Paris and Sara, probably the daughter
of Anne Cocke, had released their interest. (fn. 57) In the
same year Anne Cocke and Zachariah Gibson conveyed
'the manor or lordship or reputed manor or lordship
of Stannards and Fords' to John Martin, who in 1728
sold it to Thomas Woodford for £2,300, (fn. 58) the sale
including two farms known as Forde Farm and Coxhill
Farm, a common called Mynfield Green, and other
lands. Thomas Woodford's son Thomas inherited the
major part of his father's estate in 1758, (fn. 59) and in 1761
sold the manor of Stannards and Fords to Thomas
Sewell, whose son and heir T. B. H. Sewell inherited
it in 1784, selling in 1795 to Edmund Boehm, who
owned it till 1819. (fn. 60) Mr. Boehm's property was
sold in 1820 after his bankruptcy, and the manor was
acquired by Mr. James Fladgate, corn merchant of
Chertsey. He died in 1857 (fn. 60a) and left it to his son
James Fladgate. The latter's son Henry sold the
manor. The manor-house now belongs to Sir Henry
Denis le Marchant, the land and manor to Mr. Otter,
J.P., of Queenwood, and Miss Peele. (fn. 61) The manor-house, now tenanted by Mr. A. E. Greenwell, is
in part an early 17th-century building with some
good Jacobean woodwork. It was probably erected
by one of the Evelyns, the old manor-house being a
timbered house still standing on the other side of the
road, or Stanner's Hill Farm belonging to Mr. Baker
of Ottershaw Park. The former is a large, picturesque
old cottage of whitewashed brick and half-timber with
a tiled roof. It is on the plan of a T with gabled
ends to the head and hipped roof at the foot; and
is in two stories. It is now divided into two
cottages.
ADEN is a house and small estate in Chobham,
sometimes called a manor in title-deeds. A John
Ardern held land in Chobham in 1331. (fn. 62) John
Danaster, baron of the Exchequer, died seised of
the manor of Aden in 1540. (fn. 63) His daughter Anne,
then aged two, afterwards married Owen Bray,
second son of Sir Edward Bray of Shiere. Their son
Edward had a son Owen, (fn. 64) whose daughter married
a Mr. Sear, and their daughter married Mr. Johnson.
The manor was sold to General Broome, and then to
Mr. Jerram the vicar of Chobham in 1808. It passed
through four more owners to Miss Perceval, the
present owner. The house was rebuilt on another
site, and is now called 'Chobham House.' The
mill, which was part of the estate, was sold separately
by Captain Sanders in the 19th century, and is now
owned by Mr. F. W. Benham.
CHURCHES
The church of ST. LAWRENCE
consists of a chancel 28 ft. 1 in. by
15 ft. 11 in., a nave 72 ft. 6 in.
by 18 ft., with a north aisle 11 ft. 3 in. wide and a
south aisle and transept 6 ft. 10 in. wide. At the
west end of the nave is a tower 11 ft. 1 in. square,
with a wooden west porch, and at the east end of the
north aisle is a small vestry.
The earlier church was a small building consisting
of a chancel with a nave of about half the length of
the present one, dating from the beginning of the 12th
century or a little earlier. Parts of two of the early
windows still remain high up in the south wall of the
nave, cut into by the arcade which was built about 1180,
when the south aisle was added. In the 13th century a
transept chapel was added at the east end of the aisle,
which with the nave was lengthened westwards by
the addition of one more bay, the old west respond of
the south arcade being replaced by a square pier. The
history of the chancel during this time has been lost
by its complete rebuilding, noted below. The tower
was built about 1450, and thus the church remained
until 1866, when the north aisle was added and the
galleries and high pews removed. In 1892 the west
porch was reconstructed, a few old timbers being used.
In 1898 the whole of the chancel and the chapel east
of the south aisle were rebuilt.
In the east wall of the modern chancel is a triplet
of lancets, and in the north wall is a single lancet, also
modern. The old chancel had a second north window and a south doorway, but these were removed at
the rebuilding. The chancel arch is two-centred and
of one moulded order springing from scalloped corbels.
The south arcade of the nave is of five bays, the
eastern bay, which opens to the south chapel, not being
continuous with the rest. It has been lately rebuilt,
and is a copy of the late 12th-century arcades, but
without the half-round responds.
The next three bays have two large circular
columns and a half-round east respond, all with
moulded bases and scalloped capitals. The columns
and arches are of chalk, the latter being two-centred
and of a single order with chamfered edges and a splayed label
towards the nave. The middle
arch of the three is lower than the
others, and the western half of the
third arch seems to have been rebuilt, perhaps in the 13th century,
at the lengthening of the church.
The second capital fits its column
clumsily, and the arrangement of
the scallops on the south side and
the jointing suggest that it has
been made up with the capital of
the original west respond. The
western bay is similar to the others
as regards the arch, but has square
piers with chamfered edges, and a
respond to match. The abaci
throughout are grooved and chamfered.
The two early windows already
mentioned occur over the second
bay from the east and the second
circular column respectively. They
can only be seen on the nave side,
and appear as deeply splayed round-headed openings, with part of the
stone head showing in the western
one, all the rest being plastered.
The south chapel, which is practically a continuation of the south aisle, has a modern east window of
two trefoiled lights with a pierced quatrefoil spandrel,
and in the south wall are two modern lancets.
Below the sill of these lancets is inserted the head
of a narrow round-headed recess of uncertain origin.
There is a modern two-centred arch with chamfered orders between the transept and the aisle.
There are two south windows in the south aisle,
one of 15th-century date though much restored, and
the other a modern copy of the same. They have
each three cinquefoiled lights under a square head
without a label, and their inner splays are old with
stout wood lintels in the place of rear-arches. To
the west of them is the south doorway, which is of
late 15th-century date and has hollow-chamfered
jambs and a four-centred head, with a wood lintel inside like the windows. The west window of the aisle
is modern and has two trefoiled lights with a pierced
circle in the spandrel.
The modern north arcade to the nave is of five
bays with double shafts of a very meagre description
with moulded bases and carved capitals, and the two-centred arches are of one order with moulded edges.
The north-east window of the north aisle and that in
the west wall are of 13th-century design, the remaining four being of 15th-century character, and in the
east wall of this aisle is the doorway to the vestry.
The tower arch is of 15th-century date with two
chamfered orders, and the west doorway, which has a
moulded two-centred arch, is covered by an oak porch
which is all new except its four-centred outer arch and
parts of its panelled western uprights, which are 15th-century work. In the south wall of the tower is a
small doorway leading to the stair-turret. The tower
is faced with Heath stone, and is in two tall stages
with an embattled parapet, a short octagonal leaded
spire, and plain two-light belfry windows; the west
window over the doorway is of three cinquefoiled
lights with tracery, and over it, partly hidden by a
clock face, is a small single light.
Chobham Church: Nave, showing Early Windows
The wall of the south aisle is built in a chequer
pattern of Heath stone and ironstone conglomerate,
and all the modern walling is entirely of this conglomerate. The roofs are tiled, that of the nave continuing without a break over the aisles, the eaves
courses on the south side being of Horsham slates.
Near the south-east angle of the south chapel is an
old dial-stone about 9 in. square, with two concentric
circles within which are ten radiating lines unequally
spaced.
The timbers of the nave roof are modern covered
with modern boarding, but there are four massive old
tie-beams still in position. The south aisle has an old
roof with vertical posts on the north side standing
clear of the wall and resting on wood brackets; from
these spring struts to the purlin, which is further
strengthened by curved wind-braces. All the other
roofs are modern.
The font is of 16th-century date, and is one of the
very scarce instances of a font constructed of wood; it
is octagonal, each side forming a heavily-moulded
panel, and the basin is hemispherical and lined with
lead. The stem and base are of modern stonework.
In the vestry at the east end of the north aisle is a
fine old iron-bound chest of uncertain date; two of the
iron bands have fleur de lis ends, and there are three
locks; the lid is apparently of later date. The hinges
of the south door also seem ancient, and in the nave
hangs a fine brass chandelier for twelve candles,
which bears the names of the vicar and churchwardens
and the date 1737. In the chancel is a copy of this,
made in 1899.
On the west jamb of the arch between the nave
and the south transept is a brass inscription in two
lines, the ends of the lines missing:—'Here lyeth
buryed Will[ia]; Heith of Chabh[am]; … Countye of
Surray Esquire who died ye xix November in the
yere of our Lorde God mcc…' William Heath
was brother of Nicholas Archbishop of York.
Plan of Chobham Church
Below this is another brass to William Soker,
undated, but of the 17th century, with a set of three
elegiac couplets in Latin.
In the chancel is a floor-slab to Jane, widow of
Samuel Thomas and daughter of Anthony Fenrother,
1638. The arms, as here shown, are:—A cheveron
between three terrets with three ostriches on the
cheveron, in a quarter a man on a tower holding a
banner, the whole within an engrailed border.
Another slab is to Sir Anthony Thomas, 1641, and
his wife Maria, 1658, and there are several other
monuments to the same family.
There is also a copper tablet, fixed in the chancel
in 1908, to Nicholas Heath, Bishop of Rochester
1539, of Worcester 1543, and Archbishop of York
1555. He lived at Chobham Park in 1571, 1573,
and 1574, and died at Chobham or in London in
1578, and was buried in the chancel of this church.
There are a number of late monuments to the Caldwell family.
In the belfry are eight bells, the treble and second
being by Mears & Stainbank, 1892, and the third
by the same firm, 1880. The fourth is by William
Eldridge, 1684, and the fifth and seventh by Robert
Eldridge, 1597. The sixth is by William Culverden
of London, c. 1525, and bears in black-letter with
crowned capitals 'Sancta Mergereta ora pro nobis,'
with the founder's mark. The tenor is another of
Robert Eldridge's bells, dated 1610.
The most interesting piece of the plate is a fine cup
of 1562, the straight-sided bowl being alone of this
date, while the fluted base and the stem with its knot
appear to belong to a secular cup of c. 1540–50, but
have no marks on them.
Beside this there is a paten of 1727, a flagon of
1755, and a large two-handled cup with a cover which
was made in 1787. There is also a standing paten
of 1840, another small paten of 1897, and a pewter
almsdish inscribed 'Chobham Church in Surrey
1712.'
The church also possesses two small old collecting-boxes with handles and a circle of geometric ornament
on the top.
There are five books of registers, the first two of
which have been very carefully restored and bound.
The first is of parchment, and contains all three entries
from 1654 to 1730; the second has the same from
1730 to 1770, and is a paper book. The third contains baptisms and burials from 1770 to 1812; the
fourth marriages from 1754 to 1783; and the fifth
marriages from 1784 to 1812.
The church of ST. SAVIOUR, Valley End, is a
small brick building, erected in 1867, and consisting
of a chancel with a south vestry and organ-chamber
and a nave with a north porch. Over the west gable
is a wood bell-turret. The roofs are tiled and all the
internal fittings are modern.
The parish church of HOLY TRINITY, West
End, is a small building consisting of a chancel consecrated in 1890, nave consecrated in 1842, and a
vestry built in 1906. The material is stone and
the style is of the 13th century. Over the west
end is a small bell-turret with a square spire. The
entrance is at the west end.
There is also the iron mission chapel of St. Luke.
ADVOWSONS
The Domesday Survey records
the existence of both a church and a
chapel at Chobham, in the possession
of the abbey of Chertsey. (fn. 65) The abbot caused the
chapel to be repaired in 1318, (fn. 66) but after this there
is no further mention of a chapel. As, however, it
seems to have been dedicated in honour of St. Lawrence,
it may probably be identified with the present church
of St. Lawrence, in which case the church was presumably Bisley Church (q.v.).
The church of St. Lawrence remained in the
hands of the monks until the surrender of the abbey
in 1537. (fn. 67) A vicarage was ordained there in 1330
by Abbot John de Rutherwyk, and was augmented
in 1427. (fn. 68) Among the pensions due to the abbot and
convent was an annual one of 10s. and 6 lb. of wax,
which was paid by Chobham vicarage. (fn. 69) This pension, previously amounting to 20s. and 6 lb. of wax,
had been reduced in 1230. (fn. 70) In 1537 the church,
with the rectory and advowson, were surrendered to
the Crown by John Cordrey, Abbot of Chertsey. (fn. 71)
Later in the same year a grant of the rectory was
made to the new foundation at Bisham. (fn. 72) The grant
must have included the advowson of the church, as in
1538 the abbot received licence to alienate both from
the monastery to Sir Thomas Pope, treasurer of the
Court of Augmentations. He, in his turn, alienated
them to the Dean and Chapter of the cathedral church
of St. Paul, London, who held them, by the service
of one knight's fee, to the use of the chaplains of
two chantries in the church of St. Paul. (fn. 73) At the
suppression of the chantries the rectory and advowson
returned to the Crown; an effort made by the Dean
and Chapter of St. Paul's in 1587 to recover them
proved ineffectual, (fn. 74) as they remained in the Crown
until 1620. A grant of the rectory alone had been
made to William James in 1551 for twenty-one years,
reversion being granted in 1564 to William Haber
and Richard Duffield, (fn. 75) from whom it passed immediately to Owen Bray of Aden in Chobham, who died
in 1568 possessed of it. (fn. 76) His grandson was Owen
Bray, who conveyed it in 1638 to Sir Thomas White, (fn. 77)
from whom it descended to the Woodroffes. (fn. 78) The
latter conveyed it to Elizabeth and Philip Beauchamp
in 1687. (fn. 79) After this date the rectorial tithes appear
to have been divided. Sir Anthony Thomas Abdy
of Chobham Place purchased a part of the great tithes
of Anthony Beauchamp before 1774. (fn. 80) The present
impropriators are Sir Neville Abdy and Sir Henry
le Marchant, the owner of Chobham Place.
In 1620 the advowson was granted with the manor
to Sir Edward Zouch, (fn. 81) and it remained in the possession of the lord of the manor until 1752, (fn. 82) when some
of the Onslow property was sold, including the advowsons of Chobham and Bisley. They passed together
for a time (fn. 83) (see Bisley), Henry Forster presenting in
1800, and the Thornton family in 1810 and 1833. (fn. 84)
The vicarage is now in the gift of the Rev. W.
Tringham.
Valley End was formed into an ecclesiastical parish
separate from Chobham and Windlesham in 1868.
The living is in the gift of the Bishop of Winchester.
West End became a parish in 1895. The vicarage
is in the gift of Miss Tringham.
CHARITIES
The older charities include Smith's,
distributed as in other Surrey parishes.
In 1721 Gainsford Thomas of
Chobham Place left by will a charge on land of £4
a year for the poor, and for teaching a child or children to read and write and keep accounts, and also
three cottages for the poor. These do not, however,
now exist.
In 1722 Mrs. Mary Hope left £5 a year for teaching girls, and 10 guineas a year charged on land for
the poor.