HORSELL
Horishull (xiii cent.); Horsehill (xvii cent.); Horshill (xviii cent.).
Horsell lies a mile north-west of Woking Junction.
It is bounded on the north by Chobham, north and
east by Chertsey, south by Woking, west by Bisley.
It contains 2,913 acres. It measures about 3½ miles
east to west, and from 1 to 1½ miles north to south.
The soil is Bagshot sand. This lends itself to the
chief industry of the place, nursery gardening.
Messrs. Waterer, Messrs. Cobbett and others have
nursery gardens of American plants and trees. There
is also a brewery. Formerly there were extensive
commons, of which Horsell Birch and part of Woodham Common are the largest remaining; the Inclosure Act of 35 George III (fn. 1) affected part of the
commons of Horsell, as being in Pyrford Manor.
The Basingstoke Canal skirts the parish.
There are said to have been barrows upon the
heath, but there is now no trace of their existence. (fn. 2)
The aspect of the eastern part of the parish has
been quite transformed by the growth of the town
about Woking Junction. When the railway was
first opened the neighbourhood was so secluded that
a spot in Horsell parish, near the Basingstoke Canal,
was selected as a suitable place for a prize fight, as out
of the observation of the police. (fn. 3) This is now covered
with houses, a considerable number of which usually
reckoned in Woking are really in Horsell. Gentlemen's houses are increasing rapidly, and there are
famous golf links in Horsell.
There is a Baptist chapel in the parish built in 1901.
The schools (National) were built in 1851 and
enlarged in 1882. But a Church school and a
Baptist school existed about 1845. (fn. 4)
MANORS
HORSELL, though parochially a
chapelry of Woking, appears to have
been included in the manor and lordship
of Pyrford (q.v.) from the time of its earliest records
until the present day. No reference to it is found
in the Domesday Survey, but that it was part of the
land at the Pyrian Ford granted to Westminster in
956 is probable, as in 1278–9 the Abbot of Westminster claimed various privileges in his 'manors of
Piriford and Horishill.' (fn. 4) This is, apparently, the
first reference to Horsell as a separate manor.
Whether it was ever held as such is doubtful. Land
at Sithwood, which was in the parish of Horsell, (fn. 5) was
described as being part of the manor of Pyrford, (fn. 6) the
two sub-manors in Horsell were held as of the manor
of Pyrford, (fn. 7) and a survey of the manor of Pyrford,
taken in 1547, includes Horsell, Sithwood, and Woodham as part of its demesne. (fn. 8) In 1678 it is again
referred to as a manor, (fn. 9) being held at that time, as was
Pyrford, by Denzil Onslow, from whom the property
passed to the present lord, the Earl of Onslow, whose
manor of Pyrford includes Horsell and Woodham.
In 1540 John Danaster of Chobham died seised of
the manor or tenement called HILL PLACE, which
was held of the king as of his manor of Pyrford by
fealty and rent of 21s. Danaster left the manor to
his wife Anne for her life, with remainder to Robert,
natural son of John and Anne, and his heirs, or in
default to the right heirs of John. (fn. 10) His widow
afterwards married Sir Francis Dawtrey, and they
were in possession of the manor apparently about
1560. (fn. 11) It had passed, before 1571, to Christopher
Hennage and Anne his wife, (fn. 12) daughter of John Danaster and formerly wife of Owen Bray, who had died
in 1568. (fn. 13) They conveyed it in 1578 to Richard
Hatton, (fn. 14) but it changed hands again and in 1599 Sir
William and Sir George More, probably acting as
trustees, conveyed it to Henry Weston, (fn. 15) from whom
it passed in 1622 to Henry Collyer and Richard
Simones. (fn. 16) The Collyer family continued to hold it,
though it is not generally called a manor. (fn. 17) The
Collyers of Hill Place were among the lay impropriators of the tithes (q.v.), mentioned about 1682 and in
1804. In 1841 the Collyer family sold Hill Place to
Mr. G. Marshall of Godalming. In 1851 he settled
it upon his daughter on her marriage with Mr. T.
Shearburn. Her son Mr. R. W. Shearburn of the
Hall, Scraith, Yorkshire, is the present owner. The
house is let as a farm, and some of the land has been
sold off, a small part having been bought by Mr.
John Collyer of Horsell, a descendant of the former
owners. (fn. 18)
In 1316 is found the first trace of the manor of
TWICHEN, when Walter atte Rude settled on his
son Walter the estate described as 1 messuage, 40 acres,
half a mill, &c., with appurtenances in Chobham,
Horsell, and Pyrford. William de Carleton and
Alice his wife, and John atte Twichen and Alice
his wife, also put in a claim to this land. (fn. 19) It is
probable that it had previously belonged to John
atte Twichen and his wife, as in 1326 he sought
to replevy his and his wife's lands in Chobham,
Horsell, and Pyrford, which had been taken into the
king's hands for their default against Walter son of
Walter atte Rude. (fn. 20) In 1352 Roger Bernard and
Katherine and William atte Twichen conveyed
certain land in Horsell, Chobham, and Pyrford—a
messuage, 80 acres of land, &c.—to Richard Doxeye
and Alice his wife. (fn. 21) John atte Grenette in 1363
obtained from Richard Doxeye and Sabina his wife
and the heirs of Sabina land in these parishes, consisting of two messuages, 100 acres of land, &c. (fn. 22)
These different holdings seem to have become
amalgamated before the middle of the 16th century. They were then known as the manor or
capital tenement called Twichen, of which John
Danaster died seised in 1540, and which he held of
the king as of his manor of Pyrford by fealty and rent
of 18s. (fn. 23) He left the manor to his wife Anne for her
life, with reversion to their daughter Anne, who
afterwards married Owen Bray. (fn. 24) Anne the mother
married, as her second husband, Sir Francis Dawtrey,
and they were apparently seised of the manor about
the year 1560. (fn. 25) In 1572 this manor, together with
that of Hill Place, was held by Christopher Hennage
and Anne his wife. (fn. 26) The latter was the widow
of Owen Bray, for the next reference to Twichen,
in 1607, records that the site of the manor was
the property of Owen Bray; (fn. 27) John Bray also held
with Owen, (fn. 28) the two being grandsons of Owen and
Anne Bray. (fn. 29) In 1607 the reversion of the site
held for life by Susan, (fn. 30) wife of Richard Lumley,
of the inheritance of Owen Bray, was granted,
on a forty-year lease, to Richard Bonsey. (fn. 31) In 1615
Owen and John Bray conveyed the site to John
Bonsey and his heirs. (fn. 32) The term 'site of the
manor' probably includes the manor, or reputed
manor itself, of which John Bonsey was certainly
possessed by 1621, and of which he was seised in fee
at the time of his death, which occurred about 1638. (fn. 33)
The manor passed to his son Richard, who held it in
1678, when he brought a suit against John Scotcher,
whose father, William, was alleged to have held various
lands in Horsell of the manor of Twichen for which
the son refused to pay quit-rent or relief, declaring
that 'he knew not whether there were any such
manor of Twichen, nor knew the complainant's title
thereto or to the demesne lands thereof, and he said
he had no writings concerning the said estate, but
he believed complainant might be seised of a certain
messuage, farm and lands in Horsell, called Twichen.
He had heard that some of the complainant's ancestors
had seized oxen as heriots at the death of his grandfather, but his father maintained that no heriots
were due.' (fn. 34) The case as regards the quit-rents was
decided in favour of Bonsey, and Scotcher was ordered
to pay the arrears. The manor was held in 1744
by another Richard Bonsey, who conveyed it in that
year to Matthew Nicholls, (fn. 35) probably by way of
mortgage, for in 1755 Richard Bonsey left it in
his will to trustees for sale, (fn. 36) and in 1760 George
Gilbourne and Anne, William Whitmore and Mary,
Sarah Whitmore, widow, and John Armitage and
Jane (evidently the heirs of Bonsey) conveyed the
manor to Rowland Thomlinson. (fn. 37) After this date
the manor changed hands frequently. According to
Manning it was sold in 1774 to Sir Thomas Sewell,
whose family sold it in 1795 to Edmund Boehm, (fn. 38)
the owner of Ottershaw (q.v.) in Chertsey. He went
bankrupt, and his estates were sold in 1820. At the
present time the manor of Twichen is no longer in
existence. Two farms, called Scotcher's and Bonsey's
farms, lying in the north-east of Horsell and close to
Chobham parish probably represent the lands formerly
known as the manor of Twichen.
CHURCH
The church of OUR LADY consists of
a chancel 29 ft. 8 in. by 18 ft. 7 in., with
north vestries and a south organ-chamber,
a nave continuous with the chancel 51 ft. 10 in. long,
a south aisle 14 ft. 3 in. wide, and a west tower 10 ft.
3 in. square, all measurements being internal.
There is nothing of earlier date than c. 1320, and
to this period belongs the north wall of the nave.
The tower was added in the 15th century, and the
south aisle early in the 16th century, while the rest
of the building is quite modern. What the original
chancel was like there is nothing left to show, but before 1890 it was of brick, and where the organchamber now stands there was a brick vestry. In
1890 the whole of the east portion of the building
was rebuilt, and a bay added to the nave and aisle.
The east wall of the aisle was originally close to the
piscina still remaining in its south wall. The tower
was entirely recased with the exception of the stairturret about 1880, and when the east end of the
church was rebuilt in 1890 the remainder of the
church was restored.
There are several photographs in the vestry showing
different parts of the church before the work of 1890
was carried out.
The chancel has a large five-light window in the
east wall and a two-light one to the north, both being
of 14th-century style with traceried heads. Opposite the north window are a modern piscina and
sedilia of three bays, each with cinquefoiled ogee
heads and pierced spandrels.
At the south-west is an archway leading to the
organ-chamber, and a similar one in the north opens
to the vestry.
There is no chancel arch, but the chancel and
organ-chamber are separated from the nave and aisle
by modern wood screens.
The four windows of the north wall of the nave
are all of different date, the easternmost being a
square-headed 15th-century window of two trefoiled
lights, probably inserted to light an altar at the east
end of the nave; while the next, c. 1320, has two
trefoiled ogee-headed lights with a quatrefoil over in
a two-centred arch. The third window is all modern,
and has two lights with tracery over of flowing
character, and the westernmost window is of 15th-century date much restored, and has three cinquefoiled lights with a square head and a moulded label.
Only the lower part of the jambs and the sill are
original. The head was once raised so as to light a gallery
at the west end of the nave, which is now removed,
and the window has been lowered again.
The south arcade of the nave is of four bays with
hollow-sided octagonal columns and semi-octagonal
responds. The three western bays are old, and the
columns have octagonal moulded bases and capitals,
and the two-centred arches are of two hollow-chamfered orders. The modern column and respond at
the east have bases and capitals of different section.
In the south wall of the aisle are three windows; the
first modern, of three lights with intricate tracery in
the two-centred head; the second window, to the
west of this, has two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil
over, and is a modern copy of the 14th-century window in the north wall of the nave; while the third
window is of 15th-century character, like that opposite
to it in the north wall, and is of three trefoiled lights
under a square head with a moulded label; a part of
the double-chamfered jambs and the inside splays only
are old. The west window of the aisle is modern and
has three trefoiled lights with tracery over. Between
the first and second of the south windows is an old
piscina recess with a trefoiled ogee head. The basin,
which was apparently large and shallow, has lost its
projecting portion. The south doorway is between
the second and third of the south windows, and has
old plain-chamfered jambs and a two-centred head.
The tower is not set centrally with the nave, but
considerably to the south, the north face of its projecting north-east staircase-turret being set flush with
the north wall of the nave. The stair is entered
from the west end of the nave, and to the south of
it a pointed doorway opens from the nave to the
tower.
In the north and the south walls of the lower stage
of the tower are modern windows of two trefoiled
ogee-headed lights with a quatrefoil over, the inside
jambs and rear-arches in each case being old. The
west doorway of the tower is original, with the exception of a shallow outer order which belongs to the
casing, and has heavy hollow-chamfered orders with
a large roll between.
The tower is of three stages, embattled, and with
belfry windows like those in the bottom stage; the
nave has old timbers in the open timber roof with large
tie-beams, and that to the aisle is similar, but has only
one old tie-beam. This roof rests on stone corbels
over the nave arcade.
There are two plain old chests in the tower; one
on the floor above the ringing-chamber has three
iron straps with staples and two curious padlocks
one having the initials I.B. and the other I.H. The
covers to the keyholes cannot be opened without
pressing aside similar covers on the opposite sides of
the locks; one lock, however, has lost its covers.
The screen between the south aisle and the organchamber has old heads to six of its lights, of cinquefoiled ogee shape with foiled pierced spandrels.
The oak pulpit is of mid-17th-century date, and has
a moulded cornice and panels carved with a diamond
pattern. The double west doors of the nave appear
to be mediaeval work, probably contemporary with
the tower.
In the nave are several monuments and slabs. At
the east end, on the floor near the screen, is a blackletter inscription in brass as follows : 'Hic jacet tumulatus Johñ Aleyn Capellan['] anime cuius ppiciet deus
amen' Near this is a brass to Thomas Edmonds,
'citizen and mr. carpenter to the chamber and one of
the four vewers of that Honorable City of London.'
He married Ann Frognal, daughter of William Frognal, citizen and fishmonger of London, by whom he
had five sons and two daughters and he died in 1619,
'she still surviving until …'; the date of her death
is not filled in. He is represented above in a long
robe and his wife in a full skirt and wearing a straw
hat. Below are the children, the sons in one group
and the daughters in another. Two of the sons, one
of them a small boy, carry a skull each. Above are
two shields, one containing the arms of London, and
the second has a cheveron between three compasses,
the Carpenters' arms. A stone slab near this records
the death of John Collyer in 1689. On the north
wall of the nave, fixed to a modern stone, is an
inscription to 'Fayth Sutton,' the wife of John
Sutton the younger, and daughter to 'Hwgh Fearclough of London, gentleman.' She died in 1603.
Above on one plate are the figures of two sons and
one daughter, but these are not in their right place
and probably belong to John Sutton the elder, as
this lady had two daughters only.
To the west of this is another modern stone on
which is an inscription to John Sutton the elder, who
lived a widower 24 years and died in 1603. He
had two sons and one daughter. On the same stone
is an inscription to Thomas, the elder of these two
sons, who died in 1603. Above each inscription is a
figure, the old man in a long robe and the son in a
short cloak. Between the two figures are three shields,
two having : quarterly (1) a cheveron between three
cows, (2) a fesse between three ducks, (3) party cheveron-wise two voided molets in chief and one in base,
(4) a fesse between two cheverons. On the centre
point is a crescent for difference. The other shield
has the quarterly coat impaling a lion between three
fleurs de lis.
On the west wall of the nave is a small wall monument to John Greene, who died in 1651, and in the
south aisle is a large white marble monument to
James Fenn, 1793, who is shown in his robes as
Sheriff of London, kneeling at a desk with his wife
and daughter opposite him. The treatment is somewhat florid, but the survival of this Jacobean type of
monument is very interesting and curious at the end
of the 18th century.
There are five bells in the tower, originally all
cast by R. Catlin in 1741, but the second and fifth
have been recast in 1896 by Taylor & Son.
The plate comprises a silver cup of 1798, a chalice
and paten of 1892, and a flagon of 1888. There is
also a base metal paten dated 1818 and a flagon of
the same material dated 1860 and an old pewter
flagon dated 1713.
The registers are contained in five volumes the first
having entries of baptisms from 1653 to 1770, marriages 1654 to 1754 and burials 1653 to 1765.
The second contains marriages from 1754 to 1801.
The third has baptisms from 1770, and burials from
1765, both up to 1798. The fourth continues the
baptisms and burials from 1799 to 1812 and the fifth
has marriages from 1801 to 1812.
ADVOWSON
The chapel of Horsell originally belonged to the monastery of Westminster. The date of its foundation is not
apparent, but in 1258 the Abbot of Westminster granted
the advowson, with that of Pyrford, to the priory of
Newark. (fn. 39) By 1262 both chapels had been annexed
to the church of Woking, which was also among the
possessions of Newark Priory. (fn. 40) In 1291 the chapels
of Horsell and Pyrford were together valued at £10
annually, (fn. 41) and in 1428 were taxed at 15 marks. (fn. 42)
In 1457, owing to the smallness of the receipts of the
chapel of Horsell and its ruinous condition, Roger
Hallye, a canon regular of Newark, received licence
from the bishop to administer the sacraments to the
parishioners for one year, more or less, dating from
2 April, during which time he would take all the
profits. (fn. 43) Horsell remained attached to the rectory
of Woking and was surrendered, with the priory's
other possessions, in 1538, when the farm of the
chapel of Horsell was valued at 2s. (fn. 44) After the Dissolution it appears that the benefice, a curacy, was
rendered perpetual under a licence from the ordinary. (fn. 45)
The great tithes of Horsell were granted, with those of
Woking, to Francis Aungier, Baron Longford, being
subsequently held by his son and by the latter's
nephew, who was lay impropriator in 1679. (fn. 46) In the
mean time, the king apparently presented perpetual
curates, who both served and had an actual estate in
the chapel at a rent of 2s. (fn. 47) In 1628, at the suggestion of the Earl of Anglesey, the chapel was
granted to John Robinson, who served it. (fn. 48) The chapel,
with the vicarage house and lands and the small tithes,
was subsequently conveyed by the ministers themselves,
or by their widows, to their various successors until
about 1674, when Ann Alchorn, widow of the last
curate, sold the property to Godfrey Lee, a layman,
who appropriated the small tithes and closed the
chapel while he himself occupied the house belonging
to it. (fn. 49) In October 1679, however, the lay rector,
Lord Aungier, came forward and brought a suit
against Godfrey Lee, (fn. 50) maintaining that there could
not be two lay fees in the tithes of one parish. (fn. 51) It
was on the strength of this plea, apparently, that Lord
Aungier had presented to Horsell earlier in the year,
but doubts having arisen on that occasion as to his
right to do so, the incumbent was again instituted a
few weeks later by the Crown. (fn. 52) The dispute, however, was not immediately settled. Bishop Morley
of Winchester, evidently wishing to arrange matters
and to erect the curacy into a vicarage, bequeathed,
by his will, proved 31 October 1684, £10 per
annum for an augmentation to the 'vicarage' on the
conditions that the 'vicarage' house and tithe should
be restored to the church and that those who had
bought the great tithe should settle £10 per annum
more on the living for ever. The terms were not
complied with however, and the benefaction became
void. (fn. 53) Godfrey Lee in 1684 (fn. 54) still held the chapel
house and small tithes, but the property appears to
have been handed to the lay rector soon after, as
according to Manning both this and the great tithes
were sold by Lord Aungier to Richard Lee and
William Beauchamp in trust for Richard Bonsey,
Richard Roake, John Collyer, and John Scotcher, each
of whom was to enjoy a fourth share, and who, as
lay impropriators, had the right to appoint the curate. (fn. 55)
Manning gives the date of this conveyance as 1682
but it was probably a few years later, since, as has
been shown, the small tithes at least were held by
Godfrey Lee as late as 1684. In 1725 the advowson was in the hands of 'four lay impropriators.' (fn. 56)
In 1804 Henry and Edward Roake, Richard Fladgate,
and Henry Collyer were the lay impropriators, John
Collyer having purchased Bonsey's share and Richard
Fladgate that of Scotcher. (fn. 57) As late as 1879 the south
seats in the chancel were occupied by the Roake
family and those on the north side by the Collyer and
Fladgate families. (fn. 58) Throughout the 19th century
the patronage remained in the hands of landowners at
Horsell. (fn. 59) It is at present held by Mr. John Pares
of Southsea. The curacy was styled a vicarage by
the Act of 1868. (fn. 60)
CHARITY
Smith's Charity is distributed as in
other Surrey parishes.