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Farnham in Surrey County England History and GeographyFARNHAM, a parish in the hundred of FARNHAM, county of SURREY, comprising the market town of Farnham, the chapelry of Bagshot, and the tythings of Culverlands with Tilford, Runfold, Runwick, and Wrecklesham with Bourn, and containing 5413 inhabitants, of which number, 3132 are in the town of Farnham, 10 miles (W. by S.) from Guildford, and 38 (S.W.) from London, on the road to Southampton. This place, originally called Fernham, from the fern growing on the extensive heaths by which on all sides, except the south west, it is for many miles surrounded, was by Ethelbald, King of the West Saxons, annexed to the see of Winchester. In 893, Alfred obtained a signal victory over the Danes, who were ravaging this part of the country; and in the reign of Stephen, Henry de Blois, brother of that monarch, and Bishop of Winchester, erected, on a hill commanding the town, a castle of great strength and of considerable extent, which is said to have been seized by the Dauphin of France, in his expedition against King John. In the following reign, this castle having become a retreat for the mal-contents, was demolished by Henry III., in the war with the barons; but was subsequently rebuilt by the bishops of Winchester, with greater magnificence, as the episcopal palace. During the parliamentary war, the castle was garrisoned for the king, but being besieged by Waller, the parliamentary general, it fell into his hands, and was afterwards dismantled and nearly destroyed. The principal remains are some portions of the walls, and the keep, which still retains vestiges of its ancient strength: the deep fosse, by which the castle was surrounded, is on the north side occupied by a plantation of forest trees. At the Restoration the inhabited part was greatly improved by Bishop Morley, who expended £8000 in repairs: it has been since modernised, and is still the principal residence of the bishops of the diocese, and contains an extensive and valuable library belonging to the see. The park, three miles in circumference, commands a fine view of the valley in which the town is situated, and of the adjoining country to the south and south-east. To the east of the palace is a noble avenue of ancient elms, forming a delightful promenade, nearly a mile in length, which the inhabitants of the town enjoy by prescriptive right. The town is situated on the river Wey, and consists of four principal streets, diverging nearly at right angles from the market-place in the centre, and of several smaller streets, roughly paved, and lighted with oil by subscription during the winter. The houses are mostly well built, many of them are handsome, and the general appearance of the place is respectable and prepossessing: the inhabitants are supplied with spring water from pumps, and in the centre of the town is a reservoir of soft water, brought from the hills on the north by pipes, which crossing the park, first supply the castle. The view of the castle from the market-place, though partially obstructed by the market-house, is picturesque, and the environs abound with pleasing and richly varied scenery: to the south are fertile meadows bounded by hills crowned with wood, and to the north are extensive plantations of hops, for which the soil is peculiarly favourable. The manufacture of cloth, formerly carried on to a considerable extent, has been superseded by the cultivation of hops, which has prevailed here for about one hundred and fifty years, and at present constitutes the staple trade of the town. The hops, from the favourable nature of the soil, and the peculiar care bestowed on their culture, possess a decided superiority over those produced in any other part of the kingdom, and invariably obtain a higher price: they are almost exclusively sent to Weyhill fair, near Andover, where they are sold to the west country dealers. On the banks of the Wey are several flour mills, from which considerable supplies are sent to the London market by the Basingstoke canal, which crosses the high road within four miles of the town. The market, which was formerly well supplied with corn, is on Thursday: the fairs are on Holy Thursday and Midsummer-day, for horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, and November 13th, for horses and cattle. Farnham was anciently a borough, and returned members to parliament from the 4th of Edward II. till the 38th of Henry VI.: it had a charter of incorporation granted by the bishops, under which the government was vested in two bailiffs and twelve burgesses; but these privileges were so little regarded that the vacancies in the number of the burgesses were not filled up, and in 1790, the bailiffs having been indicted for not repairing the bridges at Tilford, surrendered their charter to the bishop, and sent the records of the borough to the castle. The town is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold here petty sessions for the division: the bishop holds a court leet in the spring, at which tythingmen and constables are appointed, and a court baron every third week, for the recovery of debts under 40s. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Surrey, and diocese of Winchester, rated in the king's books at £29. 9. 5., and in the patronage of the Archdeacon. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is a spacious and handsome structure in the later style of English architecture, with a low tower at the west end; it has a very fine east window of five lights, with elegant tracery. In 1825, the gallery over the north aisle was enlarged with two hundred and twenty additional free sittings, by a grant from the Incorporated Society for the enlargement of churches and chapels, and a similar increase of ninety-three free sittings for females was made in the gallery over the south aisle, by subscription. There is a place of worship for Independents, and also one at Tilford. A free grammar school had existed here prior to 1611, to which Dr. Harding, President of Magdalene College, Oxford, in that year, bequeathed a rent-charge of £10 per annum, which has been augmented by subsequent benefactions; the present income, nearly £30 per annum, is paid to the master, who receives private boarders, and pays to a schoolmaster in the town a certain sum for teaching the poor children that apply for gratuitous instruction. A National school, to which benefactions amounting to £25 per annum have been made, is principally supported by subscription. Almshouses for the residence and maintenance of eight aged persons were founded in 1619, by Andrew Windsor, who endowed them with a farm at Buscott, in the county of Berks, producing, with subsequent benefactions, about £80 per annum. At the distance of about two miles south of the town are the remains of the abbey of Waverley, founded in 1128, by Giffard, Bishop of Winchester, for monks of the Cistercian order, then introduced into England (the abbot, according to Gale, being accounted the superior of that order in this country), the clear annual revenue of which, at the dissolution, was £174. 8. 3.: the remains consist of part of the south aisle of the church, in the windows of which, within the memory of the present generation, were many specimens of the rich stained glass with which the church was decorated; and part of the dormitory, refectory, and the cloisters, richly mantled with ivy, and extending in detached portions over a space of three or four acres: stone coffins and numerous sepulchral remains having been frequently discovered on the spot. Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester, died at Farnham, and was buried at Winchester, but his heart was deposited at Waverley, and is said to have been dug up entire about six years since, enclosed in a leaden box, containing a saline liquid. Nicholas de Farnham, successively physician to Henry III., Bishop of Chester and Durham, and author of several works on the practice of physic and the nature of herbs; and the Rev. Augustus Montague Toplady, A.M. an eminent controversial divine of the last century, were natives of this place. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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