Cranleigh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cranleigh | |
  Cranleigh shown within Surrey |
|
| Population | 11,241 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | Waverley |
| Shire county | Surrey |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CRANLEIGH |
| Dialling code | 01483 |
| Police | Surrey |
| Fire | Surrey |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Guildford |
| List of places: UK • England • Surrey | |
Cranleigh is a large village, proclaimed the largest in England, and is situated 8 miles south east of Godalming in Surrey. It lies to the east of the A281 which links Guildford with Horsham; neighbouring villages include: Ewhurst, Alfold and Hascombe.
Until the mid-1860s, the village was called "Cranley". The Post Office succeeded in getting the spelling changed to avoid confusion with nearby Crawley in West Sussex. The name is popularly believed to come from the large crane breeding grounds that were historically there. The figure of a crane adorns the old drinking water fountain of 1874, that can still be found in the middle of the village in 'Fountain Square'.
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[edit] History
Situated on both the Greensand Ridge, where it rises to 700ft (437.5m) at Winterfold Hill; and also the clay-and-sandstone Lower Weald, Cranleigh has little of prehistoric or Roman interest. A spur of the Roman road between London and Chichester runs north west to Guildford past nearby Farley Heath in Farley Green, a temple site.
The Anglican parish church of St Nicolas dates the first building on its site from around 1170, and the building was in its present form by the mid-14th century. The church has a gargoyle which is said to have inspired Lewis Carroll, who lived in Guildford, to create the Cheshire Cat. The parish is in the Diocese of Guildford.
Growth came due to improvements in transport; in 1813 the Wey and Arun Canal was authorised, passing a few miles to the west of the village. This route linked London (via the Thames and the Wey) with Littlehampton (via the Arun). However, the canal traffic was completely eclipsed by the Horsham to Guildford railway which opened in 1865, and the canal fell into disuse. A turnpike road was also built between Guildford and Horsham, the opening of which is commemorated by an obelisk near the church.
Cranleigh railway station was closed by Dr Beeching in 1965.[1]
Cranleigh possessed the first cottage hospital in the country founded by a local doctor in 1859. It has survived many attempts to close it, through fundraising by the local community. However it lost its beds for in-patients in May 2006.[2]
During World War Two, on August 27, 1944, the infant school was hit by a V-1 flying bomb and demolished. Fortunately this occurred early on a Sunday morning, and the school was empty. The only casualty was the Rector, who was in his garden not far away and was injured.[3]
The Regal Cinema opened on October 30, 1936. It survived for over sixty years, finally closing on March 14, 2002. The site is now occupied by a block of flats.[4]
In January 2007, Cranleigh Parish Council received a grant of arms.[5]
[edit] Today
Despite losing the rail link, Cranleigh has prospered both as a satellite of Guildford, and as a service and light engineering centre in its own right. Furthermore it is a retail centre for the surrounding smaller villages. The resident population of the area decreased by 2.0% in the ten years to 2001.
Cranleigh is twinned with Vallendar, Germany.
The Cranleigh Arts Centre runs a full programme of films, live music, theatre productions, children’s activities, exhibitions and workshops. Regular community arts projects and work with local schools are undertaken to reach and develop new audiences.
Every year the Cranleigh & South Eastern Agricultural Society hold the Cranleigh Show, which is a traditional agricultural show.
Cranleigh School, an independent boarding school, is located in the town. State schools include Glebelands School (a secondary school), Cranleigh Infant School, St Nicolas C Of E (Aided) Junior (Federal) School and Park Mead Primary School. There is also St Cuthbert Mayne Catholic Primary School.
There is a Roman Catholic church, Christ Redeemer of Mankind (in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel & Brighton), and churches of the Methodist and Baptist denominations, as well as the Anglican church of St Nicolas mentioned above.
[edit] Stocklund Square
This is a square near the centre of the town on the High Street, which is on the main road running through Cranleigh. Stocklund Square was constructed following the closing of the railway line in 1965, and the removal of the railway station.
The crane-theme bus shelter, that was added in the 1980s to spruce up the 1960s-era Stocklund square, was removed during recent changes to the square to accommodate a new Sainsbury's supermarket which was built in late 2004. Other shops in the square are owned by Oxfam, Blockbuster Video and Scorpia. The square used to have greenery and a fountain, but this was replaced with a more open layout that now accommodates local attractions and events such as an Easter Service and a French Market. It is situated on the High Street, In September 2006 the Sports Shop closed, along with a Wine shop, and were shortly replaced by a Carphone Warehouse and a Costa coffee shop.
[edit] Fountain Square
In 2006, the pedestrian area surrounding the large stone drinking fountain monument (1874) at the centre of the village was re-modelled, and given the name 'Fountain Square'. New granite paving, brick planters and trees were introduced in a design which created a haven from traffic and a new focal point for community events. During the refurbishments the old "threepenny bit" bus shelter was moved to Snoxhall behind the leisure centre. The old "threepenny bit" bus shelter had been a popular shelter for the youths of Cranleigh to drink and smoke in. The shelter stood in its new location for only a few weeks before it was vandalised and completely pulled to the ground. The main financial sponsors of this refurbishment were Surrey County Council (SCC) and the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), and the design was undertaken in-house by SCC.
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography
- Cranleigh: A History of Wealden Settlement by Christopher Budgen ISBN 0-9533088-0-4
