Mickleham, Surrey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mickleham | |
  Mickleham shown within Surrey |
|
| Population | 570[1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | Mole Valley |
| Shire county | Surrey |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Dorking |
| Postcode district | RH |
| Dialling code | 01372 |
| Police | Surrey |
| Fire | Surrey |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Mole Valley |
| List of places: UK • England • Surrey | |
Mickleham is a small village and civil parish[2] between the towns of Dorking and Leatherhead in Surrey, England covering 731 hectares.
Contents |
[edit] History
Mickleham lies near to the old Roman road known as Stane Street. It lay within the Copthorne hundred, an administrative division devised by the Saxons.
Mickleham appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Michelham and Micleham. It was partly held by Nigel from the Bishop of Bayeux and partly by Oswald from Richard de Tonbrige. Its domesday assets were: 7 hides; 1 church, 7 ploughs, 3 acres of meadow, woodland worth 4 hogs. It rendered £10.[3]
[edit] Village
The village has a very old church, two pubs (The Running Horses and The King William IV) and a village shop.
The A24 bypasses Mickleham with what is said to be the first dual-carriageway bypass to be built in the United Kingdom.
Across the A24, and towards Dorking, Westhumble is also part of the parish. There is a chapel there, originally a barn converted into a place of worship for the benefit of those building the railway over 100 years ago. Ninety navvies died in an accident when a tunnel they were working on collapsed; it has been posited that God was displeased with the barn conversion. Box Hill & Westhumble station provides a link to London and Horsham.
Due south of the village, at grid reference TQ169526, is the manor and hamlet of Fredley. Also to the south of the village is the Burford Bridge Hotel that was frequented by Lord Nelson. Across the A24 in Norbury Parka is 'Druids Grove' which is an area of mature Yew trees indicating an ancient place of worship for Druids.
The village gave its name to HMS Mickleham, a Ham class minesweeper.
[edit] Area
The surrounding area contains many Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) including the popular beauty spot of Box Hill.
The River Mole flows nearby and indeed as its name suggests the river in places goes underground due to the chalk bed in places. An old village tale tells of the village police officer looking in his bathroom mirror one morning whilst shaving to see a mature oak tree disappear into the ground. It turned out that the river flowing underground had been gradually wearing away the supporting ground under the tree.
[edit] Famous people, past and present
- Mystery writer Cyril Hare was born here in 1900.
- Richard Bedford Bennett, Prime Minister of Canada from 1930 to 1935, retired here after his life in politics. He is buried in St. Michael's Churchyard, the only former Prime Minister of Canada not buried in that country.
