Ockham, Surrey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ockham | |
  Ockham shown within Surrey |
|
| Population | 384[1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | Guildford |
| Shire county | Surrey |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Postcode district | GU23 |
| Police | Surrey |
| Fire | Surrey |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Mole Valley |
| List of places: UK • England • Surrey | |
Ockham (pronounced /ˈɒkm̨/) is a tiny English village near East Horsley, in Surrey, England. The village lies to the east of the A3 which runs between Cobham and Guildford. Other neighbouring villages include Ripley, Wisley and Effingham.
Ockham appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Bocheham. It was held by Richard Fitz Gilbert. Its domesday assets were: 1½ hides; 1 church, 2 fisheries worth 10d, 3 ploughs, 2 acres of meadow, woodland worth 60 hogs. It rendered £10.[2]
Most notably, Ockham was the birthplace of William of Ockham,[3] famous philosopher - the proponent of Occam's razor, and, more recently, Ada Lovelace lived at Ockham Park.
Ockham Common, to the north east of the village, is the site of the disused Wisley Airfield[4][5], which has a paved 2-km (1.25 miles) runway (RWY 10/28). As late as 1972, this field was in service as a satellite fit-out and test centre for Vickers, linked to their main plant at Brooklands[6], Weybridge, capable of taking aircraft as large as the VC10.
Although the airfield is disused, the aviation connection remains, being the location of OCK [7], a VOR navigational beacon which anchors the South West (SW) Arrival Stack for London Heathrow Airport (ICAO: EGLL / IATA: LHR), which along with Biggin Hill, Kent (BIG - SE Arrivals), Bovingdon, Hertfordshire (BNN - NW Arrivals) and Lambourne, Essex (LAM - NE Arrivals) are London's main holds.
Ockham has a small church, All Saints;[8] a memorial to those who gave their lives in the Great War and World War II; a cricket club; and pubs The Hautboy and The Black Swan (near Ockham Common).
The village gave its name to HMS Ockham, a Ham class minesweeper.
[edit] References
- ^ Census data
- ^ Surrey Domesday Book
- ^ Who 2
- ^ Google Hybrid Map of Wisley Airfield
- ^ Wisley Airfield Interest Group
- ^ Google Hybrid Map of Brooklands Airfield
- ^ OCK VOR
- ^ Picture of All Saints Church
