Mickleham, Surrey

Mickleham
St. Michaels church
Mickleham  Mickleham shown within Surrey
Area	7.31 km2 (2.82 sq mi)
Population	585 (Civil Parish)[1]
- Density	80 /km2 (210 /sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ171534
Civil parish	Mickleham
District	Mole Valley
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Dorking
Postcode district	RH5
Dialling code	01372 or 01306
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Mole Valley
List of places UK England Surrey

Mickleham is a village and civil parish^[2] between the towns of Dorking and Leatherhead in Surrey, England covering 7.31 square kilometres (1,810 acres). The parish includes the hamlet of Fredley.

History

Mickleham lies near to the old Roman road known as Stane Street. Then, acquiring its Old English based name, the small settlement lay within the Copthorne hundred used for meetings of the wealthy and powerful for strategic purposes in Anglo-Saxon England.

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 (under) Richard de Tonbridge. Its domesday assets were: 7 hides; 1 church, 7 ploughs, 3 acres (12,000 m²) of meadow, woodland worth 4 hogs. It rendered £10 per year to its overlords.^[3]

Ninety Victorian workmen, 'considered navvies' died in an accident when a tunnel they were working on collapsed through Norbury Park within the parish. The village has featured prominently in cycling, following the loops of Box Hill adopted by various versions of the London-Surrey Cycle Classic which has acquired a federation of European cycling points status as an annual event, since its use in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

Amenities

Box Hill School Old mansion in Mickleham village, now a boarding school. It follows Kurt Hahn principles.

Places of worship

St. Michael's church has a Norman west tower and a Norman chancel arch, raised in the 1871 restoration by Ewan Christian, who added neo-Norman aisles and east end. The Norbury chapel on the north side is late Perpendicular, with chequerboard flint and clunch walling.^[4]

Community facilities and commerce

The village has two pubs (The Running Horses and The King William IV) and a village shop.

Schools

Box Hill School, a private school, is in the village, close to the village shop.

Transport

Roads

The A24 bypasses Mickleham with what is said to be the first dual-carriageway bypass to be built in the United Kingdom.

Railway

Across the A24, and towards Westhumble, Box Hill & Westhumble station provides a link to London and Horsham 150m west of Burford Bridge.

Localities

Fredley

Due south of the village 300m from its main cluster of buildings is the manor and hamlet of Fredley where is sited the Field Studies Council's Juniper Hall. A further 300, on the boundary which follows the Mole.

The Burford Bridge and the zig-zag road

Here is the hotel that was frequented by Lord Nelson, 150m north of which starts the Zig-Zag road, one of the two local roads for motor vehicles climbing Box Hill.

Norbury Park

Across the Mole and the A24 is Norbury Park. In this is the 'Druids Grove' which is an area of mature Yew trees.

Landmarks

The surrounding area contains many Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) including the Mickleham Downs and panoramic 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 being dissolved in places forming swallow holes (Sinkholes). Ian Middleton tells of his father, sometime in the 1950s, the village police officer P.C. Middleton, looking past 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 forming a giant such hole which had collapsed. The subsequent pit was not filled in until 1968 approx when it was still 30 ft deep and 30 ft across. P.C. Middleton also reportedly removed parts from an unexploded V2 rocket which fell in the village during World War II.

Famous inhabitants

• Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount 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.
• Lt-Col Sir John Norton-Griffiths, "Empire Jack", was buried at Mickleham Church on 18 October 1930.
• Detective story writer Cyril Hare was born in Mickleham Hall in 1900 and died at Westhumble in the parish in 1958; he is buried in the churchyard. So is his wife's grandfather, Sir Trevor Lawrence, who had famous orchid houses at Burford Lodge in the parish.
• Mrs. Maria Drummond lived at Fredley and was buried here.
• Conversation Sharp, politician, had his country retreat at 'Fredley Farm' and entertained many leading figures of the day there. :^[5]
• William Wingfield (MP), was born here.
• Calum MacPherson, actor and bon vivant lives here.

Demography and housing

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.

The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).

See also

HMS Mickleham, a Ham class minesweeper; the village gave its name to this.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mickleham, Surrey.

• Parish of Mickleham
• Mickleham Choral Society

v t e District of Mole Valley Towns · Villages Abinger Ashtead Beare Green Betchworth Box Hill Brockham Buckland Capel Charlwood Coldharbour Dorking Fetcham Friday Street Goodwyns Great Bookham Headley Holmbury Holmwood Leatherhead Leigh Little Bookham Mickleham Newdigate Ockley Pixham Westcott Westhumble Wotton Parks Ashtead Common Bookham Commons Glover's Wood Holmbury Hill Leith Hill Oxmoor Copse Norbury Park Polesden Lacey Places of worship Church of St Nicholas, Charlwood St Joseph's Church, Dorking St Martin's Church, Dorking Church of St. Mary, Fetcham Church of Our Lady and St Peter, Leatherhead Church of St. Mary & St. Nicholas, Leatherhead Education The Ashcombe School Box Hill School City of London Freemen's School Downsend School Manor House School The Priory School St Andrew's Catholic School St John's School St Teresa's School Therfield School Transport Railway stations Ashtead Betchworth Bookham Box Hill & Westhumble Dorking Dorking Deepdene Dorking West Holmwood Leatherhead Ockley Buildings and structures Betchworth Castle Bocketts Farm Burford Bridge Hotel Cherkley Court Denbies Wine Estate Dorking Caves Fetcham Park House Gatwick Aviation Museum Headley Court Juniper Hall Lowfield Heath Windmill Mullard Space Science Laboratory Wotton House Sport Football clubs Bookham Dorking Dorking Wanderers Leatherhead