Ockley

Ockley
Ockley Green
Ockley  Ockley shown within Surrey
Area	13.75 km2 (5.31 sq mi)
Population	871 (Civil Parish)[1]
- Density	63 /km2 (160 /sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ1540
Civil parish	Ockley
District	Mole Valley
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Dorking
Postcode district	RH5
Dialling code	01306
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Mole Valley
List of places UK England Surrey

Ockley is a rural and semi-rural village in Surrey. It is centred around the straight modern road using Stane Street (Chichester), south of where it has diverged from the A24 from London. It has a medieval parish church, see list of places of worship in Mole Valley.

History

Finds of small artifacts dating to Roman Britain due to the Roman road stretching from Chichester to London here have been made since at least the 19th century.^[2]

Ockley's name fits the uncertain site of where battle took place described in the entry for the year 851 of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. According to the chronicler, king Æthelwulf and his son Æthelbald, together with the West-Saxon army, fought against an invading Danish army of 350 ships that had plundered London and Canterbury previously, and had also put king Beorhtwulf of Mercia to flight. The chronicler refers to the battlefield as Aclea, Oak Lea, and the Danish army was defeated suffering “the greatest slaughter… we have heard tell of up to this present day”.

Ockley appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Hoclei. It was held by Radulf (Ralph) from Richard Fitz Gilbert. Its domesday assets were: 1 hide. It had 5 ploughs, woodland worth 20 hogs. It rendered £3 10s 0d to its overlords per year.^[3]

Nicholas Culpeper, a leading Stuart period herbalist, was born here on 18 October 1616.

In 1911 the parish was "agricultural, except for a little brick and tile making".^[2]

Amenities

Pubs/restaurants

• Cricketer's Arms
• Inn on the Green
• King's Arms
• Bryce's Restaurant (also known as the Old School House).

Convenience stores and services

Ockley has a Post Office, village shop and garage, and a local vegetables shop towards the station.

Sports

Informal football is generally played on Ockley Green which has football posts in place.

Ockley has Gatton Manor Golf Course on the outskirts of the village, within the parish bounds.^[4]

The village has featured in longer routes of the London-Surrey Cycle Classic.

Geography

Between Dorking and Horsham, close to the Sussex/Surrey border, Ockley stretches to the escarpment of Leith Hill, the second highest point in South East England, outranked by Walbury Hill in the far south-west of Berkshire. The northern border as such is marked by the Greensand Ridge. Close to this small beds of Sussex marble which is in fact remains of a former limestone area of the Weald are found.^[2]

Nearest Settlements

	Holmbury St Mary	Coldharbour, Capel	South Holmwood
	Ewhurst Green, Ewhurst		Capel
	Ockley
	Walliswood and Okewood or Oakwood Hill, Ewhurst	Warnham	Kingsfold

The village is centred about 3 km west of the A24.

Transport

Roads

The A29 is the main road as set out. Local minor roads provide relatively straight access from just north of the village's developed area to Ewhurst to the west and Capel to the east.

Public transport

Rail and other

The village is nearest served by Ockley railway station which centred 2 miles (3.2 km) east, due to a Victorian aristocrat having imposed his manor's name on a station closer to Capel, Surrey. Neither a bus stop is in the village nor a taxi rank at Ockley station.

Footpath

An extensive network of footpaths connects the area to the Greensand Ridge and to the Sussex Border Path.

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

• List of places of worship in Mole Valley

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density United Kingdom Census 2011 Office for National Statistics Retrieved 21 November 2013
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 H.E. Malden (editor) (1911). "Parishes: Ockley". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 29 November 2013. 
3. ↑ Surrey Domesday Book
4. ↑ Gatton Manor Retrieved 2013-11-29

External links

Media related to Ockley at Wikimedia Commons

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