Hascombe

Hascombe
Village and civil parish
Hascombe village, looking towards St Peter's Church and The White Horse public house
Hascombe Location within Surrey
Population	307 (2011 Census) [1]
OS grid reference	SU997397
District	Waverley
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Godalming
Postcode district	GU8
Dialling code	01483
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Godalming and Ash [2]
List of places UK England Surrey 51°09′02″N0°34′18″W / 51.1505°N 0.5716°W / 51.1505; -0.5716

Hascombe is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England. It is around 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Godalming in the Borough of Waverley. The settlement contains a large cluster of cottages and country estates, St Peter's Church, the village green, a fountain, pond, a central public house and is surrounded by steep wooded hillsides.

Toponymy

The earliest records of the settlement are from 1241, in which it appears as Hasecumbe and under the modern spelling "Hascombe". Additional variants from the 13th century include Hescumbe (1243), Hascumbe (1255), Hassecumbe (1266) and Escumbe. (c. 1270). The second part of the name "‑combe", is generally agreed to derive from the Old English (OE) cumb, meaning a valley. ^[3] The first element "Has‑" may come from hese or hæse (OE) meaning "brushwood", or from hægtesse (OE) meaning "witch". ^{[3] [4]}

Geography

Hascombe's has a natural fresh-water spring that attracts many visitors: the fountain itself was commissioned in 1887 by local landowner Edward Lee Rowcliffe as a memorial to his late brother. The fountain is Grade II listed. ^[5] The damming of a stream in the 15th century created the Church Pond.^{[ citation needed ]}

Hills

A promontory that adjoins Hascombe Hill from 1796 to 1816 Hascombe hosted a station in the shutter telegraph chain which connected the Admiralty in London to the dockyard at Portsmouth.

Hascombe has the following summits in the Surrey Hills National Landscape: ^[6]

Hill	Elevation	Rank within Surrey	Range
Hascombe Hill	197 m (646 ft)	14th	Greensand Ridge
Breakneck Hill	189 m (620 ft)	15th
Hydon's Ball	181 m (594 ft)	16th

History

Above the village is Hascombe Hill, the site of an Iron Age multivallate hillfort. Pottery sherds recovered from the 2.5 ha (6.2-acre) site suggest that it was occupied between 200 and 50 BCE. ^{[7] [8]}

Hascombe is thought to have been part of the Manor of Bramley until the early 14th century. ^[9]

It was during a stay at Hoe Farm in 1915 that statesman and future Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill learned to paint. ^[10]

Demography

Hascombe is part of Bramley, Busbridge and Hascombe ward, which has a much higher than average home ownership than the South East Region and nation. ^[11]

Landmarks

The public house, The White Horse, a 16th- or 17th-century Grade II listed building with many later extensions, is constructed from the local Bargate stone, a local term for the hard masonry material which is a type of limestone with traces of greensand. ^[12]

In the southern part of the main street is a 3 ft (0.91 m) high, 15 ft (4.6 m) square animal pound: according to English Heritage, this is a 15th century stone construction and is listed for its uniqueness in the county. ^[13]

St Peter's Church

Main article: St Peter's Church, Hascombe

St Peter's Church is a Victorian gothic revival church built in 1864. It replaced an earlier 13th Century church that had become very dilapidated. ^[14]

Notable residents

Current and former residents include the film star Dirk Bogarde; ^[15] Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky; ^[16] former member of The Jam, Bruce Foxton; ^[17] boss of McLaren F1 Formula One racing team, Ron Dennis; broadcaster Chris Evans; and actor Billie Piper. The wildlife artist Archibald Thorburn lived and died in the village. His grave lies in the parish churchyard. ^[18]

References

1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
2. "Location of Godalming and Ash". parliament.uk. July 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
3. Gover, J.E.B.; Mawer, A.; Stenton, F.M. (1969). The place-names of Surrey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 243.
4. "Key to English Place-names : Hascombe". University of Nottingham. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
5. Historic England (28 October 1986). "Fountain at junction with Hoe Lane (Grade II) (1240642)". National Heritage List for England .
6. Database of British and Irish Hills Retrieved 6 March 2015
7. Historic England. "Hascombe Camp: a small multivallate hillfort north west of Lodge Farm (1008522)". National Heritage List for England.
8. Hooker, Rose; English, Judie (2016). "Analytical surveys of Holmbury and Hascombe hillforts" (PDF). Surrey Archaeological Collections. 99: 111–118. doi:10.5284/1069415.
9. Malden, H.E., ed. (1911). "Parishes: Hascombe". A History of the County of Surrey. Vol. 3. pp. 102–104. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
10. "Don't lose the plot". The Daily Telegraph. London. 8 August 2005. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
11. Key Statistics: Population; Quick Statistics: Economic indicators Archived 11 February 2003 at the Wayback Machine . (2011 census and 2001 census) Retrieved 27 February 2015.
12. The White Horse architectural Grade II listing. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1260891)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 6 March 2015.
13. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1261122)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 6 March 2015.
14. Jenkins, Simon (2000). England's Thousand Best Churches. London: Penguin Press. pp. 676–677. ISBN   0-141-01126-2.
15. Penny Churchill (28 February 2008). "Country houses with history". Country Life. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
16. "Surrey's richest 50 2009: The top ten". Surrey Life. Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
17. "Ex-bassist with the Jam supports bid to save beauty spot". 12 March 2014.
18. Thorburn, Archibald (1967). Fisher, James; Parslow, John (eds.). Thorburn's Birds (1990 ed.). London: Michael Joseph (Mermaid Books). p. 6. ISBN   0-7181-2183-X.

External links

• Hascombe village
• Hascombe Parish Council

Next station upwards	Admiralty Shutter telegraph line 1795	Next station downwards
Netley Heath	Hascombe	Blackdown