For the school in the UK see More House School, Frensham
Moor Park, Farnham, Surrey, England is a listed building and 60 acres (0.24 km2) of riverside grounds, in the former chapelry of Compton. [1] The grounds formerly extended to Mother Ludlam's Cave, a cave entrenched in local folklore which faces across the Wey (north branch) to the ruins of Waverley Abbey.
Following an early 20th century settlement to a dispute, public access is to a path running the length of the grounds. The building dates from 1630 but has been substantially altered, later that century, and in 1750 and 1800. Former names for it are Morehouse and Compton Hall. It was home to philosophical writer and satirist Jonathan Swift at the end of the seventeenth century; and served as a hydrotherapy retreat in the nineteenth century when it was visited by George Combe, who died here, the leading phrenologist of the day, and by naturalist Charles Darwin.
The North Downs Way runs along the pavement north of the site and runs east through woods of Runfold.
Access is possible by road, but walking provides many further areas to view. A major spur of the long-distance footpath, the Greensand Way commences in the grounds, passes the front of the house, leading to Moor Park Nature Reserve, Mother Ludlam's Cave and has a bridge to Waverley Abbey all at the far end of the grounds.
Moor Park Lane, a northern bridleway and former carriage drive, links the house to the A31 road at the Shepherd and Flock pub, Farnham with parking. To one side of this in water meadows with several channels is High Mill, which is Grade II listed and the partially hidden (and dry) remains of an artificial waterfall which featured on picture postcards in Victorian times. [2]
A house has stood on the site, next to the River Wey at the hamlet of Compton since at least the Tudor period when it had 434 acres (176 ha), 200 of which were detached in Farnham. In the pre-19th century sense, it was never a 'park' as its owner never had a right of free warren. The Feet of Fines for the county for the 35th year of Edward I (suggesting 1307) records a real estate action of 'land in Farnham' between Stephen de Trolleburg and his wife against Robert son of Richard de Westbroke. [3]
Whether they had held it or not in 1307, Compton Hall was held by indefinitely long lease of the Bishop of Winchester at a customary rent of 4s (equivalent to £205in 2021) by the family mentioned: William Westbroke/Westbrook holding from 1516 until his 1537 death without issue, when by moiety title the site devolved to the male grandsons of Florence Scarlett and Elizabeth Hull, which had become subject to a 40s a year lease to Henry Stynte in 1571, them having moved to Godalming. Five to six years later, Richard Cresswell then Anthony Bagge received it. Later, owner Robert Ashton leased it to his nephew, John Cotton. It formed part of the 1632 death estate of Sir Richard Clarke. [3]
About 1686 the house was bought by Sir William Temple from the Clarke estates and it was he who renamed it Moor Park after the Hertfordshire mansion of that name. The latter property also influenced the magnificent 5 acres (2.0 ha)-gardens that he laid out along the nearest part of the riverside. [3] [4] These are separately listed by English Heritage, acting under their legislative remit,
It was while at Moor Park that Temple employed Jonathan Swift as his secretary, and it was here that Swift wrote A Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books and met Esther Johnson, daughter of an impoverished widow who acted as companion to Temple's sister. Swift acted as her tutor and mentor, giving her the nickname "Stella", and the two maintained a close relationship for the rest of Esther's life: some believed that they secretly married in 1716. [5] Swift met many of Temple's distinguished guests during his time here: King William III, John Dryden, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele and others.
Temple died in 1699. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, but his heart, by his special wish, was placed in a silver casket under the sun-dial at Moor Park, near his favourite window seat. He left Moor Park to his granddaughter Elizabeth, who married her husband John Temple and died in 1770, leaving it to her nephew Basil Bacon, son of Nicholas Bacon of Shrubland Hall. [3] His estranged son Charles Williams resumed the name of Bacon on inheriting (due to lack of siblings' heirs) and the house became a hydrotherapy centre under La Trobe Bateman who bought it in 1858. [3] Here, Charles Darwin received hydropathic treatment in 1859 for his illness from Dr Edward Wickstead Lane. He wrote that he played billiards here and said "I really think I shall make a point of coming here for a fortnight occasionally, as the country is very pleasant for walking". He wrote that "it is really quite astonishing & utterly unaccountable the good this one week has done me", but later became more unwell and told his son that he was unable to climb more than halfway up the nearby 100m proud Crooksbury Hill.
One of Temple's descendants, Sir William Rose, [6] informed Farnham Urban District Council in 1897 that he intended to close the lodge gates of Moor Park and "not allow any person to enter without written authority". The council informed Rose's solicitor that "they had no doubt as to the rights of way over Moor Park and were resolved at whatever cost to use all proper means to preserve such rights". Matters escalated quickly. Rose determined that he would go ahead with the closure and the council prepared to reopen the gates, by force if necessary. Rose employed former Metropolitan Policemen and others to secure the gates by force. The events of Sunday, 17 January 1897 were not in keeping with the traditional view of a Victorian gentleman's estate on the Sabbath - Rose's men closed the gates and secured them with chains. A crowd of some four to five hundred local men (and a few women) gathered outside, armed with sticks, crowbars, sledgehammers and other tools or weapons. The council's men were cheered by the crowd as they forced open the gates using crowbars. The defenders (private forces) were no match for the crowd (who were supporting the removal of an unlawful obstruction). The event was dubbed the Moor Park Riot or the Battle of Moor Park.
The estate was purchased in the late 19th century by (William) Aldwin Soames (1850-1916), a solicitor and first-class cricketer, whose father, a Russian merchant and soap manufacturer, had founded Brighton College in 1845. [7] His family occupied the house until about 1937, when its freehold was sold by a Temple-Rose descendant to become a country club, "Swift's Club".
During World War II the house was requisitioned by the army who used it as a billet for Canadian troops. Moor Park became seriously dilapidated during this period and, in 1948, was bought by a developer for demolition. In the summer of that year Sir Harry Brittain wrote to The Times, appealing for it to be saved. A Canon, R. E. Parsons, responded by using the house to set up a Christian Adult Education centre, Moor Park College. At the end of 1949 Canon Parsons, his wife Hester, and their family came to live in the adjoining cottage. They devoted their energies, supported by financial gifts, volunteer help, and grants from Surrey County Council, to the venture of restoring the house and setting up the college. In 1953 funds were exhausted and an emergency meeting was called but the Hesters, supported by a group, the Friends of Moor Park, survived the crisis and, the following year, a milestone was reached when an educational trust was established to run the college.
The top floor was used by "Oversea Service" as their headquarters and college from 1955 to 1959. This organisation, set up by The Rev Dr Harry Holland and supported by the Colonial Service, Barclays Bank and other businesses, provided international briefing conferences for persons about to embark on voluntary or business ventures abroad (particularly South-east Asia) in order that they could better understand the local cultures and etiquette. Oversea Service, under Holland's directorship, moved in 1959 to Farnham Castle where, by 1986, it was providing briefings to 30,000 people a year. The departure of Oversea Service enabled the vacant space to be used for training for the ministry for four years until the establishment of a dedicated theological college in Durham.
It was to become the first in a chain of colleges for adult Christian education, under supervision of Canon R.E. Parsons, formerly the Secretary of the Churches’ Committee for Religious Education among men in the forces and Canon and Prebendary of Warthill in York Minster. The Moor Park College for Adult Christian Education was supported by financial gifts, volunteer help and grants from Surrey County Council and survived a financial crisis in 1953 from which it was handed over to an educational trust. The chapel, library and spacious conference room provided accommodation for assemblies of up to 50 students. The top floor of the house was used by the Overseas Service, as offices and a college for persons about to embark on voluntary or business ventures abroad. The Christian college vacated in the late 1960s and it was used as a finishing school and later the Constance Spry Flower School. More recently it was converted back into residential use as 3 luxury apartments, with 8 new mews houses and 12 new apartments in the walled garden. [8]
The original property has been divided into two houses, Moor Park and Ivy Cottage.
In 2007 the owners applied for planning and listed building consent from Waverley Borough Council for demolition of listed stables, addition of extensions, internal and external changes to the main house, and construction on the site of the listed park and garden to provide 24 dwellings, which was refused. New owners Farnham Developments ltd subsequently acquired it and redeveloped the buildings as 24 residential units in 2010 (3 luxury apartments in the main house, with 8 new mews houses and 12 new apartments in the walled garden). The company went into administration in September 2012. HWO architects were the project architects and Bell Cornwell acted as planning consultants.
The footpath through the grounds leads to a 19 acres (7.69 ha) Nature Reserve on the north bank of the River Wey.
The nature reserve is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). A nationally rare habitat, it is the only example of deep-water alder swamp in Surrey and is mostly deep and inaccessible. A boardwalk and path runs around the reserve. In winter redpoll, siskins and mixed flocks of tits feed on the alder cones. Waterfowl seen here includes mallard, teal and tufted duck, and in the spring, nesting mute swans. A variety of reeds and sedges can be found, together with marsh violets, opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, hemlock and water dropwort. Warblers nest here and water rail may be heard. Kingfishers and grey herons are frequent visitors.
This reserve is one of the last places that an otter was seen in Surrey in the 1970s when their population was at a low ebb. Active conservation measures have seen otters return to the River Wey at Godalming, a few miles away, recently, so there is optimism that they may soon inhabit this stretch of river again.
The GHQ Line (General Headquarters Line) was a defence line built in the United Kingdom during World War II to contain an expected German invasion. Part of the GHQ Stop Line B runs through the area south and east of Farnham through the valley of the River Wey and was designed to prevent a German invasion force from using the Wey Valley to reach London. Many defences from this era - gun emplacements, pillboxes, "dragons' teeth" and other anti-tank defences can be seen from the path leading through Moor Park from the house towards the caves and abbey or towards Farnham.
Surrey is a ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the west. The largest settlement is Woking.
Guildford is a town in west Surrey, England, around 27 mi (43 km) south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around 143,929 inhabitants in mid-2019 est. The name "Guildford" is thought to derive from a crossing of the River Wey, a tributary of the River Thames that flows through the town centre.
Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around 36 miles (58 km) southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the Thames, and is at the western end of the North Downs. The civil parish, which includes the villages of Badshot Lea, Hale and Wrecclesham, covers 14.1 sq mi (37 km2) and had a population of 39,488 in 2011.
Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128 by William Giffard, the Bishop of Winchester.
Witley is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Waverley in Surrey, England centred 2.6 miles (4 km) south west of the town of Godalming and 6.6 miles (11 km) southwest of Guildford. The land is a mixture of rural contrasting with elements more closely resembling a suburban satellite village.
Elstead is a civil parish in Surrey, England with shops, houses and cottages spanning the north and south sides of the River Wey; development is concentrated on two roads that meet at a central green. It includes Pot Common its southern neighbourhood. Hamlets in the parish, marginally separated from the village centre, are Charleshill and Elstead Common, both rich in woodland. Elstead lies between Farnham and Godalming on the B3001 road about 2.2 miles (3.6 km) west of the A3 Milford interchange.
Shackleford is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Guildford, Surrey, England centred to the west of the A3 between Guildford and Petersfield 32 miles (51 km) southwest of London and 5.2 miles (8.4 km) southwest of Guildford. Shackleford includes the localities of Eashing, Hurtmore, Norney and Gatwick.
Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet was an English diplomat, politician and writer. An important diplomat, he was recalled in 1679, and for a brief period was a leading advisor to Charles II of England, with whom he then fell out. Temple subsequently retired to the countryside, and thereafter occupied himself with gardening and writing. He is best remembered today for two aspects of his life after retirement: a passage on the designs of Chinese gardens, written without ever having seen one, and for employing a young Jonathan Swift as his secretary. The first is sometimes given as an early indication of the English landscape garden style, praising irregularity in design.
Tilford is a village and civil parish centred at the point where the two branches of the River Wey merge in Surrey, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of Farnham. It has half of Charleshill, Elstead in its east, a steep northern outcrop of the Greensand Ridge at Crooksbury Hill on Crooksbury Common in the north and Farnham Common (woodland) Nature Reserve in the west, which has the Rural Life Living Museum. As the Greensand Ridge in its western section is in two parts, the Greensand Way has a connecting spur here to its main route running east–west to the south.
Godalming was an ancient hundred in the south west of the county of Surrey, England. It corresponds to the central third of the current borough of Waverley and some parts of the current borough of Guildford. Broadly speaking it extended from Guildown in the north to the border with Sussex in the south. Local people maintain the notion of the hundred, sometimes colloquially referred to as Godhelmia, mainly because of the predominance of north–south routes of communication through the area that have existed since ancient times. As recently as 1995 there were proposals to recreate a local government unit based on the old hundred borders. The name of the hundred survives in the town of Godalming.
Wonersh is a village and civil parish in the Waverley district of Surrey, England and Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Wonersh contains three Conservation Areas and spans an area three to six miles SSE of Guildford.
Frensham is a village in Surrey, England, next to the A287 road, 13 miles (20.9 km) WSW of Guildford, the county town. Frensham lies on the right bank of the River Wey, only navigable to canoes, shortly before its convergence with the north branch. Farnham is the nearest town, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) to the north.
Old Woking is a ward and the original settlement of the town and borough of Woking, Surrey, about 1.3 miles (2.1 km) southeast of the modern town centre. It is bounded by the Hoe Stream to the north and the River Wey to the south and between Kingfield to the west and farmland to the east. The village has no dual carriageways or motorways, its main road is the A247, which connects Woking with Clandon Park and provides access to the A3. The village contains parts of Woking's two largest parks and two converted paper mills. The expanded village largely consists of semi-detached houses with gardens and covers an area of 224 hectares
Churt is a village and civil parish in the borough of Waverley in Surrey, England, about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) south of the town of Farnham on the A287 road towards Hindhead. A clustered settlement is set in areas acting as its green buffers, which include the Devil's Jumps. The west of the village slopes down to the steep edge of Whitmore Vale, which is mostly in Headley, Hampshire; at the foot of this bank is a steeply cut brook which defines the Hampshire border. There are forests and heathland by and atop the Greensand Ridge, and the hamlet of Crosswater is in the north of the parish.
Dockenfield is a village and civil parish in the borough of Waverley in Surrey, England. The parish is undulating, has a number of sources of the River Wey and borders the Alice Holt Forest. Dockenfield was historically part of Hampshire, being transferred to Surrey in 1895.
Seale is a village in Surrey, England. Seale covers most of the civil parish of Seale and Sands and the steep slope and foot of the south side of the Hog's Back as well as a large hill which exceeds it – as such is part of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Moor Park is a 6.7-hectare (17-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Farnham in Surrey.
Mother Ludlam's Cave, also known as Mother Ludlum's Cave or Mother Ludlum's Hole, is a small cave in the sandstone cliff of the Wey Valley at Moor Park, near Farnham, Surrey, in England. The cave is the subject of a number of local legends. A spring rising in the cave is recorded in the 13th century "Annals of Waverley Abbey" as "Ludewell"; other spellings through history include "Ludwell" and "Luddwelle". A monk named Symon is credited with identifying the spring as a suitable water supply for Waverley Abbey in 1218, after the original source had dried up. The brothers of the abbey dedicated the spring to St Mary, so it also became known as St Mary's Well. The cave has been naturally formed by the spring but may have been enlarged by the monks and was made into a grotto and further enhanced by addition of an ironstone arched entrance, possibly during the reign of Queen Victoria.
Compton is a former village and today a semi-rural suburb centred 1 mile (1.6 km) ESE of Farnham in the Waverley district of Surrey, England and connected to Farnham by two direct urban single carriageways and green space footpaths along the Wey which in part marks the northern boundary of the area together with the A31. The area relies on Farnham for most of its modern amenities and its eastern part is rural whereas its western part is urban, with a divide where the Wey flows between the two south-eastwards.
Many watermills lined the banks of the River Wey, England, from the 17th century, due to the river's ability to provide a reliable, year-round flow of water. These mills chiefly ground wheat, often referred to as corn, for flour and oats for animal feed though many were used in the production of other goods such as paper, cloth, leather, wire and gunpowder. The river was home to more mills per mile than anywhere else in Great Britain. The mill situated at Coxes Lock near Addlestone, Surrey, is the largest. There are many mills on the river's principal tributaries, such as the Tillingbourne, the Ock and some mills on the Whitmore Vale stream, Cranleigh Waters and Hodge Brook. The last commercial mill on the Tillingbourne, Botting's Mill at Albury, closed in 1991. Headley Water Mill, on the Wey South branch is still in business. Town Mill, Guildford still has a water turbine driven generator producing electricity for the town.