A HISTORY OF SURREY 



baptisms from 1685 to- 1797. The fourth has 

 marriages on printed forms from 1757 to 1798, the 

 fifth continues marriages from 1798 to 1812, and the 

 sixth has entries. of baptisms and burials from 1798 

 to 1812. 



The churchyard is small, surrounded by tall trees, 

 and on the east side is a modern wooden lych-gate. 



Close to the church on the south, and at a lower 

 level, stands the rectory, an old building of several 

 periods, the middle being probably 16th-century 

 work, and of timber construction. Additions were 

 made by Flamsteed the astronomer, formerly rector 

 here, and by several later rectors. To the west of the 

 house is a rectangular site surrounded by a moat still 

 full of water, on which ancient foundations are said to 

 exist ; it is at present a rose garden, and adds greatly 

 to the beauty of the grounds of the vicarage. 



The church of Burstow was prob- 

 ADVOWSON ably built by the Archbishop of 

 Canterbury on his land at Burstow, as 

 it was always a peculiar of the see of Canterbury. 11 ' 

 In 1 121, when the earliest mention of the church 

 occurs, Ralph, Archbishop of Canterbury, granted it 

 to the Cluniac priory of St. Pancras at Lewes. 116 In 

 the confirmation of its charters made to this house from 

 1 1 29 to 1 1 7 1 it appears as holding Burstow Church. 117 

 It is not apparent how long the monks continued to 

 do so, but it is possible that the archbishop reclaimed 

 it towards the end of the I3th century, as from 



1286 onwards the alien priory of Lewes was liable to 

 have its possessions seized when there was war with 

 France. 118 Presentation was made to Burstow by the 

 king in the 1 4th century during voidance of the see 

 of Canterbury. 1 " The church came finally into pos- 

 session of the Crown in 1536, being given up by the 

 archbishop with his manor of Burstow Park.'* Ex- 

 cept during the time of the Commonwealth, when 

 the right of presentation was vested in the Lord Pro- 

 tector, 1 " the patronage has since that time remained 

 in the Crown, presentation being now made by the 

 Lord Chancellor. 1 " The living ceased to be a peculiar 

 to the see of Canterbury in 1851, when it was united 

 to Winchester. By the rearrangement of dioceses in 

 1878 it was joined to Rochester. One eminent man, 

 John Flamsteed, the famous astronomer, was rector of 

 Burstow from 1684 to 31 December 1719, when he 

 died. 



Smith's Charity is distributed as 

 CHARITIES in other Surrey parishes. 



In 1684 Ralph Cooke, rector of 

 Burstow, left money to buy large upper coats for 

 a widower and a widow yearly. 



In 1718 John Flamsteed, rector and Astronomer 

 Royal, left money to buy new coats for two poor 

 Christian people. 



In 1728 Mrs. Margaret Flamsteed, widow of 

 the rector, left money for clothing for two poor 

 women. 



CHARLWOOD 



Cherlewude (xiii cent.) ; Cherlwude (xiii & xiv 

 cent.) ; Chorlwode (xiv cent.) ; Charlewood (xviii 

 cent.). 



Charlwood is a parish on the Sussex border. The 

 village is 7 miles south-west-by-south from Reigate, 

 and rather more south-west from Dorking. The par- 

 ish is bounded on the north and east by Horley, on 

 the south by Rusper in Sussex, on the west by Newdi- 

 gate. An outlying portion is surrounded by Newdi- 

 gate and Rusper, and another by Leigh and Horley. 

 The main part of the parish is about 4 miles from 

 east to west, and 3 miles from north to south. The 

 whole contains 6,875 acres - The Mole forms part 

 of the eastern boundary, and tributaries of the same 

 river run through the parish. The soil is entirely the 

 Wealden Clay, but in the middle of it a ridge of 

 Paludina Limestone makes a very considerable eleva- 

 tion, rising to 385 ft., called Stan Hill, Norwood Hill, 

 and Horse Hill. The same ridge continues to the 

 south-west of the village, as Rug or Russ Hill, and 

 reaches about the same height there. Between the two 

 parts of the hill is a depression through which a tributary 

 of the Mole runs past Charlwood village. 



The village is compact, and of a considerable size for 

 the district, but farms and cottages are widely scattered 

 also over the parish ; on the ridge mentioned there are 



several considerable gentlemen's houses built in recent 

 years. The parish is agricultural, with some brick 

 works, and there is a large nursery garden, of Messrs. 

 Cheal & Son, near Lowfield, in Charlwood. 



Charlwood Common was a large village green by 

 Charlwood village, but is now all inclosed except a 

 small recreation ground. Hookwood Common still 

 open ground, 2 miles north-east of Charlwood village ; 

 Johnson's Common and White's Common were 

 roadside wastes, now inclosed. 



The Brighton Road, through Reigate and Crawley, 

 passes through the parish. The part between these 

 two towns was the first road in Surrey made under a 

 Turnpike Act. 1 The object was to make a way 

 for riding out of the Hastings Sand of Sussex over 

 the clay on to the hard ground in Surrey. But 

 to save the causeway from being cut up by wheels 

 posts were to be fixed along it, so that it might be 

 passable only for horses.' It was not made a driving 

 road till the reign of George II. The main Brighton 

 line just comes into a corner of Charlwood parish. 



The bones of an elephant have been found in 

 Charlwood, 8 and similar finds not exactly recorded 

 are said to have been made. Remains of human 

 antiquity are not on record, but about 18903 vessel of 

 Paludina Limestone (Sussex marble) was found on the 



f.C.H. Surr.ii, 3. 



119 Anct. Chart. (Pipe R. Soc.), 14. 



WV.C.H. Surr. ii, ii ; Cal. of Doc. 

 France, 509. 118 f.C.H. Surr. ii, 68. 



C/. Pat. 1348-50, pp.353, 355. 

 400, 424, 434. 



lx Stat, of the Realm, ii!, 712, 713. 



ln Surr. Arch. Call, rvii, 97. 



" Inst. Bk. (P.R.O.) ; Clergy Liilt. 



1 Stat. 8 Will. Ill, cap. 15. 



3 Reigate is on the sand, and Crawley 

 on the clay is close to the edge of the 

 sand. The Wealden roads used to be 

 quite impassable in bad weather. There 

 is a letter at Loseley (undated) from Sir 

 Robert More to his father, Sir George, at 



l82 



Loseley, from some place near Horsham, 

 saying that he could not drive home 

 In a coach with his wife the nearest 

 way because it had rained ; but that he 

 would go to East Grinstead, whence he 

 could find a road to Reigate by God- 

 stone, and would come home that way. 

 8 Topley, Geology of the Wcald^ 195. 



