WOKING HUNDRED 



PIRBRIGHT 



east window there are six small figures of angels in 

 1 5th-century glass, a good deal repaired. One angel 

 holds a harp, another cymbals, another a viol, and the 

 fourth pipes. Of another figure only head and wings 

 remain, and the sixth is a seraph with four wings and a 

 feathered body, holding a crown in each hand. The 

 heads of the main lights also contain some old glass 

 consisting of red borders and diamond quarries. The 

 14th-century south-west window of the chancel pre- 

 serves a little original glass, a lion's head, and a 

 border of Stafford knots and vine pattern in yellow 

 stain on a dark background. The north window of 

 the chancel also contains part of a border of vine 

 pattern and a lion's head of the same period. Both 

 the south windows of the nave contain a good deal 

 of Dutch glass of 1 7th- and 1 8th-century date, but 

 the middle light in the head of the south-east win- 

 dow preserves its original glazing in blue and yellow, 

 c. 1350, and there are other fragments of mediaeval 

 quarries. 



The wood fittings of the church are modern, except 

 for a pair of early 14th-century stall arms belonging 

 to a set of stalls of unknown origin, worked into seats 

 one on each side of the chancel. On the chancel 

 floor at the north side of the altar is a brass half- 

 figure of a priest in richly ornamented mass vestments, 

 with the following inscription : ' Hie jacet dfls Walterus 

 Frilende quonda* rector istius ecclie et factor hul 

 capelle cuius aie ppicietur deus.' On the opposite 

 side of the chancel are the brass figures of a man in 



armour and his wife, with an inscription ' Hie jacent 

 Johe"s Weston fili' et heres Willi Weston qui obi . . ^ 

 primo die Junii a dm m cccclxxxiii et Margareta uxor 

 ei . . . qe obiit penultimo die Januarii a dm 

 mcccclxxv q' afabz ppiciet . . .' The end of the brass 

 is broken off so that the last letters of each line are 

 missing. There are three shields, the first and third 

 bearing the cheveron and lions' heads of Weston, 

 while the second has the same impaling the quarterly 

 coat of Metford of Ockham. 



On the north wall of the chancel is a small brass 

 bearing the inscription 'Orate pro ala dni Robert! 

 Kellett quondffi rectoris isti' ecclie qni obiit xvii" die 

 Septembris an dfli mv c xxv cui' ale propiciet' deus.' 



On the south wall of the north chapel is another 

 small brass inscribed 'ala JohTs Wexcombe hie qni 

 tumulat' vite ppetue xpi m'ito dirigatur.' 



On the north wall of the chapel is a black marble 

 tablet to Henry Weston, 1638, and others of his 

 family. 



The tower contains four bells by R. Phelps 1719, 

 and a tenor by T. Mears 1811. The plate consists 

 of a cup of 1854, with a paten and flagon of r86r. 

 The registers date from 1567. 



There was a church on the manor 

 AD7OWSON of Ockham at the time of Domes- 

 day. The advowson has always fol- 

 lowed the descent of the manor. 



Smith's Charity is distributed as in 



CHARITY 



other Surrey parishes. 



PIRBRIGHT 



Pirifrith and Pirifright (xiii cent.) ; Purifright 

 (xiv cent.). 



Pirbright is a parish, formerly a chapelry of Wok- 

 ing, 5$ miles north-west of Guildford. It contains 

 4,674 acres, and measures about 3 miles each way. 

 It is bounded on the north by Chobham and Bisley, 

 on the east by Woking, on the south by Worplesdon 

 and Ash, on the west by Ash and Frimley. It is 

 almost entirely upon the Upper and Middle Bagshot 

 sands, and is therefore generally unproductive. It 

 lies upon the western side of the ridge of Bagshot sand- 

 hills, of which Chobham Ridges is the general name, 

 and a great deal of it is open heath-land. No less 

 than 3,070 acres, nearly three-quarters of the parish, 

 have been acquired by H.M. War Office for military 

 purposes, training and musketry especially. An en- 

 campment of the Brigade of Guards is permanently 

 maintained here, and extensive rifle ranges are laid 

 out. 



Pirbright Common and Cow Moor (the latter 

 name appears in the boundaries of the earliest Chert- 

 sey charter) are the names of the principal wastes. 



The main line of the London and South Western 

 Railway and the Farnham line pass through it ; and 

 it is also crossed by the Basingstoke Canal. 



The village lies in the only fertile part of the parish, 

 between higher ground both east and west, in the 

 valley of a small stream. A by-road leads west from the 

 village for a short distance to the church, which stands 

 in a large graveyard, recently extended and thickly 

 planted with a variety of shrubs. It is long and 

 wedge-shaped, being widest at the west, where a small 



stream runs along its southern boundary. At the 

 east end is the grave of Sir H. M. Stanley, the African 

 explorer, a great block of unworked stone bearing his 

 name cut deeply on it. 



The Court House, now called the Manor House, 

 is the seat of Major Armstrong. It is a stone house 

 of 16th-century date, but on the site of an earlier 

 house surrounded formerly by a moat. The manorial 

 courts were formerly opened here. 



Heatherside is the residence of Mr. F. C. Selous, 

 the famous African big-game hunter, and contains a 

 remarkable collection of hunting spoils and native 

 African curiosities. The Lodge is the residence of 

 Mrs. Mangles, widow of the late Mr. Ross Mangles, 

 V.C., of the Indian Civil Service. In the 1 8th century 

 this house was the property of Admiral Byron, the 

 explorer, grandfather of Lord Byron. He planted 

 an avenue of Scotch firs, still called the AdmiralV 

 Walk, which extends for a mile over the Govern- 

 ment land attached to the ranges. 



There is a Congregational chapel in the parish. 



A drinking-fountain on the village green was pre- 

 sented by Lord and Lady Pirbright as a memorial of 

 the Diamond Jubilee, 1897. The same benefactors, 

 then resident at Henley Park in Ash, presented a 

 village hall and recreation ground in 1899, completed 

 in 1901 as a memorial of the accession of H.M. King 

 Edward VII. The Church of England Institute, at 

 the Guards' Camp, was built in 1892, enlarged in 

 1894, and rebuilt in 1902. 



Schools (Provided) were built in 1 870, and enlarged 

 in 1889. An infants' school was built in 1902. 



363 



