A HISTORY OF SURREY 



BISLEY 



Busheley and Bussley (xiii cent.) ; Bisteleye (xvi 

 cent.). 



Bisley is one of the smallest parishes in Surrey, 

 though now one of the most famous. It is 4 miles 

 north-west from Woking. It is bounded on the 

 north and west by Chobham, on the east by Horsell, 

 on the south by Woking and Pirbright. It contains 

 922 acres, and measures barely a mile from east to 

 west and a mile and a quarter from north to south. 

 It lies on the Bagshot Sands (Bracklesham Beds) with 

 some strips of alluvial soil by the little streams which 

 run down from the peat bogs of Chobham Ridges. 

 Bisley Common is a large open space adjoining the 

 open ground of Chobham and Pirbright. 



The place has become notable as the home, since 

 1890, of the National Rifle Association, which, with 

 the War Office, owns most of the land. The estab- 

 lishment and ranges for the great rifle-shooting 

 competitions ' are in Bisley parish, and are connected 

 by a short branch railway with the main London and 

 South Western Railway line at Brookwood station. 

 The ranges, however, and the ground utilized extend 

 into Chobham and Pirbright. 



The Inclosure Act, inclosing common fields, was 

 passed in 1836, but the final award was not made 

 till 6 August 1858.' 



Near the church of St. John the Baptist is an 

 ancient holy well, called St. John's Well, where 

 according to tradition the children used to be baptized. 

 It has recently been protected a little by a wooden 

 cover. Bisley Farm School, in connexion with the 

 National Refuges for Homeless and Destitute children, 

 was opened by Lord Shaftesbury in 1868. In 1873 

 the Shaftesbury School in connexion with the same 

 charity was opened, and in 1874 a chapel for their 

 joint use. About 300 boys are accommodated. The 

 schools (National) were built in 1 847, rebuilt in 

 1860, and taken over by a school board from 1893 

 to 1 899. They are now again unprovided. 



BISLET was included within Chobham 

 MANOR in the charter of Chertsey ascribed to 673, 

 and is mentioned among the lands of the 

 monastery in 967 when King Edgar confirmed their 

 possessions to them. 3 No mention of it occurs in the 

 Domesday Survey,** but in 1284 the hamlet of Bisley 

 was held of the abbey of Chertsey by Geoffrey de 

 Lucy, as parcel of the manor of Byfleet. 4 Geoffrey, 

 son of Geoffrey de Lucy, conveyed Bisley with Byfleet 

 to Henry de Leybourne in 1297.* Henry de 

 Leybourne held Byfleet, and presumably Bisley, up 

 to 1305." Soon after it must have passed into the 

 king's hands with Byfleet (q.v.), although some rent 

 from land in Bisley remained due to the monastery, as 

 the account of the possessions of Chertsey Abbey in the 

 reign of Henry VIII includes the entry ' Waybragge 

 and Bysteley z8/." 



In 1298 while Leybourne was still in possession, 



he enfeoffed Hugh de Smerhulle of 54 acres of land, 

 2 acres of meadow, and 4 acres of wood in Bisley.* 

 Hugh de Smerhulle in his turn enfeoffed Amice de 

 Chabenham and Thomas her son of these lands in 

 1305, and in 1318 they granted them to John and 

 Agnes Darderne, who in I 324 were ejected by the 

 king's bailiff. At the instance, however, of Queen 

 Isabella, to whom Bisley, as part of the manor of 

 Byfleet, had been assigned in 1327, these lands were 

 restored to John and Agnes Darderne in 1328.' 



After Bisley, described as a hamlet and member or 

 parcel of the manor of Byfleet, had passed with the 

 latter into the possession of the Crown, it followed 

 the history of this manor (q.v.) until the reign of 

 James I. In 1620 a grant was made to Sir Edward 

 Zouch of ' the customary tenements in Bisley, part 

 of the manor of Byfleet,' and also of 'perquisites 

 and profits of the courts of Bisley.' 10 This is the 

 first reference which suggests that Bisley was recog- 

 nized as an independent manor. Certainly as late as 

 1540 courts had been held at Byfleet for 'Byfleet 

 with Bisley,' " but it is possible that the court baron 

 of Bisley had really always been nominally distinct, 

 and that on the occasion of the first independent grant 

 of the manor its pleas and profits were separated from 

 those of Byfleet in fact as well as in name. In its 

 subsequent history, which is in no way connected 

 with that of Byfleet, it is usually referred to as a 

 manor and is held as such at present. The grant to 

 Sir Edward Zouch included the manors of Woking, 

 Chobham, and Bagshot. Henceforth the descent of 

 Bisley is identical with that of these manors, and all 

 are now in the possession of the Earl of Onslow." 



The church of ST. JOHN THE 



CHURCH BAPTIST is a small building consisting 



of a chancel 20 ft. loin, by 13 ft. 8 in., 



south vestry, nave 376. 6 in. by i8ft. 2 in., north 



aisle 6 ft. wide and a west porch of wood. 



The nave is probably that of a 1 2th-century 

 building, but no details of that or even of the two 

 following centuries are left ; in the south wall is a 

 ijth-century inserted window, which is almost the 

 only old feature remaining. The present chancel is 

 modern ; the former one was of brick and timber of 

 15th-century origin, but fell into a dilapidated state 

 and the arch into it from the nave was closed up. 

 In 1872 the present chancel was built and the 

 church enlarged by the addition of the north aisle. 



A tradition still remains in the village that the 

 time for elevating the Host at High Mass was de- 

 pendent upon the moment at which a sunbeam shining 

 through a south window reached a particular spot 

 on the north side of the nave. 



The chancel is of brick and is lighted by three 

 eastern lancets and two in the north wall. The 

 chancel arch is modern of two orders of which the 

 inner is carried by corbel shafts. The north arcade 



*See y.C.H. Surr. ii, 149-50. 



* Blue Bk. Commons Ind. Awards. 



8 Birch, Cart. Sax. iii, 470. See Surr. 

 Arch. Call, xxi, 206. 



83 It was possibly then included in 

 Chobham as King Edgar's charter (men- 

 tioned above) puts Chobham and Bisley 

 together. 



4 Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Edw. I, no. 16. 



4 Pat. 25 Edw. I, pt. ii, m. 10. 



'Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. I, file 116, 

 no. 214. 



TVahr Eccl. (Rec. Com.), ii, 56. 



i Cal. Close, 1327-30, p. 292. 9 Ibid. 



"Pat. 1 8 Jas. I, pt. vi, m. I ; ibid. 23 

 Chas. II, pt. ix, no. 6, m. 22-8. 



398 



11 Ct. R. (P.R.O.), bdle. 12, no. 19. 



"Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 1 6 & 17 

 Geo. II ; Pat. 23 Chas. II, pt. ix, no. 6, m. 

 22-8 ; 22 Geo. II, pt. ii, m. 14 ; Feet of 

 F. Surr. Trin. 25 & 26 Geo. II ; Close 26 

 Geo. II. pt. iii, m. 9 ; Recov. R. Hil. 49 

 Geo. Ill ; vidt Woking, &c. 



