A HISTORY OF SURREY 



of tithe had been generally settled, that is about 

 the twelfth century. •»' 



Churt House is in the western part of the tithing 

 and west of the common. It is apparently quite 

 a modern residence, and is now held by Mr. 

 Henry Crompton. 



In 1865 Churt was formed into an ecclesiastical 

 parish from the dvil parish of Frensham, but 

 before this time the church of St. John the Evan- 

 gelist had been built there on land given by Bishop 

 Sumner in the south part of the tithing north of 

 Redhearn Green and the village. •"* It is built of 

 Bargate stone with Headley sandstone dressings, 

 and quoins and tracery of Bath stone in thirteenth 

 century style. It originally consisted only of a 

 nave and short apsidal chancel. A new chancel 

 vestry and nave roof were erected in 1868, and in 

 1883 the nave was reseated, transepts added, and a 

 double western bell turret erected. In 1892 fur- 

 ther alterations were made, the chancel was en- 

 larged by Lord Ashcombe, and an organ chamber 

 added. 



SHOTTERMILL (Shotter MQl, Shotover Mill 

 xvii. cent.) is properly in Sussex, but the modern 

 district named from it is in Surrey. The name 

 of Shotter Mill appears in the ODurt roUs of Farn- 

 ham manor, as indicating the portion of land in 

 Pitfold, which seems to have been in the tithing of 

 Churt. For instance in 1660 Henry, son and heir 

 of Anne Bridges, made fine for one messuage garden 

 and plot of land ' near Shotter Mill at Pitfall in 

 the tithing of Churt.' '"^ Shottermill was separ- 

 ated from Frensham and formed into an ecclesi- 

 astical parish in 1846, ">» and it was created a civil 

 parish by Order in Council in l896.»»' It includes 

 a wide extent of high land about Hindhead, and is 

 being rapidly covered with large and small country 

 houses where thirty years ago there was nothing 

 but heath. ' George Eliot ' lived for some time 

 at Brookbank, Shottermill. Frensham Hall, a 

 modern building in Shottermill, is the residence of 

 the Hon. C. A. Ellis. 



Critchmere, with its extensive trout farm, is in 

 this district on the Sussex boundary. The farm 

 consists of several fishponds forming a terrace of 

 lakes supphed with clear running water from a 

 spring. Here some 3,000,000 eggs are hatched 

 annually. 



The district church of Shottermill, the church 

 of St. Stephen, was built in 1846, near the southern 

 end .of the parish. It is of local sandstone with 

 hewn stone quoins and consists of a chancel added 

 in 1875, '»' a nave, and a western tower with turret 

 and spire and one bell. In 1892 the vestry was 



enlarged, and in 1897 and 1902 the church was 

 thoroughly restored. 



DOCKENFIELD (Dackeriefeld xii. cent.) 

 tithing was formerly in Hampshire, but the manor 

 of Dockenfield had certain appurtenances on the 

 Surrey side of the border. It is now in Surrey for 

 county rating purposes, having been transferred by 

 order in Councilin 1895 ; '»» but it is still in Hamp- 

 shire for Parliamentary elections. The principal 

 collection of houses is at a place known as Batt*» 

 Corner. The inhabitants, though in Frensham 

 parish, are said to be disinclined to mix with the 

 Surrey people, and even the children in the schools 

 form separate factions. There is a separate 

 national school for infants only, founded in 1877. 



The early history of the tithing is vague and un- 

 certain. The charter of Richard of Ilchester, 

 Bishop of Winchester, to Waverley, speab of 

 Duckenefeld as part of their land before 1189, "• 

 while the Grange or farm of ' Dackeriefeld ' was 

 confirmed to Waverley Abbey by Richard I. in 

 iiSg.i" This was probably the Dockenfield 

 which was among the Waverley lands granted to 

 Sir William Fitzwdlliam in 1537."' It passed 

 from him to his half brother Sir Anthony Browne, 

 then to his son the first Viscount Montague, and 

 afterwards to his grandson the second Viscount, 

 who in 1614 conveyed it, in consideration of 

 ^^2,400, to Sir Edward Moore, Thomas Graye, and 

 William Yalden. It is described at this time as in 

 the counties of Southampton and Surrey with 

 houses and messuages, etc., in the towns, parishes, 

 hamlets, and fields of Dockingfield, Frensham, 

 and Farnham."3 



Probably this was only a mortgage, for in 165 1, 

 in the case for the sequestration of Viscount 

 Montague's estates, William Yalden, who had been 

 ' 40 years servant to Lord Montague and his father, 

 and who held by lease two-thirds of the estate,' 

 begged leave to have his lease confirmed. At the 

 same time he begged a fair relaxation of his taxes 

 since his rent was raised with difficulty ' by reason 

 of the low price of corn and cattle.' "* The so- 

 called manor of Dockingfield was probably in- 

 cluded in this two-thirds of the Montague estate. 

 The church of St. Mary the 

 CHURCH Virgin of Frensham, which lies on 

 the west of ' the street ' and to the 

 north of the road, was built upon the present site 

 in 1239. Its former position is unknown."' It 

 consists of a chancel with a north chapel and vestry 

 beyond, a nave of four bays with a north aisle, 

 south porch, and a western tower of three stages. 

 The walls are of rubble consisting of sandstone 



103 See ante, Ecd. Hist. p. 6. 



1"" Bowen's map of 17+9 calls this 

 place Red Um Green. A still living 

 inhabitant remembers a pottery here, 

 near Silver Beck, the house of Mr. 

 Hook, R.A., to possibly the name was 

 really this. 



IM Eccl. Com. C. R. Bpric. of Win- 

 ton, bdle. 125, No. 2. Shottermill 

 itself belonged to Shulbrede Priory in 

 Sussex, and was an iron-mill. Survey 

 of Shulbrede Priory, Land Revenue 



Office, v. 3. f. 87, 1608; quoted by 

 Dallaway, Hist, of Suisex, i. 304. 



1<>« Under Act i and 2 Will. IV. c. 38, 

 Stat, Rev. vol. v. p. 83, et seq. 



!<" Land. Gaz. 



1»8 Alfred Lord Tennyson con- 

 tributed to the addition in 1875. 



l" Order in Council 30 May, 1895, 

 under the Local Gov. Act of 1888, Sec. 

 54(51-52 Vict.). 



"» Dugdale, i. 703. 



m Chart R. i Ric. I. given by 

 Dugdale, M'nasticon, i. 704, 



6t4 



1" Pat. 28 Hen. VHI. pt. 2. 



'13 Close II Jat. I. pt. 1. 



11* S.P. Cat. Com. for Compounding, 

 iv. 2543-4. 



lis • Ecclesia de Fermcsham tranipo- 

 nitur hoc anno de loco ubi print tita 

 fuit ad alium locum consilio et aiiiilio 

 Lucae archidiaconi Surreiz et hoc eodem 

 anno dedicata est.' Ann, Mon. (Rolls 

 Ser.), ii. 323. Church Hill at a name 

 for the hiU to the south of the present 

 church it only of recent ute. 



