Bletchingley History

The East Surrey village of Bletchingley (formely known as Blechingley) is situated between Godstone to the east and the railway town of Redhill to the west. It lies on the Greensand Ridge – a sandy loose type of soil which in itself has commercial properties.

Like most settlement sites industry plays a role with the origins of Bletchingley’s past and indeed its present. One of these industries was Fuller’s Earth, an unusual blue and also yellow soil found deep within the ground. It is used in numerous chemical applications, one of which was the fulling of cloth, i.e. the degreasing of animal oils from sheep fleeces and so on.

Like other notable villages, Bletchingley had a market place in the centre of the village. Records show that there was also a fair in Bletchingley, which was probably held on fields to the north of the village possibly held either side of where the golf course is now situated.

Another naturally occurring resource around the Bletchingley area is stone – Merstham Stone being the most famous, having been used to build Windsor Castle and parts of Westminster Cathedral, the latter in the reign of HenryVII as part of his named chapel. There is also a variety of this stone found near Bletchingley which was used centuries ago by chemists, bakers and glass makers; it being much softer than the Merstham Stone and observed at the time as having heat retaining qualities ideal for maintaining high furnace temperatures.

Bletchingley’s history like its church dates it to the Saxon times, although Roman activity has been recorded in the area. A hypercaust (ancient underfloor heating system) was found in fields at Pendell to the north. The Romans had industries here and traded nearby.

Bletchingley, there is no doubt had importance and status in its past, not just because it lies on fertile stretches of Greensand, but also because some influential people settled here over the years. One of these was Earl Godwin who is said to have come to Bletchingley from Kent in the 11th Century. He was in possession of a palace and other properties here including the castle which was sited to the south of the High Street of which nothing now remains.

At the time of the Domesday survey two manor houses were recorded, one at Civentone then after one at Blachingele. William the Conqueror granted the manor of Bletchingley to Richard de Tonbridge, Earl of Clare and the de Clares held the estate for 250 years.

The Whyte Harte Inn dates from 1388 and is one of the oldest pubs in Britain. It was used from 1733 to circa 1832 as the meeting place for prospective members of parliament. Bletchingley was called a rotten or vile borough, being somewhat overrepresented for such a small village, that is to say that a very small electorate had undue political influence and this would imply and rightfully so that important, influential people lived here for many years. Bletchingley Church is testimony to these people and many memorials and effigies can be seen inside its walls. Although it is circa 1090 in its origins, most of the church was built in 1460 under the directorship of the then chaplain to the Duke of Buckingham whose name was Hugh Hextall.

To be continued…