Cranleigh
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| Cranleigh | |
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| Population | 11,241 |
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| OS grid reference | |
| District | Waverley |
| Shire county | Surrey |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CRANLEIGH |
| Dial code | 01483 |
| Police | Surrey |
| Fire | Surrey |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | Guildford |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| List of places: UK • England • Surrey | |
Cranleigh has long been associated with the unprovable title of "England's largest village": this settlement is part of the Waverley district of Surrey, and was until the mid 1860s "Cranley". The Post Office insisted on changing the spelling to avoid confusion with nearby Crawley in West Sussex.
The name is popularly believed to come from the large crane's breeding ground there. The figure of a crane used to adorn a water fountain in the middle of the village. However this is no longer present due to Stocklund Square's total redesign when Sainsburys supermarket opened in late 2004.
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[edit] Population
(2001 census), figures given for the civil parish:
| Residents 11,241 |
Dwellings 4,603 |
Working pop. 5,363 |
Overall, the resident population of the Waverley district decreased by 2.0% in the ten years to 2001.
[edit] Economic activity
Cranleigh lies near the main route between Guildford and Horsham, and also had a station on the railway line which connected them until the Beeching axe. Despite having been deprived of a rail link, Cranleigh has prospered both as a satellite of Guildford, and as a service and light engineering centre in its own right. It is also a retail centre for the surrounding smaller villages.
Cranleigh supports a small hospital. The village is home to the well-known independent Cranleigh School.
[edit] Government
Cranleigh is in the Waverley district of Surrey county council, and is in the Guildford parliamentary constituency.
[edit] Culture
The Anglican parish church of St Nicolas dates the first building on its site from around 1170, and the building was in its present form by the mid 14th century. The church has a gargoyle which is said to have inspired Lewis Carroll, who lived in Guildford, to create the Cheshire Cat. The parish is in the Diocese of Guildford.
There is a Roman Catholic church, Christ Redeemer of Mankind (in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel & Brighton) and churches of the Protestant and Baptist denominations.
Cranleigh is twinned with Vallendar, Germany.
The Cranleigh Arts Centre runs a full programme of films, live music, theatre productions, children’s activities, exhibitions and workshops. Regular community arts projects and work with local schools are undertaken to reach and develop new audiences.
Every year the Cranleigh & South Eastern Agricultural Society hold the Cranleigh Show, which is a traditional agricultural show.
[edit] History
Situated in the Weald, a forested area not densely populated until the 19th century, Cranleigh has little of prehistoric or Roman interest. A spur of the Roman road between London and Chichester runs north west to Guildford past nearby Farley Heath in Farley Green, a temple site.
The village goes without a mention in the Domesday Book of 1085, although a population must have existed a century later large enough to warrant the building of the church. In common with other parts of the Weald, the forests supplied the timber which fuelled the ironworks which, apart from peasant agriculture, was the only place of employment.
Any growth could only come by improvements in transport; in 1813 the Wey and Arun Canal was authorised, passing a few miles to the west of the village. This route linked London (via the Thames and the Wey) with Littlehampton (via the Arun). However, the canal traffic was completely eclipsed by the railway in 1865, and the canal fell into disuse. A turnpike road was also built between Guildford and Horsham, the opening of which is commemorated by an obelisk near the church.
This growth in transportation provided the initial stimulus for the typical Surrey village pattern of commuting, followed by the growth of a local service sector, except that Cranleigh was big enough to generate a good deal of light industrial employment itself.
The name Cranleigh derives from the cranes thought to have been prevalent at one time in the area. There is still a statue of a crane on the 19th century water fountain in the centre of the village. The crane-theme bus shelter, that was added in the 1980s to spruce up the 1960s-era Stocklund square, was removed during recent changes to the square to accommodate a new supermarket.
Stocklund Square itself was constructed following the closing of the railway line in 1965, and the removal of the railway station.
Cranleigh is proud of its hospital, the first cottage hospital in the country. It has survived many attempts to close it, through fundraising by the local community. Sadly despite efforts by local residents, Cranleigh hospital closed in May 2006.
[edit] Stocklund Square
The square is near the centre of the village of Cranleigh. A new Sainsbury's supermarket was built in late 2004, causing a number of local shops to close down. Other shops in the square are owned by Oxfam, Blockbuster Video and Scorpia. It used to have greenery and a fountain, but this was replaced with a more open layout that now accommodates local attractions and events such as an Easter Service and a French Market. It is situated on the village's High Street, which is the main road running through Cranleigh.
In September 2006 the Sports Shop closed, along with a Wine shop, and were shortly replaced by a Carphone Warehouse and a Costa.
[edit] Fountain Square
In 2006 the pedestrian area surrounding the large stone drinking fountain monument (1874) at the centre of the village was re-modelled, and given the name 'Fountain Square'. New granite paving, brick planters and trees were introduced in a design which created a haven from traffic and a new focal point for community events. The main financial sponsors of this refurbishment were Surrey County Council (SCC) and the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), and the design was undertaken in-house by SCC.
[edit] Related Links
- Cranleigh hospital history
- St Cuthbert Mayne Catholic Primary School
- Cranleigh Arts Centre
- The Cranleigh Show
- Vallendar
[edit] More Information
- See Cranleigh: A History of Wealden Settlement by Christopher Budgen ISBN 0-9533088-0-4
- Cranleigh Village Community Net
