Wrecclesham

Wrecclesham is a village on the southern outskirts of the large town of Farnham in Surrey, England. Its local government district is the Borough of Waverley.

Wrecclesham

Wrecclesham village sign
Wrecclesham
Location within Surrey
Population3,079 [1]
OS grid referenceSU826449
Civil parish
District
  • Waverley
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townFarnham
Postcode districtGU10
Dialling code01252
PoliceSurrey
FireSurrey
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament
  • South West Surrey

Wrecclesham recreation ground caters for cricket, football, rugby and tennis clubs. This is where Jonny Wilkinson and Graham Thorpe started careers in their professional sports, as well as many sportsmen of some generations before such as Billy Beldham and Vic Cannings.

It was once in the estate of Henry of Westminster and Blois the powerful 13th-century bishop who owned the majority of the fertile portion of the land, in what was then Farnham and soon became the related parishes of Farnham and Frensham in Farnham Hundred. Farnham remains in use as Wrecclesham's post town. Wrecclesham acquired village status in 1840 when its first place of worship was built.

Notable places
Farnham Pottery Kiln

Wrecclesham's historic character is shown by the presence of the Farnham Pottery. This is one of the best preserved examples of a working Victorian country pottery left in England[2] and is Grade II Listed. It serves as a cafe for locals. Just past Wrecclesham Hill is the hamlet of Holt Pound; what is now the Holt Pound recreation ground was one of the chief cricket grounds in Surrey. It was used as the venue for three first-class matches between 1791 and 1809 as well as for a number of minor matches.[3]

Runwick

51.205627°N 0.82672°W / 51.205627; -0.82672
Runwick is made up of smallholdings immediately across the main road north of the large village on the Hampshire-Surrey border. The '-wick' part of the name meant ″hamlet″ and, from the 13th-century, ″farm″, and is still used in the far east of England to mean ″farm″. The ″run″ part of the name relates to an Anglo Saxon England owner, as in Runfold, which is a similar distance from Farnham.

Transportation

The A325 goes through Wrecclesham, connecting it to the garrison towns of Bordon in the south and Aldershot in the north. The A31 goes past the village connecting Alton to Farnham.

Education

Wrecclesham has one primary school, St. Peter's C of E School on Little Green Lane.[4] The presence of Weydon School in Wrecclesham makes it the major education centre of the area because there are no secondary schools in central Farnham.

Facilities

St Peter’s is the oldest church in the Parish and was consecrated in 1840 when the population was believed to be around 800 inhabitants, significantly smaller than today. Grace Church is a newer baptist church, founded in 2013,[5] which meets in St Peter's School.

Behind St Peter's church is the Leverton Hall, associated with it.[6] This is rented for various occasions and by organisations such as the local karate and scout clubs. Wrecclesham also has many shops within its boundaries such as furniture stores, a post office and various restaurants and takeaways. One focal point of the village is the recreational ground in Riverdale. This is home to many clubs such as Wrecclesham Football, Tennis, Darts and Cricket Club as well as Badshot Lea Football Club.

Sport
Wrecclesham Rec Sept 2013
Cricket

Wrecclesham Cricket Club can be linked back to 4 May 1901, where an advert in the Farnham Herald was posted to find players willing to play and train in the game of cricket. The club moved to the recreation ground in Riverdale in the 1930s. Competing in the Farnham and District Cricket league, the club won its first honours in 1934 and 1936 [7]

Wrecclesham joined the I’Anson competition in 1953 and won it in 1956 [7] The I’Anson league consists of six divisions (2014) and provides an entry level for cricketers. The first team were relegated to the Division 4 of the I’Anson league in 2008. However, the club turned a corner and in the following 3 seasons, the club earned three consecutive promotions. The Farnham Herald recognised this achievement, publishing with the statement ‘there is no precedent for an established club winning three consecutive promotions as Wrecclesham have done’, praising the teams ‘high team ethic’.[8]

The introduction of a club identity was established in 2008 with a new club crest (understood to be the first ever registered by the club) of an owl over a pottery kiln. This came from the Farnham Pottery which was widely known for its 'owl jugs' which were produced up to the 1950s.[9] The nickname, 'The Owls' was then adopted by the club. The club started up a second team in 2009. The 2nd XI were promoted to Division 5 in 2011 and to Division 4 in 2014.[10]

Although the sport facilities remain, Farnham Rugby Union Football Club left Wrecclesham in 2011 and Badshot Lea Football Club became the new occupants of the ground.[11]

Football

Wrecclesham Football Club joined the Surrey County Intermediate League (Western) in 2007 and won its Premier Division in 2011. The club's top team opted to promotion to the top division of the Aldershot & District Football League where it has a second team who play some divisions below, being a multi-rung league.

Wrecclesham Football Club folded at the end of the 2013/14 season.

United Football Club of Farnham (UFC Farnham) became the only football club based in Wrecclesham from the 2014/15 season with their first and reserve teams playing in the Guildford & Woking Alliance Football League Divisions Three and Five respectively. In May 2016 it was announced that UFC Farnham would merge with the Wrecclesham Social Club to once again become Wrecclesham FC, continuing the tradition of a club which was founded in 1904.

In 2019 Badshot Lea F.C. opened a new football ground at Westfield Lane, the site previously used by Farnham Rugby Club, their first game was played against Aldershot F.C. on 6 July 2019, the club had previously groundshared at multiple clubs in West Surrey and compete in the Combined Counties Football League, making them the highest placed club ever in the village.

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See also

References
  1. Surrey Council census data Archived 25 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Farnham online Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. First Class matches played on Holt Pound, Wrecclesham
  4. "Home". St Peter's C of E Primary School. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  5. "about us". Grace Church Wrecclesham. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  6. St. Peter's Church, Wrecclesham
  7. http://wreccleshamcc.moonfruit.com/#/about-us/4545707518
  8. I'Anson Cricket News
  9. Farnham Pottery Wares
  10. Wrecclesham CC Homepage
  11. Farnham Rugby Club
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