Wormley, Surrey
Wormley is a village in Surrey, England in the parish of Witley, around Witley station, off the A283 Petworth Road about 5 km (3.1 mi) SSW of Godalming.
Wormley | |
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Village | |
Wormley Location within Surrey | |
Population | less than 5,000 |
OS grid reference | SU947383 |
District |
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Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Haslemere |
Postcode district | GU8 |
Dialling code | 01428 |
Police | Surrey |
Fire | Surrey |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
UK Parliament |
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The name apparently joins the Old English wyrm, often meaning a dragon, and leah/lea, clearing.
History
Expansion from archetypal hamlet
Wormley developed primarily as a result of the construction in the 19th century of Witley station, on the Portsmouth Direct line. King Edward's School, Witley once had its own station platform.
Former businesses
Cooper & Sons Ltd owned the Combelane walking stick factory; this was replaced by houses with small gardens and a light industrial estate. The Institute of Oceanographic Sciences Deacon Laboratory was here from 1952 to 1995, housed in the former Admiralty Signals Establishment building on Brook Road.[1] The only public house, the Wood Pigeon, closed in 2007.[2]
Architecture and gardens
King Edward's School is a Grade II listed building,[3] the school war memorial is also Grade II listed.[4] Some of the gardens in Wormley were designed by Gertrude Jekyll, who collaborated with Edward Lutyens from her home in Busbridge, a nearby village.
Notable former residents
- George Eliot is a former resident.
- Louis de Bernières who based his collection of short stories, Notwithstanding,[5] on the local area. De Bernières muses whether Wormley is, or is no longer, the rural idyll.
- Gertrude Mary Tuckwell lived the last twenty years of her life in Little Woodlands, Combe Lane.
References
- "Oceans Wormley". Oceans Wormley. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
- "Lost Pubs in Witley, Surrey". The Lost Pubs Project. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
- Historic England. "King Edward's School, Witley (1096890)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
- Historic England. "King Edward's School War Memorial (1434041)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
- De Bernières, Louis: Notwithstanding (Vintage 2010) ISBN 0099542021