Churt

History

Churt's origins are Saxon. The village as Churt and Cherte is recorded in the 14th century as part of the "Great Sacks", and a tything of Farnham of the Bishop of Winchester; a subsidy roll assessed it at £3 9s ¼d (very roughly ), presumably annually. Frensham Great Pond, dug to provide one such spiritual leader, Hædde, with fresh fish, is less than 10m beyond the north border.

Upon the establishment of the chapelry of Frensham in the 13th century, it became part of that entity short of a parish, which stretched as far south as Shottermill, a neighbourhood today of western Haslemere. Stating how the high common land was for tenants here of the lord of the manor, a court leet of 1540 ordered John Baker not to overburden it with his cattle ('beasts'). A case (in the national Court of the Exchequer) of 1692 asked whether Churt was in the Weald and whether wood cut from such land was tithe-free, and the juries answered both questions in the affirmative; the judges approved and refused a further appeal.

Almost opposite the parish church of St John, which was built shortly before the parish was created in 1865, is the old forge, built in about 1600 and now a Grade II listed building. A barn in the western fields next to the farmhouse of Green Cross Farm was built in the 16th century in Tudor style of wooden framing on a brick plinth, and is also Grade II listed. There are several other listed buildings in the village.

In 1892 George Cubitt, 1st Baron Ashcombe enlarged the chancel of the relatively young church.

Geography

The parish is roughly square and gradually slopes down to the northwest and steeply by the western border, where it is drained by a straight brook (feeding into the Wey) which demarcates the border with Hampshire. In the north are sudden hills, or knolls, three of which are described as 'curiously conical sandhills' in the Victoria County History (1911), and are recorded on maps as the Devil's Jumps.

The town of Farnham is centred 5.5 mi north. The village sits in forests and heathland by and atop acidic sands of largely uneroded sandstone (the local form, Bargate stone) north of the escarpment of the Greensand Ridge.

Notable residents

Industrialist Frank Mason spent the later part of his life in the area and provided the community with the village hall which remains the hub of the village.

The BBC's Blue Peter presenter John Noakes and his dog Shep lived in Churt, as did former professional golfer and golf commentator Peter Alliss. Kevin Keegan lived in Green Lane when playing for Southampton Football Club. Roger Black, Olympic athletics medallist, lives in the village.

David Lloyd George lived in Churt at his house Bron-y-de. His secretary and mistress, and later second wife, Frances Stevenson, also had a house there. The cricketing brothers Harry Walker and Thomas Walker were born in the village. ''The Police'''s drummer, Stewart Copeland, had a short spell in the village with his family. John Hunt, later Lord Hunt of Tanworth, Cabinet Secretary, lived in the village at Hale House until 1968 with his wife Magdalen. Charles Wylie, who lived in Crosswater Lane, was a member of the successful 1953 Mount Everest expedition.

The amateur astronomer Richard Carrington, whose 1859 astronomical observations first corroborated the existence of solar flares, moved to Churt in 1865. He founded a private observatory and lived there until his death in 1875.

Composer and pianist Eva Ruth Spalding (1883–1969) lived at Tyndrum, Pond Lane, Churt from the 1940s until her death in 1969.

Culture

Since 1980, Churt has had an amateur dramatic society (CADS) which performs shows in the village hall.

Sports clubs

Churt Recreation Ground is home to Churt Juniors Football Club, which caters for children in age groups from Under 5s to Under 11s. Children from Under 7s and above play matches in the North East Hampshire Youth League.

Demography and housing

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.

The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).

Local government

Main article: Waverley, Surrey, Surrey County Council

One of the 81 councillors of Surrey County Council is elected by and serves the area by sitting for Waverley Western Villages.

The relevant ward for the borough council is Frensham, Dockenfield and Tilford. Churt Parish Council meetings are open to the public.

References

References

1. [http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density] {{Webarchive. link. (11 February 2003 [[United Kingdom Census 2011]] ''[[Office for National Statistics]]'' Retrieved 21 November 2013)
2. (July 2024). "Location of Farnham and Bordon".
3. (1906). "Parishes: Frensham: Churt". The Internet Archive.
4. (1906). "Parishes: Frensham: Churt". The Internet Archive.
5. {{NHLE. (2 January 1986)
6. {{NHLE. (2 January 1986)
7. "British Listed Buildings: Churt, Surrey".
8. (1906). "Parishes: Frensham: Churt". The Internet Archive.
9. [http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm?mapAction=gaz&gazName=g&gazString=SU8638 Grid square map] [[Ordnance survey]] website
10. (26 October 2010). "Nicholas Owen meets the voice of golf, Peter Alliss". Surrey Life.
11. Hunt, Martin. (1 June 2024). "Hunt, John Joseph Benedict, Baron Hunt of Tanworth".
12. (27 Jul 2007). "Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Wylie". The Telegraph.
13. [http://www.hao.ucar.edu/education/bios/carrington.php Biography at the HAO] {{webarchive. link. (4 December 2009)
14. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080511170820/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article2731374.ece Article on Carrington at the Times]
15. ''The Times'', 30 June 1969, p. 10
16. "Churt Parish Council: CADS".
17. [http://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/mgWardMap.aspx? My Council] {{webarchive. link. (2 December 2013 Surrey County Council Retrieved 2 December 2013)