Contents

Hindhead

Human settlement in England

Hindhead
Gibbet Hill, Hindhead
Population	3,874 [1][2]
OS grid reference	SU886360
Civil parish	Haslemere
District	Waverley
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Hindhead
Postcode district	GU26
Dialling code	01428
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	South West Surrey
List of places UK England Surrey

Hindhead is a villageinSurrey, England. It is the highest village in Surrey, with buildings at between 185 and 246 metres above sea level^[3]. It is best known as the location of the Devils Punch Bowl, a beauty spot and site of special scientific interest, and as the site of the Hindhead crossroads, a former notorious congestion spot where the former A3 between Portsmouth and London was crossed by the A287 between Hook and Haslemere, before following a winding and narrow route along the side of the Punch Bowl. The A3 now passes under Hindhead in the Hindhead Tunnel and its route along the Punch Bowl has been removed and landscaped, but the crossroads still exists for local traffic.

Hindhead is located 10.5 miles (16.9 km) south-west of Guildford, the county town of Surrey, on the border with the adjoining county of Hampshire. It is a ward within the districtofWaverley, and forms part of the civil parishofHaslemere. The ward, which includes the community of Beacon Hill, had a population of 3874 at the time of the 2001 census.^[1][2][4]

The place-name 'Hindhead' is first attested in 1571, and means 'hill frequented by hinds', that is to say deer.^[5]

History

This area was notorious for highwaymen: Stephen Phillips, a robber tried and convicted at the Old Bailey, admitted to the Newgate chaplain to having stolen 150 guineas in gold on the road towards London in 1736.^[6] With an increase in traffic and opening of the London to Portsmouth railway line removing much of the road transport of freight, such incidents reduced during the 19th century. Gibbet Hill, a short walk away on top of the Devil's Punch Bowl, is where murderers and robbers were hung in chains to warn others.

Hindhead emerged as a substantial settlement in the late 19th century. In 1904 a temporary mission church was built to serve the new community. An architectural competition to design a permanent church, that of St Albans in Beacon Hill, was held in 1906, and John Duke Coleridge (1879-1934) was chosen as the architect. The first phase, comprising the chancel, north chapel, transept and the lower stage of a projected bell tower was completed by 1907, and the church gained its own parish in 1907. A series of windows by the Arts and Crafts designers Karl Parsons (1884-1934) and Christopher Whall (1849-1924) was installed in the unfinished church between 1908 and 1912. The three eastern bays of the nave were consecrated in 1915, but the two western bays were not built until 1929-31; the bell-tower was never completed and became in effect a south transept. Two additional stained-glass windows followed by Christopher Webb in 1945 and Francis Skeat in 1950. A large vestry extension was added in 1964. A fire in 1999 destroyed the original high altar and reredos paintings.^[7][8]

Famous inhabitants

George Bernard Shaw, playwright, lived at "Blen Cathra" in Hindhead, now the site of St Edmund's School, whilst Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived at "Undershaw" from 1897 to 1907. It was here that he wrote some of his most famous novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Undershaw later became a hotel and restaurant, but this closed in 2004 and the property has been vacant and derelict since then.

Another author to live at Hindhead was the Canadian-born novelist Grant Allen (1848–99), who lived at "Hilltop". Arthur Conan Doyle was one of Allen's neighbours and became his friend. It was Doyle who completed Allen's novel Hilda Wade when Allen died.

The scientist John Tyndall (1820-1893) lived and died in the village at Hindhead House, now on "Tyndalls", named after him. He is most famous for his work on the discovery of the Greenhouse Effect.

Transport

The centre of the village has a roundabout at the junction of the A287 and the A333. The latter was formerly the A3 until a £371 million bypass was completed in July 2011, reducing the amount of traffic passing through the village. This bypass includes the 1.9-mile (3.1 km) twin-bore tunnel, which is the longest non-estuarial tunnel in the UK.^[9] The section of the old A3 north of Hindhead has since been dug up and the area returned to heathland.

Nearest settlements

The only neighbouring village is Grayshott; however less than three miles away to the north is Churt, Surrey and to the south is Haslemere, which has the nearest railway station.

Politics

The Surrey County Council representative is David Harmer, a conservative.

There are two representatives on Waverley Borough Council.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hindhead.

• Highways Agency A3 Hindhead improvement
• Hilltop Writers, a Victorian Colony among the Surrey Hills — documenting 66 authors who lived in and around Hindhead at the end of the Victorian era
• Hindhead Together A Joint Advisory Committee for the Redevelopment of Hindhead