Effingham

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 51.2718
longitude= -0.4002
official_name= Effingham
map_type= Surrey
population = 2,556 [ [http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=5943000&c=effingham&d=14&e=16&g=490314&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1 Census data] ]
shire_district= Guildford
shire_county = Surrey
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= Mole Valley
post_town= Leatherhead
postcode_district = KT24
postcode_area= KT
dial_code= 01372
os_grid_reference= TQ1153

Effingham is an English village in the Borough of Guildford in Surrey, bordering Mole Valley. There is a railway station at Effingham Junction (actually in the parish of East Horsley), at the point where a branch of the Sutton & Mole Valley Line joins the New Guildford Line - these are both routes between London Waterloo and Guildford.

History pre-1800

Around c. AD 493, a Saxon noble called Aeffing built his "ham" or house in the area now known as Effingham. A charter of AD 727 granted 20 dwellings in Bookham and Effingham to the Benedictine monastery at Chertsey.

Effingham lay within the Saxon administrative district of Effingham (half hundred)

Effingham appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as "Epingeham". It was held by Osuuold (Oswald) from Chertsey Abbey and Richard Fitz Gilbert. Its domesday assets were: 4½ ploughs, convert|5|acre|m2 of meadow, herbage and pannage worth 18 hogs. It rendered £8. [ [http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm Surrey Domesday Book] ]

By the 14th century, a manor house stood on the site of the current Effingham Golf Club clubhouse owned by Sir John Poultney, five times Lord Mayor of the City of London.

By 1545, King Henry VIII was hunting on what is now Effingham Golf Course whilst staying at Hampton Court nearby. The manor house and lands were then owned by Lord William Howard (the Lord High Admiral, and later 1st Baron Howard of Effingham) and it was his son the 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham (later 1st Earl of Nottingham) who commanded the English fleet against the Spanish Armada.

The Effingham Golf Club clubhouse contains a spectacular carved oak fireplace in the Armada room, dated 1591, which is believed to have originated on one of Lord Howard of Effingham's ships.

History post-1800

The house and lands which Effingham Golf Club is now based passed through many distinguished hands until in 1815 the house and convert|358|acre|km2 of land came into the possession of Sir Thomas Hussey Apreece. It was in 1927 when the Surrey Land and Development company negotiated a lease for a group of people wishing to build a golf course. Effingham Manor Golf Club was formed with the artisan club house using what are now greenkeepers' cottages.

The Effingham Golf Course was designed by Harry S. Colt who was renowned for his skill in modelling and landscaping. During his architectural career he was involved in either the construction or improvement of over 300 courses in the UK and Europe.

Famous Effingham villagers include Sir Barnes Wallis, inventor of the bouncing bomb which breached the Eder and Mohner dams in the Second World War. He also helped to design air ships including the R101.

Wallis lived with his wife Molly in the village for 49 years. His home, called the White Hill House and now renamed the Little Court, looks over Effingham Golf Club. It is said early bouncing bomb experiments were carried out in his garden and a close by pond.

Sir Barnes Wallis was instrumental in the founding days of the KGV playing fields at Effingham. He was Chairman of the KGV Management Committee and negotiated the landscaping of the "bowl" cricket ground. As a fanatic cricket fan he was keen to see a first class ground in his village; the County Council wanted to improve the line of the adjacent A246 Guildford road and Wallis persuaded them to cut and fill the sloping playing field to achieve the current superb flat cricket ground. At one stage it was the back-up ground to The Oval. He was the first Chairman of the Effingham Housing Association, a charity which built homes for local people; the most recent development, Barnes Wallis Close, was opened by two members of his family in 2002.

Sir Barnes Wallis died on 30 October 1979 and was buried in St Lawrence Churchyard, just a few yards from KGV fields. During the funeral a Vulcan bomber from 617 Squadron (the Dambusters) flew overhead as a mark of respect.

Today

Still a small village, dwarfed by its neighbours the Bookhams, it is mostly known for its railway station (which is some way out of the actual village), large common (called the KGV playing fields), and the Howard of Effingham School (mixed comprehensive) and St Teresa's School(private girls' prep school). St Teresa's convent was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1893. About half of housing is now South of the A246 (between Bookham and East Horsley) at the top of the small High Street "The Street". The village grew as a result of spring-line development, situated at the foot of the North Downs. Two parallel roads, The Street and Church Street reflect this by their steep gradient. At the bottom wells exist, whereas towards the top chalk prevents reaching water.

Famous Resident

* Barnes Wallace - Inventor of the Bouncing Bomb, who is buried in the St Lawrence Church graveyard

Emergency Services

Effingham is served by these emergency services:

*Surrey Police. Although Leatherhead Police Station is the closer, Effingham is in the Guildford Division area, So all Police services come from Guildford. Many locals do not like this as they feel it slows response times.
*South East Coast Ambulance Service, as of 1 July 2006, is the local NHS Ambulance Services Trust. The Surrey Ambulance Service, Sussex, and Kent ambulance services have merged, and have now ceased to exist independently.
*Surrey Fire & Rescue Service, The first response station for Effingham is Leatherhead Fire Station.

References