The wheelwright’s yard in 1904 One of the most peaceful corners of Cranleigh today was one of the busiest 200 years ago. The area is behind the Arts Centre, towards Ewhurst Road, and it was more open and uncluttered before the house called ‘Little Causey’ was squeezed in. An essential person in any village ...
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A postcard of the Lady Peek Institute, post-marked 1904, courtesy of Mrs Vera Wilkinson The Gentleman's Club Sir Henry William Peek, Bart, a wealthy importer of tea and spices, and MP for Mid-Surrey, founded the Lady Peek Institute in 1885 in memory of his wife Margaret Maria, who had died the previous year. He ...
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View of the Police Station, including Broadoak on the right (postcard post- marked 1909) The Police Station Sir Robert Peel set up the first modern police force, the Metropolitan Police, in 1829 (hence the nicknames ‘bobbies’ or ‘peelers’ for policemen). In 1835, the Municipal Corporations Act allowed cities ...
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The Victorian Schoolroom in Sainsbury’s car park (viewed from the south) This month we begin a series on ‘Cranleigh Buildings with a Story’. Have you ever noticed a little building with a slate roof, looking out of place in Sainsbury’s car park? This is its story. In the nineteenth century, education was ...
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Under its new name of Lloyd’s Bank Ltd, about 1925 Goodbye to Lloyd’s Bank Sadly, the recent closure of Lloyd’s Bank follows a pattern with Cranleigh banks. The local branch of HSBC closed in 2016 and NatWest in 2018. Now Lloyd’s is departing too. It is particularly sad for Cranleigh to lose Lloyd’s, which ...
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Not Cranleigh’s toll-house, but the one at Gaston Gate, which the Cranleigh gate would have resembled (courtesy of Michael Miller) The Toll-house and Toll-gate Roads around Cranleigh 200 years ago were little more than tracks, causing problems for would-be travellers or farmers needing to transport produce or ...
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Most of the Vanished Buildings of Cranleigh featured in the magazine during this year disappeared long ago, but the Regal Cinema closed only in March 2002. Newcomers to Cranleigh may be surprised to know that there was a cinema here so recently, while other readers remember it with affection and regret. It seems ...
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The gasworks, seen from the railway bridge (courtesy of Michael Miller) The Gasworks While the Oval cricket ground proudly cherishes its disused gasholder as a symbol, Cranleigh took its old gasholders down when they ceased to be used and only a few people remember them. The Cranleigh Gas Company was founded in 1876. ...
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The Great Barn in 1888, looking east, a painting by J. Hardy, with glimpses of the church, Ivy Hall Farm and the Onslow Arms (Frank Warren Papers, courtesy of Mrs Catherine Ferrier) The Great Barn As a traveller to Cranleigh entered the village from the West 150 years ago, almost the first building that he would see ...
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The Little Manor emerging from the rubble - 1988 In 2019 Little Manor Service Station, commonly known as ‘The Esso’, is celebrating its 30th anniversary under the ownership of the Lambert family. At the centre of the site is the delightful 15 Century, half-timbered, Little Manor building that nearly lost its fight ...
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