Editing Cranleigh (section)

==History==
===Early history===
Partly on the [[Greensand Ridge]], where it rises to {{convert|700|ft|m}} at Winterfold Hill, but mainly on the clay and sandstone Lower [[Weald]], Cranleigh has little of [[prehistoric]] or [[Roman Britain|Roman]] interest, whereas just across the east border Wykehurst and Rapley Farms have Roman buildings and Roman Tile Kilns – in the parish of [[Ewhurst, Surrey|Ewhurst]]. A spur of the Roman road between [[London]] and [[Chichester]] runs north west to Guildford past nearby [[Farley Heath]] in [[Farley Green, Surrey|Farley Green]], a temple site. Cranleigh was not mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/places/surrey/waverley/cranleigh/ |title=Cranleigh |access-date=17 December 2019 |archive-date=9 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509115624/https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/places/surrey/waverley/cranleigh/ |url-status=live }}</ref> at that time being part of the manor of [[Shere]].

The [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] parish church of [[Saint Nicholas|St Nicolas]] dates the first building on its site from around 1170, and the building was in its present form by the mid-14th century. It was extensively [[Victorian restoration|restored]] in 1847. The church has a gargoyle, on a pillar inside the church, which is said to have inspired [[Lewis Carroll]], who lived in Guildford, to create the [[Cheshire Cat]].<ref>''Around Cranleigh'', p11.</ref> With the growth of the village, a "daughter" church, [[Saint Andrew|St Andrew's]], opened at the west end of the village in 1900 but it closed some sixty years later. The parish is in the [[Diocese]] of Guildford.

The 16th century Boy & Donkey pub, on Knowle Road outside the village, was taken over in the mid-19th century by Hodgsons of Kingston, later [[Courage Brewery|Courage]], and remained in business until the early 1990s. It was sold to Morland of Abingdon who later closed it. The building was converted into a private home.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whatpub.com/pubs/REI/73/boy-donkey-cranleigh |title=Boy & Donkey Knowle Road |date=11 July 2007 |publisher=What Pub |access-date=16 December 2019 |archive-date=17 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217023225/https://whatpub.com/pubs/REI/73/boy-donkey-cranleigh |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Oliver Cromwell]] visited Knowle House in 1657, his soldiers being billeted in houses in the village.<ref>''Around Cranleigh'', p7.</ref>

===Post Industrial Revolution===
Growth came due to improvements in transport; in 1813 the [[Wey and Arun Canal]] was authorised. Three years later it opened, passing a few miles to the west of the village. This route linked London (via the [[Thames]] and the [[River Wey|Wey]]) with [[Littlehampton]] (via the [[River Arun|Arun]]). However, the canal traffic was completely eclipsed by the [[Cranleigh Line|Horsham to Guildford railway]] which opened in 1865, and the canal fell into disuse. A [[Turnpike trust|turnpike]] road was also built between [[Guildford]] and [[Horsham]], assent for the project being given in 1818. The opening is commemorated by an [[obelisk]] at the junction of the roads to Horsham and to [[Ewhurst, Surrey|Ewhurst]]. The [[George IV|Prince Regent]] used the route when travelling between [[Windsor Castle|Windsor]] and [[Brighton]], the distances to which are given on the plaque on the obelisk.

Three people played a major part in the development of the village during the 19th century: Reverend [[John Henry Sapte]], Dr Albert Napper and Stephen Rowland. Sapte arrived in Cranleigh in 1846 as the [[Rector (ecclesiastical)#Anglican churches|rector]]. He played a major role in setting up the [[national school (England and Wales)|National School]] in 1847 and [[Cranleigh School]] in 1865. He was appointed [[Rector (ecclesiastical)#Anglican churches|Archdeacon]] of Surrey and remained in the village until his death in 1906.<ref>''Cranleigh Through Time'', p3.</ref>

Together with Napper, Sapte set up the first [[cottage hospital]] in the country in 1859. It has survived many attempts to close it, through fundraising by the local community. However it lost its beds for in-patients in May 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cranleighhospital.org/history/historysub01.html |title=Cranleigh hospital history |access-date=5 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001122740/http://www.cranleighhospital.org/history/historysub01.html |archive-date=1 October 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>''Around Cranleigh'', p13.</ref><ref>''Cranleigh Through Time'', p4.</ref>

Stephen Rowland was a resident who had a major role in the development of the infrastructure of the village. He formed the Cranleigh Gas Company in 1876, and arranged for a mains water supply in 1886. In 1894 he laid out an estate between the Horsham and Ewhurst Roads, building New Park Road, Avenue Road, Mead Road, Mount Road and Bridge Road. He also set up a grocery store. His name is commemorated in that of Rowland Road.<ref name="Around Cranleigh, p8">''Around Cranleigh'', p8.</ref>

The cricket field has been used for that purpose since 1843.<ref>''Around Cranleigh'', p68.</ref> Cranleigh Lawn Tennis Tournament was held there in August from 1922 until 1998, when it moved to the grounds of [[Cranleigh School]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://turner-smith.d2g.com/cranleigh/ |title=Cranleigh Lawn Tennis Tournament |access-date=5 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080215222027/http://turner-smith.d2g.com/cranleigh/ |archive-date=15 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

David Mann's department store opened in 1887.<ref name="Around Cranleigh, p8"/> The store closed in October, 2021 and the business went into liquidation.<ref>{{cite web |title=JOY OF CRANLEIGH – GOODBYE TO MANN'S, OCTOBER 2ND 2021 – NOVEMBER 2021 |url=https://www.cranleighmagazine.co.uk/joy-of-cranleigh-goodbye-to-manns/ |website=Cranleigh Magazine |date=22 October 2021 |access-date=16 February 2022}}</ref>

A distinctive row of maple trees which lines the High Street between the cricket field and the Rowland Road junction was planted in 1890, and not by Canadian servicemen in [[World War I]] as is widely believed.<ref>''Around Cranleigh'', p22.</ref>

Cranleigh's Village Hall opened in 1933.<ref name="Around Cranleigh, p8"/>

The Regal Cinema opened on 30 October 1936. It survived for over sixty years, finally closing on 14 March 2002. The site is now occupied by a block of flats.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cinephoto.co.uk/regal_cranleigh.htm |title=History of the Regal Cinema |access-date=5 April 2008 |archive-date=29 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329062458/http://www.cinephoto.co.uk/regal_cranleigh.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===During World War II (1939-1945)===
[[Winterfold House]] near Cranleigh was requisitioned by the British Government and used by SOE [[Special Operations Executive]], as a training school designated STS 4 and later STS 7 as the location of the Student Assessment Board. Its primary use during the war was to whittle out those not suited to undercover work and begin initial training for those that progressed. Amongst the many recruits that attended Winterfold included [[Muriel Byck]], [[Andrée Borrel]], [[Denise Bloch]], [[Noor Inyat Khan]] (Nora Baker) – a descendant of [[India]]n Muslim royalty<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.delhiinformation.in/tombs/tombofhazratinayatkhan.html |title=Tomb of Hazrat Inayat Khan – Delhi Information |access-date=11 March 2020 |archive-date=5 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805072106/http://www.delhiinformation.in/tombs/tombofhazratinayatkhan.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Violette Szabo]] GC. A film [[Carve Her Name with Pride]] was made in 1958 about Szabo's wartime life in the SOE. In November 2011, a Memorial to the SOE was unveiled at Winterfold House, Surrey, initiated by British military historian, writer and author [[Paul McCue]] and others. The unveiling was attended by Tania Szabó, the daughter of [[Violette Szabo]], together with representatives from the US, Dutch and French embassies and the Canadian High Commission.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.paulmccuebooks.com/events.htm |title=Paul McCue Books |access-date=11 March 2020 |archive-date=23 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123103503/https://www.paulmccuebooks.com/events.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the later part of [[World War II]], on 27 August 1944, the infants school was hit by a [[V-1 flying bomb]] and demolished, as was the stained glass east window of the nearby St. Nicolas Church. This occurred early on a Sunday morning, and the school was empty. The only casualty was the [[Rector (ecclesiastical)#Anglican churches|Rector]], who was in his garden not far away and was injured.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120904072847/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/86/a1962786.shtml WW2 stories on BBC website.]</ref> Another flying bomb hit the [[Gas holder|gasholder]] on the Common, destroying both the structure and a nearby cottage, whose occupant was killed.<ref>''Around Cranleigh'', p92.</ref>

===Post-war===
[[Cranleigh railway station]] was closed under the [[Beeching axe]] in 1965 after almost exactly a hundred years of operation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cranleighrailway.info/ |title=Cranleigh railway |access-date=23 January 2021 |archive-date=23 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123103454/http://www.cranleighrailway.info/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1975 the 1900-built church of St Andrew was demolished.