Prehistory Stone Age Farnham's
history extends back hundreds of thousands of years to the
hunter-gatherers of the
Paleolithic or early
Stone Age, on the basis of stone tools such as many
Handaxes found around the town. Most of these were collected by
antiquarians in the later 19th and early 20th Century. Additionally prehistoric animal bones, sometimes found together with the aforementioned flint tools in deep gravel pits such as a
woolly mammoth tusk, excavated in Badshot Lea at the start of the 21st century. The first known
settlement in the area was in the
Mesolithic period, some 7,000 years ago; a cluster of
pit dwellings Bronze Age Occupation of the area continued to grow through the
Bronze Age. Two bronze hoards have been discovered on Crooksbury Hill, and further artefacts have been found, particularly at sites in Green Lane and near the Bourne spring in Farnham Park. A significant number of Bronze Age
barrows occur in the area, including a triple barrow at
Elstead and an
urnfield cemetery at Stoneyfield, near the
Tilford road.
Iron Age Hill forts from the early
Iron Age have been identified locally at Botany Hill to the south of the town, and at
Caesar's Camp to the north. The latter is a very large earthwork on a high promontory, served by a spring which emerges from between two
conglomerate boulders called the Jock and Jenny Stones. "Soldier's Ring" earthworks on Crooksbury Hill date from the later Iron Age. The final era of the Iron Age, during the 1st century
AD, found Farnham within the territory of the
Belgic tribe
Atrebates led by
Commius, a former ally of
Caesar, who had brought his tribe to Britain following a dispute with the Romans. A hut dating from this period was discovered at the Bourne Spring and other occupation material has been discovered at various sites, particularly Green Lane.
Roman Britain During the
Roman period the district became a pottery centre due to the plentiful supply of
gault clay, oak woodlands for fuel, and good communications via the Harrow Way and the nearby Roman road from
Silchester to
Chichester. Kilns dating from about AD 100 have been found throughout the area, including Six Bells (near the Bourne Spring), Snailslynch and Mavins Road, but the main centre of pottery had been
Alice Holt Forest, on the edge of the town, since about AD 50, just 7 years after the arrival of the Romans. The Alice Holt potteries continued in use, making mainly domestic wares, until about AD 400. Near the Bourne Spring two Roman buildings were discovered; one was a bath-house dating from about AD 270 and the other a house of later date. The Roman Way housing estate stands on this site.
William Stukeley propounded that Farnham is the site of the lost Roman settlement of
Vindomis, although this is now believed to be at
Neatham, near
Alton. Large hoards of Roman coins have been discovered some south-west of Farnham in
Woolmer Forest and a temple has been excavated at
Wanborough, about to the east.
The Anglo-Saxon period In the 7th century, Surrey passed into the hands of
King Caedwalla of Wessex, who also conquered Kent and Sussex, and founded a monastery at Farnham in 686. It was the
Anglo-Saxons who gave the town its name—Farnham and it is listed as
Fearnhamme in the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. They arrived in the 6th century and, in AD 688, the
West Saxon King
Caedwalla donated the district around Farnham to the Church, and to the
diocese of
Winchester. A Saxon community grew up in the valley by the river. By the year 803 Farnham had passed into the ownership of the
Bishop of Winchester and the
Manor of Farnham remained so (apart from two short breaks) for the next thousand years. Although Farnham is documented in Saxon texts and most of the local names are derived from their language, there is only one fully attested Saxon site in Farnham, just off the lower part of Firgrove Hill, where a road called Saxon Croft is now sited. Here several Saxon weaving huts from about AD 550 were discovered in 1924. In 892 Surrey was the scene of another
major battle when a large Danish army, variously reported at 200, 250 and 350 ship-loads, moved west from its encampment in Kent and raided in Hampshire and Berkshire. Withdrawing with their loot, the Danes were intercepted and defeated at Farnham by an army led by
Alfred the Great's son, the future
Edward the Elder, and fled across the Thames towards Essex.
The Hundred of Farnham A
hundred (county subdivision) was an area that had a general overlord of its lords of the manor, entitled to charge certain rents to certain
intermediate lords. Parishes within Farnham hundred were:
Frensham (including tything Pitfold with
Churt) (partly in the hundred of Alton)
Elstead, the
liberty of Dockenfield, the liberty of
Waverley,
Seal (now Seale) the
tythings of
Badshot,
Runfold, Culverlands,
Tilford with Culverlands, Farnham, Runwick, Wrecklesham (now
Wrecclesham), and Bourne. In the 14th century, Farnham hundred was owned by the
Bishop of Winchester and was one of the wealthiest on the bishop's rolls. See also, in this context: • •
List of hundreds of England After the Norman invasion Farnham appears in
Domesday Book of 1086 in the Hundred of Farnham as
Ferneham, one of the five great "
minster" churches in Surrey. Its Domesday assets were: 40
hides; 1 church, 6
mills worth £2 6s 0d, 43
ploughs, of
meadow,
woodland worth 175½
hogs. It rendered £53.
Waverley Abbey, the first
Cistercian abbey in
England, was founded in 1128 by
William Giffard,
Bishop of Winchester about south of the town centre.
King John visited Waverley in 1208, and
Henry III in 1225. The abbey produced the famous Annals of Waverley, an important reference source for the period. By the end of the 13th century the abbey was becoming less important. By the time it was suppressed by
Henry VIII in 1536 as part of the
dissolution of the monasteries there were only thirteen monks in the community. The town is midway between Winchester and London and, in 1138,
Henry de Blois (grandson of
William the Conqueror and brother of
King Stephen) started building
Farnham Castle to provide accommodation for the Bishop of Winchester in his frequent journeying between his cathedral and the capital. The castle's garrison provided a market for farms and small industries in the town, accelerating its growth. west of the town is
Barley Pound, the remains of an 11th-century precursor of Farnham Castle. Farnham was granted its charter as a town in 1249 by
William de Ralegh, then
Bishop of Winchester. The Blind Bishop's Steps, a series of steps leading along Castle Street up to the Castle, were originally constructed for Bishop
Richard Foxe (godfather of
Henry VIII). The
Black Death hit Farnham in 1348, killing about 1,300 people, at that time about a third of the population. In 1625 Farnham was again subject to an outbreak of the plague which, together with a severe decline in the local woollen industry (the local downland wool being unsuitable for the newly fashionable
worsted) led by the 1640s to a serious
economic depression in the area. Local wool merchants were, like merchants throughout the country, heavily taxed by Charles I to pay for his increasingly unpopular policies.
The Civil War Against this background the
English Civil War began, with Farnham playing a major part. Here, support for the
Parliamentarians was general. The castle was considered a potential rallying point for
Royalists, resulting in the installation of a Roundhead
garrison there in 1642. As the King's forces moved southwards, taking
Oxford,
Reading and
Windsor, the garrison commander at Farnham (a noted poet), Captain
George Wither, decided to evacuate the castle; the new
High Sheriff of Surrey (
John Denham, a Royalist sympathiser and another noted poet) then occupied the vacant castle with 100 armed supporters. With the castle and much of the surrounding area in Royalist hands, Parliament despatched Colonel Sir
William Waller to Farnham to retake the castle. The defenders refused to surrender but Waller's men used a
petard to destroy the castle gates and overcame them, with only one fatality, and took the High Sheriff prisoner. The following year, as the Royalists strengthened their position west of Farnham, the garrison at Farnham Castle was strengthened when it became the headquarters of the Farnham regiment of foot or "
Greencoats", with some eight to nine hundred officers and men, supported by a number of troops of horse. Further reinforcement by three regiments from London, 4,000 strong under Waller's command arrived in Farnham that October prior to an unsuccessful
foray to recapture Winchester from the Royalists. Eight thousand Royalists under
Ralph Hopton (a former friend of Waller) advanced on Farnham from the west and skirmishes took place on the outskirts of town. Despite further reinforcement for Waller from Kent, Hopton's entire army gathered on the heathland just outside Farnham Park. There was some
skirmishing but Hopton's men withdrew. Through the next few years Farnham was an important centre of Parliamentary operations and the garrison cost Farnham people dearly in terms of local taxes, provisioning and quartering; even the lead from the Town Hall roof had been requisitioned to make bullets. A number of local women were widowed following the pressing of local men into the militia. The
bombardment of
Basing House was by a train of heavy
cannon assembled at Farnham from other areas and, in 1646, most of the garrison was removed from Farnham to form a brigade to besiege
Donnington Castle near
Newbury. The King surrendered shortly afterwards at
Newark and a small garrison remained at Farnham. In 1647, having escaped from custody at
Hampton Court, the King rode through Farnham at dawn on 12 November with a small party of loyal officers, en route to the
Isle of Wight, where he sought
sanctuary under the protection of
Colonel Robert Hammond, a Parliamentarian officer but with Royalist sympathies. The following March,
Oliver Cromwell stayed at Farnham for discussions concerning the marriage of his daughter to a
Hampshire gentleman, although some historians have speculated that this was cover for secret negotiations with the King. Following the
rebellion during the summer of 1648 the keep was partially dismantled at the orders of Cromwell, to make further occupation by garrison indefensible. In late November that year Hammond was summoned to Farnham, where he was arrested and the King was removed under military escort to the mainland. On 20 December the King and his escort entered Farnham, where groups of men, women and children gathered at the roadside to welcome him and touch his hand. That night the King lodged at Culver Hall (now Vernon House) in West Street before the party continued to London for Charles's trial and execution in January 1649. The King gave his night cap to Henry Vernon, owner of Culver Hall, "as a token of Royal favour". Records show that the following period of
interregnum until
restoration of the monarchy in 1660 was a time of prosperity and growth for Farnham. In 1660 the bishops of Winchester were restored to the adjoining Bishops Palace, which remained their residence until 1927. From 1927 until 1955 it was a residence of the bishops of the newly created diocese of
Guildford. The castle is currently owned by
English Heritage.
Post-restoration Farnham became a successful market town; the author
Daniel Defoe wrote that Farnham had the greatest corn-market after London, – a plaque now marks the building on West Street where he was born. 's birthplace The radical MP, soldier, farmer, journalist and publisher
William Cobbett was born in Farnham in 1763, in a pub called the Jolly Farmer. The pub still stands, and has since been renamed the William Cobbett. The
London and South Western Railway arrived in 1848 and, in 1854, neighbouring
Aldershot became the "Home of the British Army". Both events had a significant effect on Farnham. The fast link with London meant city businessmen could think of having a house in the country and still be in close contact with the office; Farnham thereby became an early example of a 'commuter town'. Also, the railway did not reach Aldershot until 1870; during the intervening period soldiers would be carried by train to
Farnham station and then march to Aldershot. and a carriage shed for the new electric stock was built in Weydon Lane. This building, which carried fading camouflage paint for many years after World War II, was replaced in 2006. In 1895 Farnham Urban District Council (FUDC) was formed.
Farnham Maltings, Bridge Square was once a tannery; the site expanded to become part of the Farnham United Breweries, which included its own maltings. Taken over by a major brewer (
Courage) brewing ceased but malting continued into the 1960s, when Courage planned to sell off the site for redevelopment. The people of Farnham raised enough money to buy the building so that it could be converted into a community centre for the town. Other buildings in Farnham once linked to the Farnham Maltings include The Oasthouse (now offices) in Mead Lane and The Hop Kiln (now private residences) on Weydon Lane. ==Transport==