Abinger Hammer

Abinger Hammer
Abinger Hammer general store
Abinger Hammer Location within Surrey
OS grid reference	TQ095475
District	Mole Valley
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Dorking
Postcode district	RH5
Dialling code	01306
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Mole Valley

Abinger Hammer is a village situated on the A25 between Dorking and Guildford in Surrey, England.

Geography

Abinger Hammer lies within the parish of Abinger which includes Abinger Common and Sutton Abinger. Other neighbouring villages are Wotton and Gomshall.

The River Tillingbourne flows through the village. Brown trout swim in the stream, which is their natural habitat; the occasional larger rainbow trout can be sighted. These may have escaped from the fish farm further downstream towards Gomshall.

History

Abinger Hammer was a focus for forges

Abinger Hammer Clock

The Tillingbourne was impounded in the 16th century into a hammer pond, providing water power for Abinger Hammer Mill, also called Abinger Forge, the Hammer forge or Shere forge, which worked Sussex-sourced iron. It has long since been adapted to grow watercress.

The hammer mill boomed during the 16th century and the forge was reputed to have even made guns for use against the Spanish Armada. The waters of the Tillingbourne powered the water wheel which drove the massive, 400 kg, trip hammer of the forge. The forge closed in 1787 despite attempts to save or convert it.

The clock which overhangs the main road portrays the figure of "Jack the Blacksmith", who strikes the hour with his hammer. The clock bears the motto "By me you know how fast to go". The clock was given in memory of the first Lord Farrer of Abinger Hall who died in 1899. The clock represents the iron industry and the role played by the county of Surrey in the industrial past.

Sights

The 2012 Women's Olympic Cycle Race passing through Abinger Hammer on its way to Box Hill

In summer the village green in Abinger is popular with locals and tourists who like to picnic on the grass whilst watching a game of cricket in surroundings which are quintessentially English. The cricket pitch borders the Tillingbourne - the Post Office sells nets for children to "fish" in this shallow and sandy stream. Annie's tearoom is next to the Post Office and offers lunches and teas seven days a week.

Education

Abinger Hammer village school was a state school but after the LEA closed it in 1982, the local community took over the running of it. As of 2008 the school had only sixteen students. A small group of trustees worked to raise funds to maintain the building and to pay the staff. The number of students has since reduced until the school was forced to close in July 2009.

Nature

Oxmoor Copse, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty lies to the south of the village.

People

During the years 1925 to 1945, the novelist E. M. Forster lived with his mother Alice Clare (Lily) in West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer in a house designed by his father, the architect 'Eddie' Morgan, and previously occupied by his aunt Laura. Forster was obliged to leave this home in 1946 as the landlord refused to renew the lease.

Edward Wilkins Waite (1854–1924), landscape painter, lived for a time at Abinger Hammer. He was born in Leatherhead, Surrey, and much of his work depicted rural scenes in the county - including at least one painting done in the vicinity of the village (see "Old Willows").

David Nobbs gave Abinger Hammer as the location of Uncle Percy Spillinger, played by late actor Tony Sympson, in Episode 4, Series 1 of ' The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

The actor John Gordon Sinclair lives in Abinger Hammer.

External links

Media related to Abinger Hammer at Wikimedia Commons