21-777: Abinger Hammer is a village in the Mole Valley district of Surrey , England. It lies in the Vale of Holmesdale in the Surrey Hills National Landscape and is located on the A25 about 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Guildford and 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (7.2 km) west of Dorking . The village is named after its water-powered iron forge . 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
42-644: 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 picture, Old Willows , painted in the vicinity of the village. David Nobbs gave Abinger Hammer as the location of the home 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. Abinger Hammer
63-727: Is a local government district in Surrey , England. Its council is based in Dorking , and the district's other town is Leatherhead . The largest villages are Ashtead , Fetcham and Great Bookham , in the northern third of the district. Most of the district is on the escarpments of or adjoins the Surrey Hills , a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , which cover parts of the North Downs and Greensand Ridge , including locally Leith Hill , Polesden Lacey and Box Hill . Denbies Wine Estate ,
84-500: Is also home to Abinger Hall, a late 18th-century country estate, which has since fallen into disrepair. Abinger Hall was the home of William Frederick Scarlett , Baron Abinger and Helen Scarlett, Lady Abinger. It was also the birthplace of Ella Campbell Scarlett , who was the first female doctor of the state of Bloemfontein , South Africa. The Victorian house was demolished in 1959. [REDACTED] Media related to Abinger Hammer at Wikimedia Commons Mole Valley Mole Valley
105-426: Is south of the village. During the years 1925 to 1945, the novelist E. M. Forster lived in Abinger Hammer with his mother Alice Clare, in a house designed by his father, the architect Eddie Morgan Forster. The house had previously been 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
126-618: The Royal Court. On 14 December 1901, she married Percy Hamilton Synge. At the time of the wedding she was 37 years old and Synge was 29 years old. In 1902, Scarlett traveled to Norvalspont , Cape Colony to serve, by government appointment, in the concentration camp as part of the Boer War . Scarlett then moved to Bloemfontein, where she was part of a six-member committee appointed by the British Minister of War to investigate conditions in
147-551: The United Kingdom, after the nearby Borough of Waverley . Mole Valley is served by these emergency services: 51°18′57.68″N 0°29′37.31″W / 51.3160222°N 0.4936972°W / 51.3160222; -0.4936972 Ella Campbell Scarlett Ella Campbell Scarlett (22 November 1864 – 30 October 1937) was an English physician who was the first woman medical practitioner in Bloemfontein , South Africa and
168-546: The concentration camps. Other members of the committee included Millicent Fawcett and Jane Elizabeth Waterston . In 1903, Scarlett was assigned the position of doctor to Normal College and the Dames Instituut . In 1907, Scarlett moved to Edmonton , Canada, for five years before moving to New Westminster . In 1915 Scarlett worked for the Canadian Red Cross teaching first aid and home nursing, as well as organising
189-402: The council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: The leaders of the council since 2012 have been: Following the 2024 election the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2026. Since
210-592: The district lies within the Mole Valley constituency , the exception being Ashtead which is within the Epsom and Ewell constituency . The council is based at Pippbrook on Reigate Road in Dorking, which was purpose-built for the council and opened in 1984. It was built in the grounds of a large Victorian house, called Pippbrook House, which had served as the headquarters of the old Dorking Urban District Council from 1931 and then as Mole Valley District Council's headquarters until
231-711: The first woman doctor at the Royal Columbian Hospital in Canada. Scarlett was born at Abinger Hall in Surrey , England on 22 November 1864. Her parents were Helen ( née Magruder) Scarlett, niece of John B. Magruder , and William Scarlett, 3rd Baron Abinger . In 1897, Scarlett studied medicine at the London School of Medicine for Women and the Royal Free Hospital for five years, and spent some time in Korea at
SECTION 10
#1732870057572252-599: The incidence of car ownership is high. The area hosts hill-focussed sub-laps of the London–Surrey Classic cycling tour each year. The neighbouring districts are Epsom and Ewell , Reigate and Banstead , Crawley , Horsham , Waverley , Guildford , Elmbridge and Kingston upon Thames , the latter being a London borough . The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , covering three former districts which were all abolished at
273-570: The largest vineyard in the country, is on the hills north-west of Dorking. The Pilgrims' Way footpath runs along the North Downs. There are stations on the London – Worthing and Reading – Gatwick Airport railways, and in the northern third, a commuter stopping-service pattern line, London – Guildford (via Epsom) line. The A24 road and the M25 motorway are the main thoroughfares and relative to London
294-435: The last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 39 councillors representing 13 wards , with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term of office. Surrey County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no district council elections. Most of
315-589: The mill being incapable of casting iron. The waters of the Tillingbourne powered the water wheel which drove the heavy 400 kg (880 lb), hammer of the forge. The forge closed in 1787 despite attempts to save or convert it. A contemporary forge, Finch Foundry , survives in Devon. The clock which overhangs the main road portrays the figure of "Jack the Blacksmith", who strikes the hour with his hammer. The clock bears
336-486: 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. The A25 runs through the village. Abinger is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Gomshall railway station on the North Downs Line between Redhill and Guildford. In summer
357-548: The new building opened. The former Leatherhead Urban District, which included Ashtead , Fetcham , Great Bookham and Little Bookham , is an unparished area , as is the majority of the former Dorking Urban District. The rest of the district is covered by civil parishes : A Legatum Prosperity Index published by the Legatum Institute in October 2016 showed Mole Valley as the second most prosperous council area in
378-504: The same time: The new district was named after the River Mole , which flows through the area. Mole Valley District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Surrey County Council . Parts of the district are covered by civil parishes , which form a third tier of local government for their areas. The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since 2019. The first elections to
399-546: 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. After Abinger Hammer village school
420-478: The village. The river Tillingbourne was enchannelled in the 16th century, creating a hammer pond, provided water power for Abinger Hammer Mill which worked Sussex-sourced iron . The pond has since been adapted for the cultivation of watercress. Abinger hammer mill was in operation during the second half of the 16th century. The reputed manufacture of guns for use against the Spanish Armada has no basis in fact;
441-534: Was closed by the LEA 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 but the number of students reduced further, until the school was forced to close in July 2009. Oxmoor Copse is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , recognised for its plant species and its aesthetic quality. It
SECTION 20
#1732870057572#571428