Ockley

Village in Surrey, England

For other uses, see Ockley (disambiguation).

Human settlement in England

Ockley

Ockley Green

Ockley

Location within Surrey

Area| 13.75 km2 (5.31 sq mi)
Population| 871 (Civil Parish 2011)[1]
• Density| 63/km2 (160/sq mi)
OS grid reference| TQ1540
Civil parish|

* Ockley

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|

* Dorking and Horley

List of places

England
Surrey

51°08′53″N 0°21′47″W﻿ / ﻿51.148°N 0.363°W﻿ / 51.148; -0.363

Ockley is a rural village in Surrey. It lies astride the A29, the modern road using the alignment of Stane Street (Chichester). The A29 diverges from the A24 from London about 2.5 miles northeast and takes the alignment of Stane Street a mile north of the village. It has a medieval parish church, see list of places of worship in Mole Valley.

## History

[edit]

The reconstructed (without sails) smock windmill February 2025

Finds of small artifacts dating to Roman Britain associated with the Roman road stretching from Chichester to London have been made since at least the 19th century.[2]

Ockley's name initially appears to fit the uncertain site where battle took place described in the entry for the year 851 of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. According to the chronicler, king Æthelwulf and his son Æthelbald, together with the West-Saxon army, fought against an invading Danish army of 350 ships that had plundered London and Canterbury previously, and had also put king Beorhtwulf of Mercia to flight. The chronicler refers to the battlefield as Aclea, Oak Lea, and the Danish army was defeated suffering “the greatest slaughter… we have heard tell of up to this present day”. However, Aclea almost always appears in modern English as Oakley not Ockley and the identification of Ockley with the battlefield is made virtually impossible.[3]

Ockley appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Hoclei. It was held by Radulf (Ralph) from Richard Fitz Gilbert. Its domesday assets were: 1 hide. It had 5 ploughs, woodland worth 20 hogs. It rendered £3 10s 0d to its overlords per year.[4]

Nicholas Culpeper, a leading Stuart period herbalist, was probably born here on 18 October 1616.[5]

In 1911 the parish was "agricultural, except for a little brick and tile making".[2]

The village had a smock windmill known as Elmer's Mill ( or Almer's Mill) ,between 1803 and its collapse in 1944 and eventual reconstruction as a dwelling circa 2012.

## Sports

[edit]

Informal football is generally played on Ockley Green which has football posts in place.

Ockley Cricket Club celebrated its 170th anniversary in 2022. League matches are played on Saturdays with friendly games on Sundays.

Ockley has Gatton Manor Golf Course on the outskirts of the village, within the parish bounds.[6]

The village has featured in longer routes of the London-Surrey Cycle Classic.

## Geography

[edit]

Aerial view

Between Dorking and Horsham, close to the Sussex/Surrey border, Ockley stretches to the escarpment of Leith Hill, the second highest point in South East England, after Walbury Hill in the far south-west of Berkshire. The northern border is marked by the Greensand Ridge. Close to the Greensand Ridge are small beds of Sussex marble, and remnants of a former limestone area of the Weald.[2]

Nearest Settlements

| Holmbury St Mary | Coldharbour, Capel | South Holmwood

|
|

|  |
Ewhurst Green, Ewhurst |

Ockley

| Capel
|  |
Walliswood and Okewood or Oakwood Hill, Ewhurst | Warnham | Kingsfold

## Transport

[edit]

### Roads

[edit]

The A29 is the main road through the village with Horsham to the south and Dorking to the north. Local minor roads provide relatively straight access from just north of the village's developed area to Ewhurst and Cranleigh to the west and Capel to the east.

### Rail

[edit]

The village is served by Ockley railway station which is 2 miles (3.2 km) to the east, due to a Victorian aristocrat having imposed his manor's name on a station closer to Capel, Surrey.

## Demography and housing

[edit]

2011 Census Homes Output area | Detached | Semi-detached | Terraced | Flats and apartments | Caravans/temporary/mobile homes | shared between households[1]

|
|
|
|
|
|

(Civil Parish) | 147 | 132 | 44 | 18 | 11 | 0

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.

2011 Census Key Statistics Output area | Population | Households | % Owned outright | % Owned with a loan | hectares[1]

|
|
|
|
|

(Civil Parish) | 871 | 352 | 34.7% | 26.7% | 1375

The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).

## See also

[edit]

* List of places of worship in Mole Valley

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density United Kingdom Census 2011 Office for National Statistics Retrieved 21 November 2013
2. ^ a b c H.E. Malden, ed. (1911). "Parishes: Ockley". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
3. ^ Frank Stenton: Anglo-Saxon England p244. ISBN 9780192801395
4. ^ Surrey Domesday Book
5. ^ Curry, Patrick (2004). "Culpeper, Nicholas (1616–1654), physician and astrologer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6882. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
6. ^ Gatton Manor Retrieved 2013-11-29

## External links

[edit]

Media related to Ockley at Wikimedia Commons

* v
* t
* e

District of Mole Valley

* Towns
* Villages

| Ashtead|

* Ashtead

|

Betchworth|

* Betchworth
* Brockham
* Buckland

Dorking|

* Abinger
* Beare Green
* Capel
* Coldharbour
* Dorking
* Friday Street
* Goodwyns
* Holmbury St Mary
* Holmwood
* Mickleham
* Newdigate
* Ockley
* Pixham
* Westcott
* Westhumble
* Wotton

Epsom|

* Headley

Horley|

* Charlwood

Leatherhead|

* Fetcham
* Great Bookham
* Leatherhead
* Little Bookham

Reigate|

* Leigh

Tadworth|

* Box Hill
* Tadworth

Parks|

* Ashtead Common
* Bookham Commons
* Box Hill
* Glover's Wood
* Holmbury Hill
* Leith Hill
* Oxmoor Copse
* Norbury Park
* Polesden Lacey

Places of worship|

* Church of St Nicholas, Charlwood
* St Joseph's Church, Dorking
* St Martin's Church, Dorking
* Church of St Mary, Fetcham
* Church of Our Lady and St Peter, Leatherhead
* Church of St Mary & St Nicholas, Leatherhead

Education|

* The Ashcombe School
* Box Hill School
* City of London Freemen's School
* Downsend School
* Howard of Effingham School
* Manor House School
* The Priory School
* St Andrew's Catholic School
* St John's School
* St Teresa's School Effingham
* Therfield School

Transport|

| Railway stations|

* Ashtead
* Betchworth
* Bookham
* Box Hill & Westhumble
* Dorking
* Dorking Deepdene
* Dorking West
* Holmwood
* Leatherhead
* Ockley

|

Buildings and
structures

* Betchworth Castle
* Bocketts Farm
* Burford Bridge Hotel
* Cherkley Court
* Denbies Wine Estate
* Dorking Caves
* Fetcham Park House
* Gatwick Aviation Museum
* Headley Court
* Juniper Hall
* Lowfield Heath Windmill
* Mullard Space Science Laboratory
* Wotton House

Sport|

| Football clubs|

* Bookham
* Dorking
* Dorking Wanderers
* Leatherhead

|

Places listed are articles notable as settlements, arranged by post town
The two principal towns are emboldened

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template