Author: Madeline Hutchins

Saturday 14th November

Led by Richard Payne – see entry below for information about the underground or buried history that will be covered on the walk.

10am start and expected to finish between 1pm and 2pm. Starts and finishes at Chaldon Church car park. Places must be booked in advance by emailing info@chaldonwalks.org.uk Cost £5. Payable in cash on the day. Proceeds go to the Friends of Chaldon Church to help maintain its historic building.

The walk will run if there 8 or more people booked. We will notify those booked by email by Wednesday 11th if this number is not reached and the walk needs to be cancelled or postponed.

Come in appropriate clothing and footwear given the weather forecast for the day. If the weather is totally unsuitable we will cancel or postponed the walk.

Railway tunnels, Medieval manors, stone quarries, concrete tracks and more

Saturday 3rd October 2026

A talk by Richard Payne on the underground or buried history encountered on a loop walk from Chaldon Church, taking in Tollsworth Manor, Shepherds Hill, Dean Lane and Alderstead Heath.

60 people attended the talk and learnt about the the world’s first public railway – with a series of carts drawn by horses. There was information about the impressive brick tunnel sighting tower from 1838, the two railway tunnels – Merstham and Quarry – with their air vents, and an infamous unsolved murder on a train in the Quarry tunnel from 1905. Also the labyrinth of 10 miles of stone quarry tunnels beneath the hill, with entrances from near Rockshaw Road.

Richard spoke about the suspected site of an earlier moated medieval manor south of Tollsworth Manor House (itself dating from 1326-1358) and the military, World War II, origins of the concrete tracks on Alderstead Heath. All beneath our feet in Chaldon or just ‘over the border’ in Merstham.

Notes for the walk and the route map are online on our sister site Chaldon Footpaths & Walks HERE so you can walk it as a self-guided walk.

SEE ENTRY ABOVE FOR A GUIDED WALK OF THE ROUTE WITH RICHARD PAYNE ON SATURDAY 14TH NOVEMBER.

All proceeds (after costs) were given to the Friends of Chaldon Church to help with the upkeep of the historic building. This was £334.20

Chaldon History all-day Summer walk

Sunday 2nd August 

Led by Liz Bonsall and linked to her talk in March – The group explored the area and learnt its history. 

The walk covered the lands that belonged to James Banks Taylor of Fryern in the 19th century. We glimpsed Fryern House through the trees from one path. We passed the site of Chaldon Mead with its varied history, followed the footpaths criss-crossing the estate and admired the Wellingtonias in Leazes Avenue. 

With permission from the Golf Club, we saw parts of the Victorian drainage system on the former Metropolitan Asylum’s farmland that are not normally accessible. We crossed the sites still revealing secrets from the Guards Depot and Metropolitan Asylum, checked out the War Department stones and followed the boundary of St Lawrence’s Hospital.

We had lunch at the Golf Club and were grateful for their welcome to the group.

The proceeds were given to the Friends of Chaldon Church for the upkeep of the historic building.

Monday 8th June

with Liz Bonsall – Part of the Caterham Festival 2026

35 people joined this free talk to hear the stories and be shown photos of the history of this interesting site as well as walking round to get a sense of its past and to see what remains from it.

The Burial Ground is in Chaldon and is owned and managed by Chaldon Village Council. It is open for public access, and is managed in an environmentally friendly manner to protect its biodiversity.

The entrance to the burial ground is on Bridleway 77, just 150m from Green Lane towards Chaldon and the Golf Club (easiest and level walk) or from the Golf Club towards Green Lane (this direction is steeper and can be muddy).

The grid reference is TQ320560.

Sunday 10th May 2026

There was a great turn out for these walks, despite the cold, wet weather. The hawthorn blossom and bright green new leaves and flowers on other trees were notable, as well as buttercups and cow parsley. There were swallows and chiffchaffs.

The new developments on increasing access to the footpaths of Chaldon were launched – with the feather flag flying first at the start of walks 1 and 4 by the church, then outside the Village Hall where people gathered for free tea, cake and biscuits after the walks. The first of the QR code signs were up on fingerposts at the start of most walks. The new signage for noticeboards, the new maps and the website were on display in the Village Hall.

This marks the completion of the project undertaken by Chaldon History Group with funding and support from Chaldon Village Council. This included the installation of two kissing gates, as well signage, the flag and the website. In parallel, the new maps were funded by money allocated to the Chaldon History Group from the Chaldon Fete.

The walks are run by Chaldon History Group, supported by Chaldon Village Council and Chaldon Community Trust (Village Hall). 

If you would like to walk any of the routes by yourself at any time, maps and notes of the routes with historical and nature information are available to download free on the Chaldon Walks page of this website. There is also the new website Chaldon Footpaths & Walks.

If you would like to join as a walk leader, or help put up posters round the village or other aspects of the management of the walks, please contact Liz Bonsall using Contact Us.

Places newly available on Saturday 18th July 2026 – 2pm start, finish about 4:30pm

(First talk and tour was on Saturday 16th May 2026 and second on 4th July 2026)

A history and tour of Tollsworth Manor in Chaldon. The building is a rare surviving example of an early Medieval open-hall house, with sections built in 1326-1358 and 1433. Its development includes the insertion of a chimney and a first floor into the earlier open hall and much else, as you will see.

Its known history goes back to about 1200 when it was a grange of Merton Abbey and this lasted up to dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. It was owned by Henry VIII, lived in by some notable families, and then, in the mid 20th century was a Youth Hostel.

The afternoon (2pm start) includes a talk, a tour of the house and its special English garden as well as tea and cake. 

The visit in May was a very popular event – so we organised two other dates. UPDATE: 18th July still has 3 places available on it. Email madeline.hutchins@icloud.com to book places. Admission is by donation – minimum £11 per person, payable in cash on the day. All income goes to St Catherine’s Hospice.

Saturday 7th March

Illustrated talk by Liz Bonsall

This was a revisit and update of a talk given by Liz Bonsall in 2017. We heard stories of Fryern, Chaldon Mead, St Lawrence’s Burial Ground as well as the use of the land by the Metropolitan Asylum and the House by the Guards Depot. Liz incorporated new information that had come to light and added more illustrations to the story.

46 people attended the talk. Proceeds of £230 (after costs) were given to the Friends of Chaldon Church, to help with conservation of the church’s historic building.

Saturday 24th January 2026

This was not a talk but a drop in session giving the opportunity to pore over old maps of Chaldon (with explanatory notes provided) and to browse house sales particulars from the past. Together these gave a fascinating picture of Chaldon and its development over the years. Mostly covering the 19th and 20th century, there were a few earlier maps and estate sales particulars from the 18th century.

Organised by Liz Bonsall and Madeline Hutchins, with maps from the Caterham and District Local History Centre. 

41 people attended the afternoon session and there was a great atmosphere and many interesting conversations. The proceeds (after costs were deducted) were given to the Friends of Chaldon Church, to help with the care of its historic building, this was £172.

Ordnance Survey map of Chaldon: 1816

Saturday 8th November 2025

A talk by Liz Bonsall and Madeline Hutchins.

The talk showed what we know about our village in the 1820s from documents and archives. The Badcock map of 1825, made for the Reverend Thomas Welton of Chaldon was the key resource as well as the watercolour paintings by John and Edward Hassell.

Liz and Madeline explored what houses were there and who lived here. They showed what the inside and outside of the church looked like then. Liz had researched the baptism, marriage and burial records and much more from that time period. She explained how the administration of the parish worked, with the roles of the incumbent (rector), the church wardens, waywardens, overseers and constable.

The talk was held in Chaldon Village Hall. Proceeds (after costs) were given to the Friends of Chaldon Church, £261, to help with conservation of the church’s historic building.

At Chaldon Church 6pm onwards

Chaldon History Group supported this free community event run by Pippin and Gile: Bushcraft, Foraging and Countryside Crafts.  

About 36 people came to the evening event and watched the apple pressing, or took a turn themselves – both adults and children, to make juice in the traditional way. There was chutney to taste, made using a post World War II recipe from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and matured over years. There were seven different varieties of apple to taste and mulled apple juice heated over the firepit.

You could find in the quiz about the history of the apple and how it arrived in the UK and where it came from. And test how well you knew apple vocabulary – including pippin, costermonger and pomology. There were books about old school ways of processing and keeping apples. 

People brought apples to be pressed and took away juice in bottles. Others brought plastic bottles or other containers in the hope/ expectation of taking some juice home!