Author: Madeline Hutchins

The little red book of the village: Chaldon Explored. We have a box of these books still available for £5. If you do not already have a copy, do consider buying one while you can. It was published in 1975 by Tandridge District Council to mark European Architectural Heritage Year and updated in 1986. The A4 book (27 pages) draws together a wealth of information about interesting buildings in the village, explaining their architectural and historical character. Written as a walk round the village and with lovely line drawings, it can either be followed on foot as intended, or read at home. Email madeline.hutchins@icloud.com and we can arrange a time for you to collect a copy from the church car park, or we can hand deliver to addresses in Chaldon, or we can post it to you (£7.50 including post and packing).

This Zoom talk by Ted Howard was held on Saturday 27th March 2021

Access to the recording of the talk is available for £5, see the SHOP NOW button below.

Learn more about the great Tempera painting which covers the west wall of the church and which is reliably dated at around 1170 AD. Hear how the picture represents the journey of the soul after death and the difficult climb to heaven up the Ladder of Salvation, only achieved after a virtuous life. In his illustrated talk, Ted Howard explained how the whole picture is based on well recorded stories in medieval literature. The Zoom format gave the advantage of being able to view details up close while the explanations are given. 

The mural is the largest and most complete example of this type of medieval art. We are extremely privileged to have it on our doorstep. It attracts many visitors, including scholars from across the world and is one of the greatest works owned by the Church of England.

This was a joint event with the Friends of Chaldon Church.

The proceeds from this talk went to the Friends of Chaldon Church for the preservation of the mural. Bookings for the talk, payments to view the recording and donations raised £1200.

The mural has just undergone conservation work and has been given a careful clean. The proceeds from the talk helped pay for this work.

Donations can be made using the DONATE NOW button on the Friends website home page, or can be paid directly to the Friends of Chaldon Church by BACS, or cheques can be sent to the Treasurer of the Friends. Email chaldonhistorygroup@icloud.com for the pay in details or Treasurer’s address. There is a small special thank you for donations of £12 and over (see below) use the DONATE NOW button on the Friends website. If you’d like the recording and to make a donation to get the thank you, you can set the donation figure to £17 or more on the Friends’ website. www.friendsofchaldonchurch.org

The small special thank you: for donations of over £11.70 to the mural appeal (the relevance of that being the date of the mural) you will be sent some current photographs and some historic images of the church and a PDF of the 1933 A Book Of Chaldon Church written by the Rector, Rupert Williams. This includes a good account of the mural and the wording from the Richardson monument, the poem on the brass plate on the old doorstep, as well as the Chaldon Hymn. It’s a lovely little period piece and a source of much interesting information.

Love local, love history? Winter, when the leaves are off the trees and hedges, is a good time to see more of the architectural features of historic buildings on our patch. While we may be limited to local by lockdown, we can use this as an opportunity to learn more about local history when out on walks. Are you familiar with the Well Tower at Willey Farm on the North Downs Way, have you seen the front of the Queen Anne style red brick Fryern House by the golf course, and the fourteenth century oak barge board on the east gable of Chaldon Court by Chaldon Church? None of these can be seen easily from public footpaths in Summer, but are visible at present. 

The Guides to the six Chaldon Walks with history and nature notes are free to download from the Chaldon History website and make great self-guided walks (and/or the detail can be read on the sofa, avoiding the mud).
Do follow current Government guidance on COVID.

Chaldon’s public footpaths are an important part of its past as well as its present. The village has a notable history of looking after its public paths and rights of way, with significant work done in the 1920s by Martin Coles Harman and others. It feels very appropriate that in the 2020s there is again a focus on our footpaths and bridleways. As well as the guides, in October 2020 the tradition of walking all of them twice a year to check their condition and make formal reports was re-established.

The six walks between them cover the network of official paths and bridleways within the parish. The guides enable you to walk the routes and they provide interesting historical detail, as well as some nature notes. Download and print them off to take with you (or read them on the sofa). If you don’t have a printer at home, then download the PDF onto your phone as there is limited signal on the routes. The Guides have been put together by Liz Bonsall with contributions from Adele Brand, Madeline Hutchins and Lizzy Maskey. Find them here https://chaldonhistory.org.uk/chaldon-walks/

Chaldon Church Bells – a seven century illustrated history

Saturday 28th November 4pm on Zoom
A joint event with the Friends of Chaldon Church.
Ted Howard, Chairman of the Friends, presented his illustrated talk first given in January 2018 and based on information from his research into the history of the two ancient and six modern church bells and the famous Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

Ted’s talk was full of fascinating details. There were photographs, diagrams and paintings to show how bells were made as far back as the thirteenth century, the way the six current Chaldon bells are hung in the tiny bell tower, and the striking mechanism used on them. Ted explained the link to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry which came through a church warden at Chaldon, Douglas Hughes.

Over thirty people joined the Zoom talk, and after costs, £140 was given to the Friends of Chaldon Church.

If you are interested in viewing the recording of the talk, use the pay button below to pay the £5 fee and a link will be sent to you.

This year Liz Bonsall of Chaldon History Group, in agreement with Chaldon Village Council, resurrected the twice a year walking of all the public footpaths and bridleways in the Village, and brought together a team of eleven leaders for the walks.

On Sunday 4th October this Chaldon tradition was re-established after a gap of a few years. The six Chaldon Walk routes were walked, covering all 13 miles of paths, and going back to the original purpose of inspecting and reporting on their condition. The leaders and walkers looked out for problems with hedges, stiles, signs etc. and notes were written in the little blue books. The notes are then collated and reported to Chaldon Village Council and Surrey County Council Rights of Way Officer for any action that is needed.

Sunday was a wet and windy day, and still 21 people and 1 dog turned out for the walks, which was very encouraging. Social distancing and government guidance on being COVID secure was followed.

The practice of the twice yearly walks was started in 1922/3, and it is great to have re-established it before the centenary in 2022.

The walks used to end with teas in the Village Hall. This year we asked people to bring a picnic tea, and all walks were planned to end at Six Brothers Field, where we would have had socially distanced picnics in our groups of six. Unfortunately the wet weather cancelled this part of the plan.

If you would like to walk any of these routes yourself, and have the addition of historical and nature notes, see the Chaldon Walks page in the menu list. If you’d like to join the leader team or have any questions, please contact Liz Bonsall Tel 01883 340508 or email lizbonsall@aol.com

A Short Talk by Bob Evans

Saturday 5^th September 2020: 2:30pm to about 4pm, on Zoom, £5 fee

A fascinating insight into an important element of preserving our local heritage. 

Tandridge District Council has 19 Conservation Areas, one of which is in Chaldon. This encompasses the Church, Chaldon Court, the old farmyard, and Church Green with the older properties in Church Lane, including Glebe House (formerly the Rectory), and Court Farm Cottages and Keeper’s Cottage in Doctors Lane. 

Tandridge’s website says:

“We designate conservation areas where we want to protect or enhance places because of their special architectural or historical interest. Conservation area designation helps us better manage change so the character of an area isn’t undermined.”

Former Tandridge Director of Planning, Bob Evans discussed the basic human need for conservation; the importance of continuity in the built environment; the origins of the conservation movement; current legal and procedural background and its effectiveness; and future changes.

Bob has worked for Westminster City Council and at Tandridge District Council for over 35 years until his retirement in 2011. Since then he has undertaken voluntary work in the medical sector; speaks regularly at local history societies; and is Chairman of the Nutfield History Group. 

He presented by Zoom from his home in Oxted to the Chaldon History Group and guests.

After Bob’s presentation, Liz Bonsall and Madeline Hutchins showed a few old photos, pictures and maps to illustrate the Chaldon Conservation Area. This part of the presentation can be seen by selecting Chaldon Conservation Area Short Historical Tour in the page menu.

Walking Tours of Chaldon Conservation Area

Between Sunday 30th August and Tuesday 8th September, there were also opportunities to join a small group for a walking talk around the Chaldon Conservation Area to see the sights, and learn more about the buildings and the area’s history. These were led by Liz Bonsall and Madeline Hutchins.

The proceeds from the Zoom talk and the walking talks, after costs, were given to the Friends of Chaldon Church. The donation was £88.45

Chaldon has a notable history of looking after its public paths and rights of way. Chaldon residents walked each of its footpaths regularly twice a year from the 1920s until a few years ago. Six walks covered the network of official paths and bridleways within the parish. Guides for four of the Chaldon Walks have been developed with two more due to be completed shortly. These Guides are an attempt to preserve the tradition of walking the paths and provide interesting historical detail, as well as some nature notes. Download and print them off to take with you (or read them on the sofa if you are shielding). If you don’t have a printer at home, then download the PDF onto your phone as there is limited signal on the routes. The Guides have been put together by Liz Bonsall with contributions from Adele Brand, Madeline Hutchins and Lizzy Maskey. Find them here https://chaldonhistory.org.uk/chaldon-walks/