Limpsfield
Limpsfield is a village and civil parish in the east of the county of Surrey, England, by Oxted at the foot of the North Downs. The town of Oxted merges with the village's westernmost area, Oxted railway station being within 300m of the residential East Hill in the village and under a mile from Limpsfield's conservation area High Street. The English composer Frederick Delius and orchestral conductor Sir Thomas Beecham are both buried in the village churchyard and there are 89 listed buildings.
History
The village lay within the Anglo-Saxon Tandridge hundred.Limpsfield appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Limenesfeld. It was held by the Abbot of Battle Abbey, Sussex. Its Domesday assets were: 1 church, 1 mill worth 2s, 19 ploughs, 1 fishery, of meadow, woodland worth 150 hogs, 2 stone quarries, and 3 nests of hawks. It rendered £24 per year to its feudal overlords.
Old Court Cottage in Titsey Road, formerly the manorial court of the Abbot of Battle, is grade I listed building and dates from c.1190-1200 with alterations in the late 14th century, and a 16th-century crosswing. Reginald Mason cited this in 1964 as an outstandingly important early example of a timber-framed building in the south of England.
The parish church of Saint Peter was constructed in the late 12th century and is a grade I listed building, extensively restored in the 19th century. The tower, with two-light plate-tracery windows of c.1260, is made of ironstone rubble with stone dressings and dressed stone to north aisle. In addition it has a wooden-shingled spire with a wooden cross surmounted. St Peter's church is also home to the last stained glass windows produced by John David Hayward, who lived for many years in nearby Edenbridge; the window depicts Saint Cecilia. Hayward was a leading artist in stained glass in the 20th century.
There are approximately twenty medieval buildings within the parish, and there are 89 listed buildings.
Landmarks
The village heart is in a conservation area and some of the surrounding area is National Trust land including Limpsfield Common. Staffhurst Wood is also within the parish boundaries and is notable for its bluebells in spring. Limpsfield Chart has a golf course and cricket club. Limpsfield itself has a football team and a tennis club and its current cricket club is a united team with Oxted, named Oxted & Limpsfield Cricket Club with two grounds.The village is served by Oxted railway station.
Geography
The civil and ecclesiastical parish area is grouped to the north and south of Hurst Green, Surrey. The built up section is north of Hurst Green and both east and north-east of Oxted. The lowest elevation is 62m at Staffhurst Wood on the south-western parish boundary on the River Eden, Kent and highest is just east of the town centre at Grubstreet Copse at 163m;.The M25 motorway is to the north and Junction 6 for Godstone is just miles west.
Nearby are three national rights of way: Vanguard Way, Pilgrims' Way and Greensand Way, the latter two along the hill ranges the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge.
Localities
Limpsfield chart
Limpsfield Chart, arguably a village in its own right, begins from the south side of the A25. Chart is an Old English word for rough ground.The adjacent High Chart, south-east of Limpsfield, is a large area of woodland, owned by the National Trust, which has a network of footpaths. The remains of a Roman road, the London to Lewes Way, pass through the woods east of the village, where it makes an eastward diversion from its alignment to avoid steep slopes. It passes through Crockham Hill before returning to its line near Marlpit Hill.
In the village is the C of E church of St Andrew, which it is the place of worship of 'a Conventional District' in the ecclesiastical parish of Limpsfield and Titsey, built in 1895. There is a pub The Carpenters Arms in the centre.
Within it is the halfway point in the Greensand Way long distance footpath which runs for 110 miles from Haslemere in Surrey to Hamstreet in Kent along the Greensand Ridge.
Governance
was the Member of Parliament for East Surrey, which includes Limpsfield from 2010-2019. He joined the Liberal Democrats in 2019 having left the Conservatives. He stood down at the last General Election and was replaced by Conservative Claire Coutinho.There is one representative on Surrey County Council grouped under Oxted, conservative Nick Skellett CBE. There are two representatives on Tandridge District Council :
There is also a parish council with ten members.
Demography and housing
The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.| Output area | Population | Households | % Owned outright | % Owned with a loan | hectares |
| 3,569 | 1,430 | 49.0% | 34.2% | 1,854 |
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.
Nearest settlements
Notable residents
The composer Frederick Delius is buried in the churchyard of the parish church of St. Peter's, as is his wife Jelka. The English orchestra conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham, is buried only a few yards from Delius, whose music he supported and promoted. A nearby grave is occupied by the cellist Beatrice Harrison, who lived locally in Oxted, and who worked with both Delius and Beecham. The ashes of Jack Brymer, a leading English clarinettist are interred in the churchyard near the grave of Beecham, who had recruited him to the RPO.The Scottish statesman and historian, Mountstuart Elphinstone, associated with the government of British India, is buried in Limpsfield churchyard.
The German naval officer, maritime and naval writer, and committed Nazi Fritz-Otto Busch is buried in a corner of Limpsfield churchyard.
Cyril Jackson is buried in Limpsfield churchyard
Leonard Montague Greenwood MC,DSO who is buried in Rouen is commemorated on his parents' gravestone in Limpsfield churchyard.
Over time, the parish has been home to a number of notable residents:
- Colin Cowdrey, former England cricket captain, resided in the village for many years.
- The book illustrator Arthur Rackham lived and died in Pains Hill.
- The television host, Davina McCall, spent much of her childhood in Limpsfield.
- Florence L. Barclay, the romance novelist and short story writer, was the daughter of the local Anglican rector.
- David Garnett, the novelist and Bloomsbury figure, spent his childhood in a house called The Cearne on the outskirts of the village. His mother Constance Garnett was a translator of Russian literature.