FARNHAM, a parish in
the hundred of FARNHAM,
county of SURREY, comprising
the market-town of
Farnham, the chapelry of
Bagshot, and the tythings
of Culverlands with Tilford,
Runfold, Runwick, and
Wrecklesham with Bourn,
and containing 5413 inhabitants,
of which number,
3132 are in the town of
Farnham, 10 miles (W. by S.) from Guildford, and 3i
(S.W.) from London, on the road to Southampton. This
place, originally called Fernham, from the fern growing on
the extensive heaths by which on all sides, except the
south-west, it is for many miles surrounded, was by Ethelbald,
King of the West Saxons, annexed to the see of
Winchester. In 893, Alfred obtained a signal victory
over the Danes, who were ravaging this part of the country;
and in the reign of Stephen, Henry de Blois, brother
of that monarch, and Bishop of Winchester, erected, on
a hill commanding the town, a castle of great strength
and of considerable extent, which is said to have been
seized by the Dauphin of France, in his expedition against
King John. In the following reign, this castle having hecome
a retreat for the mal-contents, was demolished by
Henry III., in the war with the barons; but was subsequently
rebuilt by the bishops of Winchester, with
greater magnificence, as the episcopal palace.  During
the parliamentary war, the castle was garrisoned for
the king, but being besieged by Waller, the parliamentary
general, It fell into his hands, and was afterwards
dismantled and nearly destroyed. The principal
remains are some portions of the walls, and the keep,
which still retains vestiges of its ancient strength:
the deep fosse, by which the castle was surrounded, is
on tie north side occupied by a plantation of forest
trees. At the Restoration the inhabited part was greatly
improved by Bishop Morley, who expended £8000 -in
repairs; it has been since modernised, and is still the
principal residence of the bishops of the diocese, and
contains an extensive and valuable library belonging to
the see. The park, three miles in circumference, commands
a fine view of the valley in which the town is
situated, and of the adjoining country to the south and
south-east. To the east of the palace is a noble avenue
of ancient elms, forming a delightful promenade, nearly
a mile in length, which the inhabitants of the town enjoy
by prescriptive right.
The town is situated on the river Wey, and consists
of four principal streets, diverging nearly at right angles
from the market-place in the centre, and of several smaller
streets, roughly paved, and lighted with oil by subscription
during the winter. The houses are mostly well
built, many of them are handsome, and the general appearance
of the place is respectable and prepossessing:
the inhabitants are supplied with spring water from
pumps, and in the centre of the town is a reservoir of
soft water, brought from the hills on the north by pipes,
which crossing the park, first supply the castle. The
view of the castle from the market-place, though partially
obstructed by the market-house, is picturesque, and
the environs abound with pleasing and richly varied
scenery; to the south are fertile meadows bounded by
hills crowned with wood, and to the north are extensive
plantations of hops, for -which the soil is peculiarly favourable.
The manufacture of cloth, formerly carried on to
a considerable extent, has been superseded by the cultivation
of hops, which has prevailed here for about one
hundred and fifty years, and at present constitutes the
staple trade of the town. The hops, from the favourable
nature of the soil, and the peculiar care bestowed on
their culture, possess a decided superiority over those
produced in any other part of the kingdom, and invariably
obtain a higher price; they are almost exclusively
sent to Weyhill fair, near Andover, where they are sold
to the west country dealers. On the banks of the Wey
are several flour mills, from which considerable supplies
are sent to the London market by the Basingstoke canal,
which crosses the high road within four miles of the
town. The market, which was formerly well supplied
with corn, is on Thursday: the fairs are on Holy Thursday
and Midsummer-day, for horses, cattle, sheep, and
hogs, and November 13th, for horses and cattle. Farnham
was anciently a borough, and returned members to
parliament from the 4th of Edward II. till the 38th
of Henry VI.: it had a charter of incorporation
granted by the bishops, under which the government
was vested in two bailiffs and twelve burgesses;  but
these privileges were so little regarded that the vacancies
in the number of the burgesses were not
filled up, and in 1790, the bailiffs having been indicted
for not repairing the bridges at Tilford, surrendered
their charter to the bishop, and sent the
records of the borough to the castle. The town is
within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who
hold here petty sessions for the division: the bishop holds
a court leet in the spring, at which tythingmen and
constables are appointed, and a -court baron every third
week, for the recovery of debts under 40s.
The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of
Surrey, and diocese of Winchester, rated in the king's
books at £29. 9. 5., and in the patronage of the Archdeacon.
The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is a
spacious and handsome structure in the later style of
English architecture, with a low tower at the west end;
it has a very fine east window of five lights, with elegant
tracery. In 1825, the gallery over the north aisle was enlarged
with two hundred and twenty additional free
sittings, by a grant from the Incorporated Society for the
enlargement of churches and chapels, and a similar increase
of ninety-three free sittings for-females was made
in the gallery over the south aisle,, by subscription. There
is a place of worship for Independents, and also one at
Tilford. A free grammar school had existed here prior
to 1611, to which Dr. Harding, President of Magdalene
College, Oxford, in that year, bequeathed a rent-charge
of £10 per annum, which has been augmented by
Subsequent benefactions; the present income, nearly
£30 per annum, is paid to the master, who receives
private boarders, and pays to a schoolmaster in the town
a certain sum for teaching the poor children that apply
for gratuitous instruction. A National school, to which
benefactions amounting to £25 per annum have been
made, is principally supported by subscription. Almshouses
for the residence and maintenance of eight
aged persons were founded in 1619, by Andrew Windsor,
who endowed them with a farm at Buscott, in the county,
of Berks, producing, with subsequent benefactions,
about £ 80 per annum. At the distance of about two
miles south of the town are the remains of the abbey
of _ Waverley, founded in 1128, by Giffard, Bishop of
Winchester, for monks of the Cistercian order, then
introduced into England (the abbot, according to Gale,
being accounted the superior of that order in this country),
the clear annual revenue of which, at the dissolution,
was £174. 8. 3.: the remains consist of part of
the south aisle of the church, in the windows of which,
within the memory of the present generation, were
many specimens of the rich stained glass with which
the church was decorated; and part of the dormitory,
refectory, and the cloisters, richly mantled with ivy, and
extending in detached portions over a space of three or
four acres: stone coffins and numerous sepulchral remains
having been frequently discovered on the spot.
Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester, died at Farnham,
and was buried at Winchester, but his heart was deposited
at Waverley, and is said to have been dug up entire
about six years since, enclosed in a leaden box, containing
a saline liquid. Nicholas de Farnham, successively
physician to Henry III., Bishop of Chester and Durham,
and author of several works on the practice of physic
and the nature of herbs; and the Rev. Augustus Montague
Toplady, A.M. an eminent controversial divine of
the last century, were natives of this place.