Farnham Royal

Ten Palaeolithic flint hand-axes have been found in Farnham Royal, one in Cages Wood but the findspot of the others is unknown. Other prehistoric material may include a cinerary urn that was dug up at Farnham Court in the early twentieth century. It could date from the Early Bronze Age to the Late Iron Age.

Other early twentieth century groundwork around the village uncovered three drainpipes, which were dated by an expert at the British Museum to the Roman period. There is likely to be a Roman building of some description in the parish.

Hedgerley Dean, which used to be its own parish but was later split across several parishes, was the supposed site of a battle between Saxons and Vikings. A nineteenth century document claimed there were entrenchments in the parish, but these have not been identified.

Farnham Royal village was mentioned in Domesday, as was a watermill, which may have been on the same site as the eighteenth to nineteenth century Farnham Mill. St Mary’s church was first built in the twelfth century but was rebuilt in the nineteenth. Henry Dodd, the man who started the Victorian barge races on the Thames, was buried in a tomb of his own design in the churchyard.

The oldest listed building therefore is Yew Place, which was originally sixteenth century but was refronted in the eighteenth. There is a mound in the grounds of Yew Place that could be a prehistoric barrow, but it is more likely to have been a nineteenth century gazebo mound. There are several other listed structures in Farnham Royal, which include the eighteenth century cattle pound on Crown Lane and the nineteenth century water-pump shelter in Farnham Park. Field-name evidence suggests the existence of a windmill at one point on Mill Croft Field.

The war memorial on Church Road is also listed. It was built in 1920 to commemorate the dead of the First World War and was later altered to include those who died in the Second World War.