Alfold

On the Surrey/ Sussex border the name comes from the words ‘old fold’ meaning a clearing or area for cattle grazing. This area used to be part of the Wealden forest before it was cleared to make way for cultivation of plants and animals. There is no mention of Alfold in the Domesday book as it was probably part of Bramley village. There was no main road in Alfold until 1809.

The "glass house" shown on a section of John Speed's
map of 1610 (amended at an unknown later date)
(SHC Ref M/555/1)

Alfold has a long history of iron industry and charcoal burning. The area was also used for glass making during the second half of the sixteenth century. This led to more trees being cut in the area to make charcoal to fuel the glass making industry. A ‘glass house’, where glass was made, is marked in Sidney Wood on John Speed’s map of Surrey in 1610 and remains of these have been found in the woods. The glass made here was very good quality and some was particularly high status. Examples can be seen on display in the Guildford museum. The glass industry stopped around 1615 when the use of charcoal was banned to make glass.

Alfold Church (SHC ref 7828/2/4/6)

A marble slab in St Nicholas' churchyard, Alfold (near to the war memorial), is said to cover the grave of Jean Carre, who died May 1572. Carre was one of the last French glassmakers who worked in Sidney Wood nearby.

The Historic Environment Record (HER) contains details of the archaeological remains of 'glass houses' found in the Alfold area. click the links to find out more about the HER and to see the records:

Read more about the HER.
Find out about HER record 699 and 706.

Click here to see the catalogue of the St Nicholas, Alfold, Parish Records (1658-1978) held at the Surrey History Centre.

Alfold House (SHC Frith Collection ref 6316/7395)

Buildings to note in the village include the Church of St Nicholas which originally dates back to 1100. The village also has many examples of ‘mathematical tile’ hung houses. These tiles were made to look like brick and were used to decorate the outside of buildings. Alfold House (click the link to see the HER) is a good example of a half-timber house originally built in early years of 16th century. The term ‘half-timbering’ refers to the fact that the logs used to create the timber frame were halved, or at least cut down to a square inner section.

Alfold is linked with the history of smuggling in Surrey as the parish lay on one of the smuggler’s main routes from the sea. Several farmers were rumoured to have stored smuggler’s goods and the glass houses and woods were also used to store illegal goods.

Search for records related to Alfold on this website