History of East Clandon

The word Clandon (Clanedune) goes back to Anglo-Saxon times meaning clean down or open downland from the North Downs hills that rise above the village. People settled here due to the availability of water that emerged where the chalk meets the lower lying clay.

Chertsey Abbey, a Benedictine foundation was patron of East Clandon from the Norman Conquest of 1066 to the Reformation in 1539. The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and is often referred to in old documents as Clandon Abbatis.

In 1544 Henry VIII granted East Clandon Manor to Sir Anthony Browne. The Manor itself, which is thought to have been placed close to where Hatchlands now is, was moated since violent times in the early 1300s. The house and with that the village changed hands many times during the next two hundred years.

The oldest houses in the village, Frogmore Cottage, Lamp Cottage, Old Manor Farm, Tunmore Cottage among others, had already been built when the London brewer John Raymond sold the Hatchlands estate to Admiral Boscawen in 1749. The present Hatchlands house was built for him with the help of prize money from his victory with the French and it was completed in 1758 only three years before the Admiral died.

Goodhart Rendel

From 1768 the Sumner family owned the Hatchlands estate until it went to auction in 1888 and was bought by Lord Rendel. In 1913 his eldest daughter's son Captain H.S. Goodhart Rendel inherited the estate in trust. The Captain was a professional architect and took a great interest in the village and its inhabitants. According to the writings of Maurice Wiggin, Goodhart Rendel was a tall, spare, upright figure making his daily round in the village dressed in his gray tweed suit and soft brown trilby shouting to his dogs in a real Grenadier's voice. Every Christmas time the squire gave a children's tea party at Hatchlands complete with Christmas tree and gifts for all comers. Christmas carol concerts are still held at Hatchlands for villagers today.

Several houses in the village were built to his drawings including Antler's Corner, Appletree Cottage, Meadow Cottage and 5 School Lane (1910), Prospect Cottages (1914), Snellgate Cottages (1926) and the St Thomas' Housing Society Cottages (1947)

In 1945 the Hatchlands house, park and some land were given to the National Trust. When Captain Goodhart Rendel died in 1959 the estate passed from his care into the hands of two relatives, a split he regarded with misgivings. The new owners, the Dunne-Ritche estate, sold most houses around 1970,but a few still remain in their possession.

The Church of St Thomas of Canterbury

Inside the church are a number of wall plaques and monumental inscriptions featuring family names connected with the village (earliest date1777).

• view inscriptions
• more about the church

The Village School

East Clandon had a Church of England Village School for 105 years. The Sumner family donated the plot in School Lane and the school opened in 1863, built with money by public subscription. In 1883, the Minute Books says, Alice Grover, 13 years old and daughter of the local blacksmith, commenced her duties as teacher of the Infant School at a salary of £10 per annum. In 1955 the school had 42 pupils on the roll. When the school closed on 26 July 1968 the 19 children were transferred to the school in West Clandon.

Read memories and see pictures of some of the school children.

The Village Shop and Post Office

Located in what is now known as the Old Post House in Ripley Road, Mr and Mrs Burling ran it for more than 20 years and in 1924 the first telephone of the village, with the number Clandon 1, was installed there. In the sixties Mr and Mrs Lindsay were in charge. They closed the shop but kept the Post Office until the beginning of the seventies.

The Village Pub

The pub was built during the seventeenth century and served as a coaching inn, conveniently placed with the blacksmith opposite. For nearly a hundred years, from the 1880's the same family, the Whitbourns and the Hills, ran it.

Surrey History Centre and Other Resources

Three paintings of East Clandon by John Hassell (1767 - 1827)

Village Wikipedia page - Landscape, History, Notable Residents, Demography and Housing