Walk 20th January 2016 St Mary's church - Sheepleas

Route taken and distances walked are as the sighting walk of 18th January 2016. This walk I led for Mole Valley Ramblers with 20 in total walking. Good sunny day temperatures started at -3C and rose to 5C at end of walk after 3 hours 4 minutes which included two stops of 15 minutes and 5 minutes to see the views and take refreshments and comfort breaks.

West Horsley manor has some interesting history associated with it. Here is an extract from a web page "It was the seat of John Lord Berners, who made the first English translation of Froissart's Chronicle in the reign of Henry VIII. It was shortly afterwards the house of the Earl of Lincoln, whose wife, in whose right he held it, was the widow of Sir Anthony Browne, and was by birth Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald, daughter of the Earl of Kildare, celebrated by Surrey the poet as the 'Fair Geraldine.' She resided at West Horsley after her husband's death, and corresponded in very unpoetic style with Sir William More at Loseley, where several of her letters are preserved, including an invitation to Sir William to come to her house during the crisis of the Spanish invasion of 1588, dated 30 July, and expressing the consternation in the court at the news that the Spaniards were over against Dover in Calais Roads. Carew Raleigh, son of Sir Walter, was a later owner, and he sold it to Sir Edward Nicholas, Secretary of State to Charles I, who died in 1669. Sir Edward's son, Sir John, was Clerk to the Privy Council and died in 1704. His son Edward, who died in 1726, was Treasurer to Queen Mary."

The web page with more detail :- http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol3/pp353-357

Bamber Gascoigne accidently inherited the property and intends to restore it and stage opera productions from the grounds.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11486628/Bamber-Gascoigne-to-save-500-year-old-manor-after-accidental-inheritance.html

Brief history of St Mary's church - along with Sir Walter Raleigh's head being kept in a bag can be found at this site :- http://stmaryswesthorsley.co.uk/about-us/church-building-history/