Ripley, Surrey

Ripley is a village in Surrey, England. The village has existed since Norman times – the chancel of the church of St. Mary Magdalen shows construction of circa 1160 there and supporting feet of fines and ecclesiastical records mention the village at the time. Ripley's sister village of Send to the south-west was the governing parish over the village for over 700 years until 1878 when they became two separate ecclesiastical parishes; they became separate civil parishes in 1933.

For other places by this name, see Ripley, Derbyshire, Ripley, North Yorkshire and Ripley (disambiguation).

Ripley
Village

Portsmouth Road
The village's High Street

Newark Priory, an Augustinian Abbey
Located by footpaths less than 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Ripley High Street
Ripley
Location within Surrey
Area9.27 km2 (3.58 sq mi)
Population2,029 (Civil Parish 2011)[1]
• Density219/km2 (570/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTQ055565
Civil parish
  • Ripley
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWoking
Postcode districtGU23
Dialling code01483
PoliceSurrey
FireSurrey
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament
The Barn & Little Barn

Lying on the main road from London to Portsmouth (from the 1930s referred to as the A3), Ripley was the post town for the whole area (including Woking) from 1813 to 1865. With the coming of the railway to what was then Woking Common in 1838, Ripley's importance diminished, and Woking became its post town in 1865. As motor traffic increased during the 1960s and the 1970s, the Portsmouth Road at Ripley became a notorious bottleneck, relieved by the building of the Ripley bypass in 1976. The A3 was renamed the B2215, and what has always been a major trunk road was expanded into six lanes north of Guildford, bypassing Send and Ripley.[2]

The distance is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) to the M25 motorway. It is centred 6.2 miles (10.0 km) southeast of Woking, 6.8 miles (10.9 km) northeast of Guildford and 22.5 miles (36.2 km) southwest of London. Neighbouring villages Send and Send Marsh to the South-West and Ockham to the East have fewer shopping facilities.

Amenities
See also: List of places of worship in Guildford (borough)
A listed coaching inn, the Talbot Inn

The village includes a coaching inn, the Talbot Inn, which dates back to 1453,[3][4] as well as The Clockhouse (formerly Drake's) restaurant, which has been awarded a Michelin star and 3 AA rosettes. The village high street includes two small supermarkets, cobblers and a bakery. The other pubs in the village are the Jovial Sailor on the western outskirts, The Anchor, The Ship Inn, The Seven Stars and The Half Moon.

The village church of St Mary Magdalen has a fine Norman chancel and is a Grade II* listed building.[5]

Among the more than 20 listed buildings and cottages in the village are Pinnocks Café[6] the Ship Inn and Ye Old Sweet Shoppe,[7] J Hartley Antiques, Sage Antiques (Green Cottage), the Clock House[8] and the Old Pharmacy.[9] This last building is a historical place of interest with a Blue Plaque located outside commemorating the production of penicillin for the first time in the UK, possibly the world, for civilian use, by Kenneth White in 1944. Cedar House, another listed building, is now home to an art gallery[10]

Cedar House Gallery, High Street

Ripley has two schools, Ripley C of E Primary School and Ripley Court Preparatory School, a private school.

Literary references

Ripley is mentioned in H. G. Wells' novels The War of the Worlds and The Wheels of Chance. The Arthur Conan Doyle short story of Sherlock Holmes’ The Naval Treaty, includes a setting in Ripley.

Famous residents

Ripley is the birthplace of the acclaimed rock/blues guitarist Eric Clapton, and resting place of his son, Conor, who died after falling from his mother's New York apartment window.[11][12]

Paul Weller is a long-term resident of Ripley[13] and runs local recording studios Black Barn Studios.[14]

Sport

Cricket

Cricket has been a popular sport in the village for 200 years and is played on the Green.[15]

Cycling heritage

In the 1870s, cycling also became a popular activity in the South of England and Ripley was a convenient distance from London so that many cyclists would stop there for a break at the Anchor Inn. Sisters Annie and Harriet Dibble encouraged the cyclists so much that, in some years in the following decade, their visitors' book was signed with over 7,000 names – all arriving on penny-farthings or boneshakers.[16]

Cycling routes today

The 2012 Summer Olympics road races started at The Mall in central London, passed Richmond and extended into Surrey to the south via Hampton Court Palace, Weybridge, Byfleet, West Byfleet, Ripley, West Horsley and Dorking then returned to The Mall via Leatherhead, Oxshott, Hampton Court Palace and Kingston-upon-Thames.[17]

Since then the Surrey 100 sportive and race have come through the village each July.[18]

Bonfire

Since the 1930s a bonfire has been held on the Green to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night.[19] It is a major local event with several thousand attending to see the bonfire, fireworks and funfair.

Demography and housing
2011 Census Homes
Output areaDetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlats and apartmentsCaravans/temporary/mobile homesshared between households[1]
(Civil Parish)27025213468380

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.

2011 Census Key Statistics
Output areaPopulationHouseholds% Owned outright% Owned with a loanhectares[1]
(Civil Parish)2,02976239.6%29.9%927[1]

The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).

References
  1. Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density United Kingdom Census 2011 Office for National Statistics Retrieved 21 November 2013
  2. http://www.sendandripleyhistorysociety.co.uk/historyofsend/documents/HistoryPDF_000.pdf Archived 9 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine Send and Ripley History
  3. Talbot Inn Archived 11 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1029372)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 August 2012. The Talbot Inn
  5. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1188603)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 August 2012.The Church – St Mary Magdalen
  6. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1029365)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 August 2012. Pinnocks Café
  7. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1188585)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 August 2012. Ship Inn and Ye Old Sweet Shoppe
  8. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1029366)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 August 2012. Clock House
  9. Historic England. "The Ripley pharmacy and cottage adjoining (1377831)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  10. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1029375)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  11. "In An English Country Churchyard, Eric Clapton and Friends Mourn the Death of His Son, Conor, 4". People. Retrieved 2 July 2012
  12. "Eric Clapton marries in Secret : BBC News". 3 January 2002. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  13. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/7598451/Paul-Weller-interview.html
  14. http://www.blackbarnstudio.com/location.shtml
  15. "History of Ripley Cricket Club". Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  16. "Surrey History : Exploring Surrey's past – Cycling". Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  17. "London 2012 website on road cycling". London2012.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  18. "Surrey 100website". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  19. "Ripley Bonfore Association". Retrieved 5 November 2011.

Published sources

McCann, Clare (editor) (2009) 'Memories of War' (Send and Ripley History Society, ISBN 978-0-9562929-0-2)

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