Normandy, Surrey

Normandy is a village and civil parish of 16.37 square kilometres (4,050 acres) in the borough of Guildford in Surrey, England.

These hamlets, although distinct, are strung together in a swathe of development with largely residential use apart from Pinewoods that is separated by much open land and is close to Ash near to Aldershot.

Four joint commons are north of the partly wooded promontory: Ash, Wyke, Cleygate and Pirbright, an SSSI but also a non-public access Danger Area, in use by the MOD In the south of the parish, touching an arm of Normandy village and all of Flexford (another clustered development), stands Wanborough railway station, so-called because the owner of the land, diplomat and civil servant Algernon West lived in Wanborough 1 mile (1.6 km) south.

Little woods and acid heathland including Normandy Common are scattered in the north; to the south is mainly arable farmland.

[6] Nearby Wood Street Village presents more options, and Guildford is accessible by car or bus – the 694 school bus runs from Christmas Pie via Puttenham to Broadwater School, and the 520 runs five buses per day both ways between Aldershot and Guildford via Flexford.

There are many references to this family in the court records of the manor of Cleygate which date back to 1513 in the reign of King Henry VIII.

This appeared in the Domesday Book as Wucca, a hide (approximately 120 acres) held by Godric from Earl Roger.

The Domesday Book mentioned a hall which is thought to have been where East Wyke Farm now stands and where remains of Surrey White Ware pottery have been found.

This more remote western area developed around the beerhouse called the Nightingale in the far west of the parish in the nineteenth century.

Now the easternmost part of the hamlet, until the twentieth century it was the westernmost portion of the neighbouring parish of Worplesdon.

The Surrey volume of the English Place-Name Society, published in 1934, suggests that the name was taken from the public house called "The Duke of Normandy", and this remains a popular interpretation.

[12] In late Saxon England the lands were within the holdings of Earl Godwin, father of King Harold Godwinson.

Normandy Farm was the final home of the early 19th century radical reformer and agrarian William Cobbett, the author of Rural Rides.

[14][15] In its rural setting, many footpaths, bridleways and other small roads suitable for horse riding, cycling and walking criss-cross the parish.

Normandy is the start point of the Christmas Pie trail which leads into Guildford through woods, commons and meadows.

Normandy has an annual Guy Fawkes Night firework display located in a field at the back of The Elms Centre on Glaziers Lane.

It is situated on the outskirts of Normandy village and welcomes children from the local community and from the surrounding areas.

The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%.

Willey Green, A323 Guildford Road and The Duke of Normandy PH