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.

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

[12] 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 and possibly the world, for civilian use, by Kenneth White in 1944.

The Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes short story "The Naval Treaty" includes a setting in Ripley.

[17] 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.

[18] 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.

[citation needed] Ripley Green is an integral part of the community and can be accessed from Newark Lane and the High Street.