Ramsnest Common is a hamlet in the far south of the

Borough of Waverley The Borough of Waverley is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. The borough contains the towns of Godalming, Farnham and Haslemere, as well as numerous villages, including the large village of Cranleigh, and s ...

, the largest district of

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, England centred on the A283 SSW of Chiddingfold village centre between Milford and

Petworth Petworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex, Heat ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

which it borders. The area of overwhelmingly rural land, most of which is scattered forest, in particular Killinghurst Great Copse, had no medieval settlement.

History

The name Ramsnest or Ram's nest in modern orthography refers to the curly horns that are found on a ram. Ramsnest Common is part of the civil and ecclesiastical parishes of

Chiddingfold Chiddingfold is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Weald in the Waverley, Surrey, Waverley district of Surrey, England. It lies on the A283 road between Milford, Surrey, Milford and Petworth. The parish includes the h ...

which is most dense to the north where it has a prominent village green, pubs, school and church. It is currently in the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

'Chiddingfold and Dunsfold' and with Ansteadbrook and uninhabited Killinghurst Great Copse forms Census Output Area E00157394.Map Viewer search 'Chiddingfold'
Office for National Statistics - Census website, neighbourhood statistics. Accessed 2015-04-15 The land to all sides of the

linear settlement A linear settlement is a (normally small to medium-sized) settlement or group of buildings that is formed in a long line. Many of these settlements are formed along a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Others form due to physical r ...

forms a predominantly ancient woodland part of the scattered forest of

The Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent. It has three parts, the sandstone "High We ...

, describing not just the hamlet but also the informal

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

in the south of the parish, which lacking medieval claims to formally being villagers' common or part of a manor; the area was described as almost impenetrable and so subdivided and settled late by the villagers of Chiddingfold.'Parishes: Chiddingfold'
A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3, ed. H E Malden (London, 1911), pp. 10-16 accessed 14 April 2015. By 1911 Ramsnest Common had a small Strict/Particular Baptist church/chapel (the latter term is used to describe all non-Catholic churches by staunch Anglicans or Catholics).

Today

Ramsnest Common in built environment comprises cottages and houses, some larger country homes, a petrol station called The Broken Spur (with a small store for general provisions), a mechanics workshop, some farms and a pub called The Mulberry Inn (previously The Ramsnest Inn) owned by celebrity restaurateur

Chris Evans (presenter) Christopher James Evans (born 1 April 1966) is an English television presenter, radio DJ and producer for radio and television. He started his broadcasting career working for Piccadilly Radio, Manchester, as a teenager, before moving to London ...

. There are bus stops nearby which go to Haslemere and Godalming.

References

External links

Chiddingfold Village official websiteChiddingfold Scouts
{{Waverley, state=expanded Hamlets in Surrey Borough of Waverley