England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
St Martha on the Hill St Martha

The Parish

The parish of St Martha on the Hill lies in southwestern Surrey roughly 3 miles southeast of the large town of Guildford. This is a highly unusual parish in being named after its church rather than its main village which is Chilworth which is a small and linear village lying along the A248 road, a linking road joining the A281 (Guildford to Rudgwick) with the A25 (Guildford to Dorking) roads. Chilworth has grown significantly in modern times as transport links in this portion of the Weald have improved stretching nowadays for over a mile along the A248 with north and southward running side lanes too. St Martha on the Hill's church is only approachable on foot by following the Pilgrim's Way Trail westwards from a car park northeast of Chilworth village. The church is believed to have been formerly known as St Martyr's church after an incident in early-Christian times where they were burnt on the site by pagans. The Weald is an area of relatively infertile soils and much of the land until recent times was merely used in common, woodland management and heathland grazing were supplemented by patches of pasture and crops in a "bosky" landscape. Even today the green of woodland dominates the area of the parish when viewed on modern Ordnance Survey mapping. Modern developments have come to the parish, the railway line from Guildford to Dorking passing through and granting Chilworth a station. The parish is drained westwards by the Tilling Bourne which meets the Wey just south of Guildford and turns water northwards to eventually meet the Thames, here it returns back east through the capital to the North Sea. Chilworth is sited at just 50 metres above the sea but St Martha's church stands high above on an isolated hilltop at 168 metres, the highest point of the entire North Downs. The parish is small was lightly populated, covering just under 1,100 acres it supported a population of close to 200 parishioners. Two manor within the parish were recorded in Domesday, Chilworth, held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux offered 3 ploughs and a mill whilst tiny Tytling, held by the Bishop of Exeter, offered just 7 households and 2 ploughs.

The Church

As already mentioned St Martha's church occupies a unique location atop the highest point in the North Downs amidst woodland and only accessible by footpath of between a quarter and a half mile west of a small car park. The church has been here a long time and was certainly a stopping point for pilgrimages to Canterbury along the ridge of the North Downs, it is rather inconvenient for the villagers it supports, however. Sadly a series of disasters has marred the church leaving only fragments of the original medieval structure. Pevsner relates that its tower was blown down, rather incredibly, by the strength of an explosion of a gunpowder factory in the valley below in 1745 whilst the nave was in ruins when described in 1845. Thus much of the fabric is owed to what was essentially a complete rebuild between 1848 & 1850. Thankfully enough original material remains to date the building, the crossing arches of the central tower have been dated tentatively to c1170, 12th century Norman Romanesque and the chancel to c1250 in Early English Gothic and overall the layout was a classic early cruciform church begun in Norman times and modified over the centuries. Thankfully the rebuild was true to the style of the original church so we can appreciate this unusual building in its unique setting. The small woodland car park sits on Guildford Lane, a lane connecting Albury over the hill to Guildford. From here the signposted path leads through woodland to the churchyard with its stunning views across The Weald encompassing southern Surrey and much of Sussex and eastern Hampshire, surely no finer setting for an iconic church, open ground surrounds so there are no issues for the photographer.