Shere Museum - A Snapshot from 100 Years Ago

These wonderful works of art, which were originally displayed in the hall, can now be seen in a dedicated room just across the lane in Shere Museum.

The embroideries were produced by members of Shere and Gomshall Women's Institute in 1926 and 1927, and in 1928, Mrs Scudamore contributed half of the cost of £4.10s.0d towards the hire of a motor van to transport the panels to London for the National WI Handcrafts Exhibition. They returned with a gold star, the highest award.

The panels were designed to show a record of the lands and dwellings of the village, its birds and flowers, its work and play. It is a remarkable account of a time when the villages were almost self-sufficient, and many rural skills were part of everyday life.

The descriptions below the different panels were written shortly after their creation.

Tan Pits & Hurdles

There were Tan Pits at Gomshall in the reign of King John (1199 to 1216) near where the Tannery now stands. Through many evolutions of methods and machinery, it has survived through eight centuries, bringing to the village a curious air of urban industry. The workers were often imported from a distance, and stood a little apart in ideas and habits. Nevertheless, when the tannery closed in 1930 we all felt we had lost something which for hundreds of years had been part of our village life.

So far nothing has replaced the comfort and convenience of hurdles for the lowland sheep cotes and lambing yards. We have still a few flocks, feeding on the sweet downs grass in summer, and on the richer valley meadows in winter, and while they need hurdles, the ancient craft still survives, handed down from father to son, from master craftsman to apprentice from the time of the Saxons. Only that long ancestry can account for the unhurried unerring skill of the hurdlers we still find working in Netley woods.

Watercress, Cows and Plows

Watercress always grew along the banks of the Tillingbourne and for many years now has been cultivating in large and well-managed beds, giving work to numbers of men and sending tons of fresh and wholesome salad week by week to London.

Morning and evening, year in and year out the cows from High House Farm walk through the Square escorted by Mrs. Boxall and her wise old dog. When at last the farm passed to a new owner, the herd was dispersed and we felt as though something permanent in our lives had crumbled about our ears! And so it had, for was not that simple scene a part of that old England, work a day, and unhurried, kind and homely, which is passed from us forever.

Not yet on our upland cornfields has the motor tractor quite replaced the old horse plow. Still we can hear through the hedge the measured clop, clop of the horses' hooves in the soft earth, and the musical jingle of their harness, and from time to time the harsh but friendly cries of the ploughman to his team. Still there are men among us who can plough a die-straight furrow with complete understanding between them and their horses.

The Jail & Bignolds

The most picturesque building in Lower Street is the gabled cottage raised above the level of the road and reached by a little flight of steps. It owes its name of The Jail to a small window with stout oak bars, where tradition has it, village malefactors waited for trial.

There have been Bignolds in the village as long as there have been Brays. For more than 200 years Bignolds have lived in the long low cottage, which presents its back to Upper Street, and which now has three steps inside the porch down to the front door. There are still Bignolds there and long may the family continue to flourish with its tradition of dignified service both public and private and loyalty to King and country.

Netley Mill & Gunstocks

It is not very old, but it is very picturesque, and unlike the other buildings in our needlework was built with the intention of being picturesque after the fashion of the late 1800s. Mr. Lomax built Netley Mill as a steam mill although it is now hidden by more modern buildings.

Once, village tradition says, there was a carpenter’s shop here whose special industry was the making of gunstocks. And some of the beams in the ceilings of these cottages can be seen the hollows in the wood from which gun stocks were cut.

Scouts Music & Beagles

Shere Troop of Boy Scouts was started at Easter, 1908. Allen Reffell received his badge as King’s Scout from the hand of Baden Powell himself! The troop has continued without break since its foundation to the present time. Its founder, a Doctor Corey, was Scout Master from 1908 till 1926. During the great war every former scout who was over 18 went to the front; nine never returned.

Ever since the Leith Hill Musical Festival was started in the early 1900s, the Shere Choral Society has competed with credit, and at least once has carried off the shield for the highest aggregate of marks. It has had various conductors and at the time of writing the conductor is Miss Barlow, a well-known member of the Women’s Institute.

For many years, the Shere Beagles have been a feature of the village. Now, it is true, they have become more of a county affair and the runners drive to the meets in motorcars. But in the old days the Beagles were owned and kept in the village and at the meets there were only a few strangers among the familiar faces.

The White Horse & The War Memorial

When repairs were made to the White Horse in 1923, a large piece of ancient wattle and daub roof was found which must have been made in the 13th century, so the old inn must have stood with the same name when pilgrims streamed through the village on their way to the shrine of Saint Thomas in Canterbury. Later it sheltered smugglers who hid their kegs of brandy and bales of silk and tobacco in its immense cellars. Finally, it became the resort of artists who found a kindred spirit in the artistic landlord Mr. Askew, who painted the sign of the capering white horse, which for years was a distinctive feature of the village.

Shere’s War Memorial was dedicated by public subscription to the memory of the many villagers who gave up their lives for the country. It is a copy of the old cross at Whitby, but is made of Bargates stone from the quarry near Godalming and the work was done by Surrey workmen.

Blacksmith & The Tillingbourne

This is not the old forge, but it has been built on its site and in the old tradition. Inside, the blacksmith plies his craft with calm unhurried skill in surroundings which cannot be altered since Shere was the Saxon Essira. Here, in the sombre days of the Great War, and far into the night, the silent village resounded with the tap-tap, tap-tap of the blacksmith’s hammer as he beat out shoes for the horses at the front.

The Tillingbourne is undoubtedly the mother of the village. Most likely before the Romans came there was a tiny settlement of wattle huts on the banks of the stream, which never fails in the driest summer, and is never completely frozen in the coldest winter. It is a home of otters and a water fowl, kingfisher, and herons, and forget-me-nots, and musk grew on its banks. The ridge of the Tillingbourne was the first working-men’s club! Seated on the broad oak rail the village worthies sat on fine evenings, endlessly discussing the affairs of church and state.

A Beautiful Land & The Doctors

Winding up the hill from Shere village to the railway bridge, is one of the most beautiful lanes in Surrey. The steep banks are covered with scrub between the towering trees which form a green lofty arch; and just before the lane rises steeply is a beautiful old cottage in which Arthur Askew lives. This sweet orchard garden is musical in summer with the hum of his honey-bees.

For more than 50 years the ancient house in Upper Street was The Doctor’s. Into its low door and lattice windowed front, the people of the village poured continuously to consult the much beloved doctor. On dark and cold winter evenings, the tiny glow from his door was the only light to be seen in the village.