Visit Burstow Places

Welcome to Visit Burstow Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Burstow

  

Burstow Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Burstow

---

Burstow history

---

Etymology

Burstowe and Burghstowe appear in the (14th century); Byrstowe appears in the 15th century and Bristowe is seen as an alternative to Burstow in the 17th century.

Pre Roman settlements

No artefacts are held in or referred to in the Surrey Archaeological Society predating the Anglo Saxon era in this parish. The society has no artefacts that predate the Anglo-Saxon era.

Dark and Middle Ages

The first mention of Burstow is in a church record of 1121 the north and part of the west walls of the nave, with the west half of the north wall of the chancel, are for the most part of approximately 1210 in architecture. The listing gives its date as 12th century references including Nicholas Pevsner’s Buildings of England.

Manors

Records exist referring to this manor in the 13th century which is today the Grade II* listed building with tightly surrounding wide moat, Burstow Lodge formerly taking up the north of all the parish land. Stephen de Burstow, whose name appears in the seals as Stephen Fitz Hamo, held the manor in the latter part of the 12th century, and that he was succeeded by his son Roger and his grandson John, the latter holding until and during the reign of Henry III, his descendant John de Burstow while Lord here served with the Black Prince during the wars with the French. A Charter of in 1247 gave the manor free warren, weekly markets and an annual three-day Michaelmas fair. In 1366 the reversion of the manor was given by Richard de Burstow to Sir Nicholas de Loveyne before passing to his son-in-law, Sir Philip St Clere. When Sir Philip St. Clere died in 1408, very shortly after his wife, he was holding the manor of Burstow ‘of the Archbishop of Canterbury by paying £6 yearly at his manor of Wimbledon. His second son placed the manor in trust to three trustees for his heir’s benefit ‘in order to defraud the King’ of the fee which was payable annually on the manor. His son-in-law Sir John Gage died in possession of the manor in 1475, which passed in turn to his son William and then to William’s son, who was another Sir John Gage. Sir Edward Gage was his son and next Lord of the Manor, who as Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex (1557–8) was instrumental in the persecution of Protestants by Mary I who died in his last year as sheriff; he died in 1568. His grandson sold the manor to Sir Edward Culpepper of Wakehurst holding it from 1614 to 1640 when his son Sir William Culpeper, 1st Baronet of Wakehurst (died 1651) inherited it and became a Baronet. A family asset until the fourth Baronet sold Burstow Manor in 1696 to Sir William Raines LLD, whose son sold it in 1733 to Joseph Kirke whose death led to it belonging to James Harris, after which his son Christopher ran the manor followed by his son James until 1808. Then Thomas followed by his son John Hugh Bainbridge; by 1870 it was acquired by Henry Kelsey of Burstow Park, uniting what remained of the two estates. On death in 1888 Alfred Howard Lloyd held the manor until at least 1911 and also bought Burstow Lodge. Burstow Park was a detached possession of the manor of Wimbledon. Hubert who was Archbishop of Canterbury until 1205 was mentioned as seized of this manor in a Charter relating to land to the south of Burstow Park. A commission was issued in 1328 against evildoers who had entered the parks of his manors at Croydon, Wimbledon, Wyke and Burstow. In 1531 Burstow Park was leased to Sir John Gage (see above) for 80 years, reserving (excepting) the deer to the Archbishop until the following Christmas. Thomas Cranmer exchanged the Wimbledon manor with Henry VIII in 1535. In 1590 Elizabeth granted to Sir Thomas Cecil and his heirs the manor of Wimbledon and “all those our lands in Bristowe alias Burstowe called le Parke”, after whom indebted Treasurer-at-War Sir Thomas Shirley held; however his trustees released the land to Elizabeth In satisfaction of £800 11s. 8d. remaining due to her, which she then obtained from the next buyers: William Bowes and others. Passing by Quarles, Turner and Infield, Falconer and Payne in whose possession a park is mentioned as still existing in 1649. John Payne was holding it and owing to a dispute it was bought by his cousin John Smith and during this 18th century period it passed then to Walter Harris, Daniel Hailes and Thomas Dickson, in the 19th century it passed to Henry Kelsey, who died in 1827, and whose son, of Burstow Court Manor owned the estate in 1841 and held it as a farm until death in 1887 when Alfred Lloyd bought it (see above). Burstow Park is considered the manor house of Burstow Court Manor, as well as of Burstow Park, but is probably not the most ancient manor-house of the former. Burstow Lodge was another manor; made up of “a messuage (house), 360 acres of land, 12 acres of meadow, 10 acres of wood, and 20s” in 1329 when it was given to Roger son of Ralph Salaman, was held of the Burstow family for 26s. and in suit of manorial court. Later owners surnames in order were Codyington; Codyngton with an alternative surname of St Myghell; Fromond (recusant Catholics); Richard Walmesley; Lord Petre; Melancthon Saunders relation to the then Lord of the Manor of Charlwood however by 1911 it was no longer a manor. John de Wysham’s manor of Redehall consisted in 1332 of 1 messuage, 160 acres (65 ha) of land, 6 acres (2.4 ha) acres of meadow, and 22s. rent in Burstow known as the manor of Redhall near Burstow, which he held, jointly with Hawisia his wife, of John de Burstow, his son John was knighted and gave it to John Pecche, alderman of London. Redehall manor passed out of the hands of the Pecches and became the property of the Welles family. In 1650 it was Edward Payne the elder’s and Hannah his wife’s and it continued to be held by this family until the late 18th century. Thomas Holles Payne, by his will, proved in May 1800, devised the “manor of Redhall, including a capital messuage or mansion-house called Redhall, and a messuage called Cophall” to Sophia Elizabeth Beard. Although in 1911 the house was surrounded “by a broad moat inclosing a considerable area of ground” a development of smaller houses has replaced it in Burstow.

Post Reformation

John Flamsteed, astronomer and cleric was rector of Burstow from 1684 until his death in 1719. He was appointed in 1675 by Charles II to be the first Astronomer Royal. His accurate measurements of star positions and the movements of the moon contributed to making possible the safe navigation of shipping.

Post Industrial Revolution

In 1911 Copthorne (Sussex) was briefly, as not historically before then, included in the parish. The decorated Second Boer War and World War I officer Alexander Kearsey was born at Burstow Hall just west of the border. Smallfield Hospital was built early in World War II on land beside Broadbridge Lane for use by the Canadian Army to treat their wartime casualties.

Burstow landmarks

Church of St Bartholomew

The only Anglican church referred to above is medieval for the most part. An east window with an imposing star in the chancel commemorates John Flamsteed, who is buried there with his wife. A noteworthy piece of timber construction, probably of 15th-century date, forms the tower.

Smallfield Place

Smallfield Place has at its core a Jacobean manor built c. 1600 by Edward Bysshe’s father on a land, the earlier promised a gift of some small field or piece of land in return for services rendered by John de Burstow during the reign of Edward III in the Hundred Years War to a fellow army knight Lord Burghersh.

Burstow Lodge

15th century timber framed-above and whitewashed brick cladding-below medieval hall house has Grade II* listing. A moat surrounds with small bridge to the front.

Burstow geography / climate

Burstow village centre consists of the south of Redehall Road, east of Broadbridge Lane and of Church Street. The nearest larger settlement is Horley, some 2 miles or 3 km to the west. Above much of the green buffers of the parish is the take-off/landing flight path to Gatwick Airport.

Elevation, geology and soil

Elevations vary from 101m in the south east corner of the relatively rectangular area to 59m AOD. Across the northern part of the parish a ridge of higher land runs from east to west, formed by a bed of Paludina limestone. It yields stone, usually called Sussex marble, which is susceptible of being polished.

You can visit Burstow places with Walkfo Burstow to hear history at Burstow’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Burstow has 10 places to visit in our interactive Burstow map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Burstow, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Burstow places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Burstow & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 10 audio facts unique to Burstow places in an interactive Burstow map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Burstow Places Map
10 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

---

–

Burstow historic spots	Burstow tourist destinations	Burstow plaques	Burstow geographic features
Walkfo Burstow tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Burstow

  

Best Burstow places to visit

---

Burstow has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Burstow’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Burstow’s information audio spots:

Archway Theatre The Archway Theatre is a unique amateur theatre based in Horley, Surrey, United Kingdom. It consists of a 95 seat main auditorium and a 40 seat studio complex. The group performs 10 main productions each year of 10 performances each over a 2-week period.

Visit Burstow plaques