Farnham

The town of Farnham is located in the Waverley Borough of Surrey, England. London is 58 kilometers (36 miles) south of the town, which is located in far west Surrey. Bordering Hampshire, it is a small town. Located east of Guildford are Winchester (28 kilometers) and Guildford (17 kilometers). Waverley and Farnham make up the largest conurbation in Surrey.

Several old buildings, including Georgian houses, are in the area. The castle that overlooks Farnham can be found there. South-east of the town centre are the ruins of Waverley Abbey, Moor Park House, and Mother Ludlam’s Cave. Farnham and Andernach are twin cities in Germany. As of now, only canoes can cross the North Branch (river Wey).

History of Farnham

In foothills near Farnham, tools and prehistoric animal bones have been discovered together with tools from the Paleolithic or early Stone Age. A few short miles to the east of town has been excavated a cluster of pit dwellings and evidence of flint-knapping industry from the Mesolithic period, some 7,000 years ago. Quarrying destroyed the long barrow at nearby Badshot Lea. 

There is a sarsen stone still standing nearby, believed to have marked the safe crossing point of a marshy area near the Shepherd and Flock roundabout along the route of the prehistoric route called the Harrow Way. As with the Harrow Way, the Pilgrims’ Way also dates back to prehistory, which is not surprising given its reputation for linking Canterbury and Winchester.

Aldershot became home to the British Army in 1854 after the London and South Western Railway arrived in 1848. Farnham was impacted by both of these events. With such an easy connection to London, Farnham became a community where city businessmen could maintain close communications with their offices. Aldershot was not connected to the railways until 1870; soldiers would be transported to Farnham station and then march to Aldershot in the interim.

In Farnham itself, many officers chose to billet with their families. It was electrified by the Southern Railway Company in 1937 all the way to Alton, and the railway’s new electric stock was housed in a carriage shed in Weydon Lane. Since 1946, this old building had been covered with faded camouflage paint. In 2006, it was replaced with a new one.