Lingfield, Surrey Genealogy

England   Surrey

Return to the Surrey Parishes page.

Parish History
Lingfield is an Ancient Parish in the county of Surrey.Other places in the parish include: Arding Run, Baldwins Hill, Beacon Heath, Chartham Park, Dormans Land, Dryhill, Fieldcourt, Plaistow Street, Ridlands Green, and Apsley Town.

LINGFIELD (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, in the union of East Grinstead, First division of the hundred of Tandridge, E. division of Surrey, 6 miles (S. S. E.) from Godstone; containing 1866 inhabitants. The parish is separated from the county of Kent by the river Eden, and comprises by measurement 9008 acres, of which 4000 are arable, 4000 meadow and pasture, and 1008 woodland. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £150; patron and impropriator, Robert Ladbroke, Esq. The church, which was founded by Reginald, Lord Cobham, in the reign of Henry VI., consists of a nave, aisles, and chancel, with a tower surmounted by a spire at the west end of the south aisle, and is in the early English style; in the interior are some curious monuments, and several brasses. In the 9th of Henry VI., Lord Cobham had licence to make the church collegiate; he built the college at the westend of the churchyard. At the Dissolution the revenue was valued at £79. 15. 10.; the buildings remained till about the time of George I., when they were pulled down, and a farmhouse was built on part of the ground. There are places of worship for Baptists and Independents. At Starborough was a castle, which was fortified and embattled in the reign of Edward III. by Reginald, Lord Cobham, grandfather of the above Lord Cobham, and was garrisoned by the parliament during the civil war, shortly after which it was demolished; the moat, which remains, forms a handsome sheet of water to the present mansion, erected by Sir James Burrow, and considerably enlarged by Sir Thomas Turton. On part of the site of the castle, Sir James built a large room, over some of the ancient vaults, with the stones on the spot: from the top, which is embattled, is a fine view of the surrounding country. In Plaistowstreet, near the church, is an obelisk of stone of two stories.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England Samuel A. Lewis (1848), pp. 95-98. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51109 Date accessed: 19 November 2010.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Poor Law Unions
In 1734 the parish built a poorhouse, which was sold after the Poor Law Reform Act and the proceeds applied to the union workhouse.

From: 'Parishes: Lingfield', A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), pp. 302-311. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43069 Date accessed: 08 April 2011.

The parish joined the East Grinstead union in 1835 and received pauper boys; girls were at Hartfield parish with the East Grinstead workhouse accommodating adults (with an overflow to Withyham)

There was some dissent about the East Grinstead union but it was not until 1897 that the parish was transferred to the Godstone Union.

East Grinstead Poor Law Union, Sussex

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Surrey Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.