A brief history of Horley
This section provides information about the history of Horley.
Horley today is a small but busy town of over 20,000 people which lies on the Weald, an area consisting mainly of heavy clay soil, a few miles south of high chalk Downs.
The local area was thought to have been at one time densely forested so early settlers preferred to live on the drier North Downs.
They only penetrated the muddy and overgrown Weald during dry summer months to feed their animals and to forage.
Saxon Horley
When Christianity first came to southern England during Saxon times, Horley and its Manor came under the control of the Benedictine Abbey of St Peter at Chertsey, close by the River Thames.
After the Dissolution of the Monastries in 1539, Horley Manor passed to Henry VIII who gave or sold it to various people until 1602, when it became the property of Christ's Hospital in London.
A map of its purchase was produced in that year, the original of which is held today by the Guildhall Library in the City of London, clearly showing that Horley consisted of three separated settlements around the western and northern edges of a huge open common.
Divided in three
One was close to the Six Bells Public House, pictured, which dates back to the 15th century; another area was where the Watermill once stood by the River Mole; and the third was along the northern boundary of the common - today called Horley Row.
By 1812 with a population of a little under 1,000, the huge common was enclosed.
New roads were planned and the intervening land sold.
However, Horley changed little even when two of its planned roads were turnpiked, one in 1809 and the other in 1816, to allow regular stage coach services to operate between London and Brighton.
In 1841, the railway was laid across the common and the first Horley station came into operation to serve its population that had by then reached 1,500.
From that location and from that date, the town of Horley grew steadily to a population of around 8,000 by 1940.
Commuter town
Whereas agriculture was its main industry prior to World War II, it changed rapidly after to become a dormitory town for London commuters and a place to house the growing workforce, and associated businesses, of Gatwick Airport, a recreational airfield in 1930 and today an international airport.
Horley is now mainly a residential town with business services and some light industry alongside Gatwick Airport, yet it is still situated within pleasant rural surroundings from which it originally evolved.
If you are interested in further information about the history of Horley, you may like to contact Horley Local History Society, who hold regular events and talks.
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