Maps
The following maps of Rickford are shown below (from left to right, and top to bottom):
-
The Tithe Map of c 1840 (for some reason it was drawn such that true North is pointing towards North-West)
-
The 1870 OS Map
-
The 1897 OS Map
-
The 1915 OS Map
-
The 1938 OS Map
-
The 2020 Googlemaps satellite view
The OS maps are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.
These maps show the development of Rickford over a 180-year period. Some of the most noticeable features are:
-
In 1840, there were few buildings in Rickford. It would have been a very agriculturally-based area, which was dominated by The Mill and The Millhouse, the Chapel, and Norton Farm.
-
A little further to the north-east was Blanket Mill Farm.
-
About half a mile to the south-east was the village of Worplesdon, while across the Hoe Stream to the north-west was Rickford Malthouse and Lower Mill (now Heath Mill), both in the parish of Pirbright.
-
The area between Rickford House and the Chapel on the south-west side of the road was common land in 1840, but had been converted to farmland by 1870.
-
Between 1870 and 1897 there was significant house building around the chapel as a ribbon development along the south-west side of the road. A few more houses were built in the period up to 1915.
-
Since 1915, relatively few houses have been added to Rickford.
-
Over the entire period of 1840 to 2020, the field pattern has remained remarkably unchanged in most respects, other than the removal of some field boundaries.
-
However, Rickford Common, which is shown as marshy heathland on all the maps up to 1938, is today densely wooded.
Some earlier maps also exist, and 2 of these are shown below.
The map on the left is the Senex map of 1725, and the other is the Rocque map of 1768 (slightly blurred in the lower half unfortunately). Apart from their quality and aesthetics, they make interesting viewing.
The 1725 map shows no features in our area apart from The Hoe Stream, Rickford Mill and the Millhouse on the Guildford - Bagshot road. The map doesn't attempt to show every building, instead preferring to give a more pictorial appearance, and is therefore of limited help to the historian.
But the 1768 map is considerably more detailed. To give it some historical perspective, 1768 was the year that Captain Cook departed on his first exploration voyage, during which he would become the first European to discover the east coast of Australia.
The map shows additional buildings, eg Norton and Blanket Mill Farms, and White Lodge/Little Rickford. It doesn't look as though Nightingale Cottage, Old Forge or Old Rickford appear, although it's difficult to see because of the join between 2 different sheets. The patterns of the fields and common land don't match up particularly well with later maps, and perhaps some license was taken by the map-maker in this respect. There is a major track running from The Millhouse to Merrist Wood ("Maryswood") Farm. Today there is a delightful footpath which follows this route, although with some minor variations.
Those with an interest north of the Hoe Stream may be surprised that Ostend appears on both maps, since (at the time of writing) Ostend doesn't attract any special notice whatsoever. "Bradly Farm" is today's Bridley Manor.