Ripley ~ Guildford Borough north central   3 miles east of Woking

Location for a home ~ Comment:  Highly Recommended

Present Day Aspect and Character 

riginally an important coaching village on the London to Portsmouth Road which still bears witness to such character on its curved and attractive High Street.  There are numerous buildings along the High Street worthy of note and surprisingly the green is behind the properties to the west of the High Street so that the main village has seemed to turn its back on it.  Through traffic could easily be completely unaware of the green's existence.    

The High Street is full of character, made up of varied and attractive buildings, the best being old coaching inns including the half-timbered rambling Anchor Hotel.  St Mary’s Church has a late Norman puddingstone chancel with some impressive details. The Talbot Hotel is 17th century with a big mid-18th century front with the coach arch still in place.  The Manor House, opposite the Anchor, is a Dutch-gabled building dated 1650.   Ripley Court School in Rose Lane is also 17th century re-fronted in early 18th century.

Some distance beyond the green to the west are water meadows leading to a group of buildings around the restored Mill House.  This attractive spot is even more memorable because of the extraordinary site of the ruins of Newark Priory which stand isolated against the green backdrop of meadows and trees.  

Public Houses
The Anchor of Ripley High Street originally a C16 alms house.   Tel: 01483 224120

The Jovial Sailor, Portsmouth Road, a pub dating back many years and much smaller originally than it is now.  The name is derived from the many sailors who travelled this way from London to Portsmouth. A particularly children friendly pub. Tel: 01483 224630

Accommodation
The Talbot Hotel, High Street has had many famous visitors over the years including Nelson and Lady Hamilton.  8 letting rooms.  
Tel: 01483 225188

Schools
Ripley C of E Infant                                        Tel: 01483 225307
Independent School:  Ripley Court Prep School Tel: 01483 225217

History
Ripley was once a mecca for cyclists long before the motorist took over.  It was far enough down the old Portsmouth Road for Londoners to be able to ride out, have tea and then return home.  The 'Dibble' sisters dispensed tea for the cyclists and became so popular in their lifetime that when they died cyclists clubbed together and paid for a stained glass window in their memory to be placed in the parish church.   Annie and Harriet Dibble were kindly churchgoing souls who ran the Anchor Inn.  It was twenty five miles from the centre of London and the sisters knew exactly how to cater for ravenous cyclists.  Annie died in July 1956 and Harriet fifteen months later..... with them so did an era.

Ripley became unreasonably congested soon after with the advent of the car's popularity.  The narrowness of this part of the main Portsmouth Road soon started a clamour for a bypass which reached a crescendo resulting in the A3 being realigned to the south.  Modern day Ripley then has turned a full circle and is much less busy than it was thirty years ago.   

Long before the Dibble sisters catered for the huge numbers of visitors to Ripley, the national spotlight was on the village because of its cricketing exploits.  Ripley's green is one of the oldest cricket grounds in the country and for around two hundred and fifty years the game has been played on it.  Surrey County Cricket Club had its origins on pitches like this one, and the great players of the late 18th century and 19th century appeared here in matches such as 22 Surrey men v England in 1802.