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Further Reading
It may surprise you that there are a number of books written about Cobham, produced by the local historian David Taylor. Many of these titles are available from the local bookshop The Cobham Bookshop.
Cobham -
A History
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This book replaces The Book of Cobham which was first published in 1982. It traces the history of Cobham from the Iron Age settlement on Leigh Hill down to the Roman era, when a bathhouse (and perhaps a villa) at Chatley Farm were built.
By the time of Domesday Book, Cobham had moved to its present position and recent research seems to indicate that a planned village was laid out in medieval times by the Abbot of Chertsey. Cobham grew through the centuries, each of which has left its mark from Cobham Mill, one of the few working water mills in Surrey, to the glorious gardens of Painshill Park and the working Semaphore tower on Chatley Heath. This book is very fully illustrated and will stand as the definitive account of Cobham for many years to come. |
An Estate for All Seasons
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This, the latest of David Taylor’s books, is a highly illustrated publication which commemorates the bicentenary of the arrival at Cobham of the London brewer Harvey Combe. He purchased Cobham Park in a move to establish himself as a country gentlemen and he and his family have played a significant role in the development of Cobham over the past two centuries. However, as the book reveals, the Combe family are relative newcomers to Cobham.
The “down” in the park was probably home to prehistoric nomads and recent excavations at Down Farm have revealed evidence of occupation since the Anglo-Saxon period. Before it became Cobham Park in the eighteenth century, the land saw many fascinating owners and occupiers who are all recorded in this book. In 1728 the first Cobham Park mansion was built by John Bridges who probably employed the noted architect Roger Morris to design the house. That house was replaced in the 1870s by Charles Combe, a grandson of Harvey. |
Well Furnished with Inns
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In the middle of the nineteenth century Cobham was described by a visiting non-conformist minister as being “drenched in drink and wickedness”. One hundred years earlier Ogilby’s ‘Traveller’s Guide’ described the Cobham as “a town well furnished with Inns”.
This illustrated book provides a history of all the public houses and inns that are known to have been in Cobham together with a short history of Cobham Brewery which, for over a hundred years, stood on the Portsmouth Road providing employment to many local people. |
Gerrard Winstanley in Elmbridge
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I first became aware of Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers through the 1962 BBC TV production of David Cautes's novel 'Comrade Jacob' which is loosely based on this episode in our history.
Later that year I received a copy of Caute's novel as a school prize and this led to a particular fascination in the events that took place here in the middle of the 17th century. This was perhaps the only time when local events touched briefly upon the national scene, and what happened here in Cobham and Walton caused a shaking at the seat of national government. |
Winstanley and the Diggers
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David Taylor has also contributed a chapter on Gerrard Winstanley at Cobham in “Winstanley and the Diggers 1649 – 1999”.
This important seminal volume was published by Frank Cass in 2000 and contains the papers given at a conference held in 1999 to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the Diggers occupation of St. George’s Hill.
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The following books are out of print but Farrants the newsagent may still have a limited number available.
The Book of
Cobham
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To the uninformed outsider, Cobham may seem at first sight another suburban outpost, but throughout the village there are constant reminders of the past and, round every corner, unexpected vistas, while beneath the urbane surface of this busy outpost of Metropolis lies a caring community, which recognises its heritage.
The Book of Cobham tells the story of this place in compelling words and delightful pictures. This publication has largely been superseded by 'Cobham a History'.
Out of Print |
Cobham in
Camera
(including Downside, Stoke D'Abernon and Oxshott)
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Cobham in Camera records the past of today's successor to Church Cobham, Street Cobham and The Tilt, together with that of Downside, Stoke D'Abernon and Oxshott, through the camera - in postcards, published pictures, and photos from private collections.
It included a brief history and a useful index to the illustrations.
Out of Print |
People of
Cobham - The
Pyports
Connection
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'the inhabitants are...industrious...rather high spirited...kind hearted...' wrote a resident in 1870, and it is those qualities which typify the veritable pageant of people who came to Cobham, found their being here, and left a rich legacy of fact, fancy and ephemera - much of it associated with one building: Pyports.
The story of those people and of their association with this and other principal and surviving Cobham houses, is also the story of Cobham society; more than that, it becomes a microcosm and thereby a reflection of 18th century culture and of the Georgian gentry.
Out of Print |
Cobham Characters
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This collection of Cobham Characters comes mostly from research in connection with my previous books The Book Of Cobham, The People of Cobham - The Pyports Connection and Cobham In Camera. It is a welcome bonus that, when researching a book on local history, there are often 'spin-offs' and interesting stories which come to light and which are not related to the main purpose of the book being researched.
The stories here cover three centuries and are arranged in chronological sequence. Much of the material is being published for the first time, although some may be alluded to in my other books, and the chapter about A.J. Munby originally appeared in Country Life magazine.
Out of Print |
Cobham Houses
And Their
Occupants
A Thousand Years
of History
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Cobham Houses is an attempt to put together what I have learned over the years about fifty of the town's best-known and more important historic houses. It has not been possible to include every historic house in the area as many of them are sadly lacking in documentary evidence.
Out of Print - No longer available |
Downside Another Look
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Downside is very special to those of us who live locally. Only twenty or so miles from London, yet it still seems like the heart of the country. Downside includes two of Cobham's conservation areas. These are Downside Village and Plough Corner.
This guide will, I hope, enable both residents and visitors to enjoy the areas more thoroughly and better understand the history that has made them what they are today.
Out of Print - No longer available |
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