Telegraph Hill
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Historical Notes
| Summary
At 167 feet (51m) above sea level, Telegraph Hill provided the site for one of the Admiralty's chain of semaphore stations which linked Whitehall to Portsmouth. The building, called Semaphore House, was completed in 1822 and operated until the electric telegraph took over in 1847. Until then, weather permitting, a message could be transmitted from the Admiralty at Whitehall to Portsmouth in a matter of minutes. In 1930, Esher Council bought Telegraph Hill for public recreation. Semaphore House subsequently passed into private ownership. |
Telegraph Hill is one of the highest spots in Claygate. Telegraph Hill, and the wood that has probably existed on its northern slope for many centuries, has had a variety of names. The oldest recorded name is Hengesteshill, or Stallion's Hill, hengest being the Saxon word for stallion. Alternatively, it may have taken this name from a Saxon chieftain, Hengist, who with his brother, Horsa, is reputed to have led the Saxon invaders of south-east England in the middle of the 5th century.
Over the years the following names have been recorded for the hill and its wood:
- 1241 Hengesteshill — from Assize Rolls
- 1332 Henxhulle — from Surrey Subsidy Rolls 1476 Henxhyll-from Westminster Abbey muniments
- 1478 Henkessell — from Westminster Abbey muniments
- 1539 Hynkeshill — from a manuscript of the Harleyan Collection in the British Museum
- 1822 Cooper's Hill — from Admiralty documents
- 1823 Hinslet Wood — from Bryant's map of Surrey
- 1843 Upper Hinks Hill and Hinks Hill Wood — from tithe maps
- 1847 Cooper's Hill — from Admiralty documents
- 1866 Cooper's Hill and Hinchley Wood — from Ordnance Survey maps
Thereafter the name Hinchley Wood became established not only for the wood itself, but also for the community that was developed on nearby farmland to the north of the hill after the Kingston bypass was opened in 1927.
Royston Pike, a local historian who died in 1980, proposed that the remains of a ditch that runs round much of the summit of the hill may have been part of a prehistoric earthwork. This is quite plausible as the hill's configuration and location would make it an eminently suitable site for an encampment for the ancient Britons. Royston Pike found a Mesolithic flint blade on Telegraph Hill. He also discovered an old sheep dip buried in the undergrowth on the edge of the hill.
Telegraph Hill is known principally as the site of one of the Admiralty's semaphore stations in the first half of the 19th century. Less well known is the digging of clay on the north western slope of Telegraph Hill. While the excavations, although heavily overgrown, can still be discerned, the brick kilns and other buildings have long since been demolished.
The Admiralty Semaphore Telegraph was invented by Rear-Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham KCB KCG KM FRS. He was born in 1762, the 21st and last child of his parents, and died in 1820. (Popham's family was large by any standards but it should be noted that a Surbiton woman who died aged 64 in 1883 had 32 daughters and 7 sons.)
The Popham semaphore comprised a mast of hexagonal section extending nearly 30ft above the roof of the building in which it was housed. But in order to achieve a clear line of sight with neighbouring stations, the mast of the Cooper's Hill station had to be raised an additional 8ft. The mast itself was made of fir boards. It had two arms each 8ft long. One arm was pivoted at the top of the mast, and the other 16½ feet lower. When at rest, the arms were housed inside the mast. Each arm could take up six active positions, thus permitting 48 separate signs or signals to be made by the operator. (Seven positions on one arm multiplied by seven on the other arm, take away the position when both are resting.) The whole apparatus could be rotated through 360°. The arms were worked by rods, gears and handles from inside the building.
Popham received £2,000 for his invention in 1816.
The Claygate station was one of the three-storey house types. In a three-storey station there were three rooms at sub-basement level, three rooms a few feet above ground level, and two more rooms, one above the other, in the central section. One of the latter was the operating room, reinforced with a large diagonal beam to support the weight of the semaphore mast.
Thomas Goddard was appointed by the Admiralty in February 1818 to survey possible routes and station sites from Whitehall to Portsmouth. In 1820 the following sites were selected:
- The Admiralty, Whitehall (built on Admiralty roof).
- Duke of York's School, Chelsea, initially, but in 1844 transferred to the roof of Chelsea Hospital (both built on existing buildings).
- Putney Heath (bungalow type, now demolished).
- Coombe Warren, Kingston Hill (bungalow, now built over).
- Cooper's Hill, Claygate (house, still standing).
- Chatley Heath, near Cobham (tower, still standing).
- Pewley Hill, Guildford (house, still standing).
- Banacle or Bannicle Hill, Witley (house, now demolished).
- Haste Hill, Haslemere (bungalow, extensively modified).
- Older Hill, Fernhurst (bungalow, still standing).
- Beacon Hill, South Harting (bungalow, now built over).
- Compton Down (bungalow, still standing).
- Camp Down (bungalow, now demolished).
- Lumps Fort, Southsea (bungalow, now demolished) .
- High Street, Portsmouth (built on existing building).
Excluding the use of existing buildings, the Admiralty and the Chelsea and Portsmouth locations, the sites, each of one acre and costing on average £47 each, were all acquired by 1821. Thomas Corfe of Putney obtained the contract to build all the stations, and these were all completed by 1822. All stations were built to face Portsmouth. During the following year the semaphore mechanism was installed, some of which was transferred from the experimental semaphore line to Chatham, and in 1824 regular working on the line from the Admiralty to Portsmouth started. All the semaphore equipment was supplied by Henry Maudslay of Lambeth.
The crew of a semaphore telegraph station normally comprised one veteran Royal Navy Lieutenant, who in addition to his half-pay also received 3 shillings per day plus free lodgings for himself and his family in the station. He was assisted by an ex-warrant officer or a veteran sailor who received 2 shillings per day. He would either live in, if the size of the families and accommodation permitted, or be billeted out nearby. Each station received an allowance of sixpence per day for coal and candles, and was equipped with signal books and telescopes supplied by Dolland.
Watch was mounted each working day by the station staff from 10am to 3pm. Telescopes were not to be left unattended for more than two minutes at any time during operational hours. The operation of the whole chain of stations was such that weather permitting a short message could be transmitted from the Admiralty to Portsmouth, or vice versa, in about 15 minutes from time of despatch at one end to receipt at the other. A transmission speed of about ten words a minute was the average rate of achievement.
In an average year, the telegraph functioned for about 200 days, and for part of a day on about 60 more. The main hazards were of course fog, low cloud cover and smoke near the main towns and cities.
Almost inevitably the Claygate station was named Semaphore House, and Cooper's Hill became known as Telegraph Hill. When it was all but completed in early 1822, the first station officer to be appointed, Lieutenant James Robertson of Beckham, sought permission from the Admiralty for early occupation as he complained that: "the (local) peasantry from curiosity to see the house have forced open the (window) shutters". Permission was granted and he moved in on 8th April of that year.
The invention and success of the electric telegraph led to the inevitable demise of the semaphore telegraph. In September 1847, the Admiralty notified the personnel of the semaphore stations that their duties would soon be terminated, and at midnight on 31st December 1847 after 23 years of successful operation the semaphore telegraph line from London to Portsmouth closed down forever.
In 1930, the Esher Urban District Council purchased 21½ acres of Telegraph Hill and its wood from the Banks Estate: the Rev GW Banks of Worth, Sussex, who died in 1896, and his son, GFH Banks, owned several properties in Claygate for many years. A further two acres were purchased from the Speer family, who acquired the Manor of Weston1 from the Crown in 1801. On the northern side of the hill is a boundary stone inscribed 'W + S and H + S.' These initials are probably those of William Speer, who purchased Weston Manor, and his grandson, Hannibal Speer, who subsequently inherited the manor.
The total cost of the 23½ acres, including Semaphore House, and the provision of fencing, paths, etc., was £6,400. This proved to be an excellent investment and the hill and its surrounds continue to be one of the most popular public areas in the locality with the inhabitants of both Claygate and Hinchley Wood.
Unfortunately when, in the late 1970s, the council ceased using Semaphore House as a residence for one of its employees — Frederick Bristow, who lived there with his family for 35 years — , the vandals moved in. All its windows were smashed, doors kicked in, and the chimneys and many roof tiles were cast down. The interior was wrecked. The point was nearly reached when demolition of the house appeared inevitable for cost and safety reasons. But in early 1982, Beverley and Hilary Abbey took the courageous step of purchasing Semaphore House from Elmbridge Council for £53,000 with the aim of restoring it for occupation as their family home.
Notes
- In 1801 William Speer bought the remains of the manor of Weston from the Crown. This comprised waste (infertile land) that was common land and also came with the Lordship of the Manor of Weston 'alias Barking'. William passed on the title of Lord of the Manor of Weston to his son Wilfred Speer, and later it was inherited by Wilfred's son, Wilfred Dakins Speer, and then by Hannibal, son of Cecilia Speer and Hannibal Sandys, who had taken the name of Speer to comply with William's will. At about the same time that Speer bought the manor of Weston, he bought extensive 'wastes' or common lands belonging to the manors of Claygate and Imber Court, which were subsequently regarded as part of the manor of Weston.
See also
Sources
- Elmbridge Borough Council Planning Services (2016). Tree and Woodland Strategy — Consultation Draft (January 2016).
- Claygate Heritage Trail, (leaflet produced by Claygate Parish Council)
- Peebles, Malcolm (1983). The Claygate Book. (Millennium edition). Stockbridge: by BAS Printers Ltd. ISBN 0-9508978-0-9.
- Many thanks also for the photos, many supplied by Terry Gale, from the Claygate Local History Facebook group.
- Claygate Life — 2004 issue 4
