Dormansland Parish

The original name Dormans was derived from John of Dereman, who held lands and lived in the area in the late Middle Ages.

The Quakers, who first settled in the area known as The Platt, are believed to have founded the old Surrey Village of Dormansland, which was an area sparsely settled as one of the Commons of Lingfield.

Further attention to the spiritual needs of the village was provided by the foundation of the Baptist Church in the high Street in 1792. Early worshippers followed their faith under difficult circumstances, being attacked by armed local groups resulting, it is understood, in the Bow Street Runners being called out. Eventually the army had to intervene. From this beginning the Church has grown, with the present church occupying the original site.

The first village school as opened in 1850 and was still in use until the middle of 2002, housing only the infants on a split site. April 2002 saw the finish of the excellent extension to the village junior school, the infants being moved into the new facilities shortly after, resulting in infants and juniors being housed on the one modern site.

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Following the school in 1850, the church of St John was built in 1882 as a chapel of ease to Lingfield but became a parish in its own right soon after. The introduction of these two buildings led to the further rapid expansion of the village, which had already begun after the enclosure of the Common of Lingfield in 1816.

Close by the village is the Dormans Park Estate which has its original in the late 19th century, when the land was purchased by the Bellaggio Estate Company and developed as the “New Bungalow Town and Club”, complete with its own Hotel, the area being known for its “nerve-restoring air and also Noted Water, one of the best in England”.

Dormansland has a small and diverse population, drawn from all walks of life, who strongly support the numerous village organisations and activities, such as cricket, football and tennis, with the activities being as diverse as the Women’s Institute and the Karate Club.

The village has a well-established shop, the village Post Office and General Store, being the centre of the village. It has its fair share of local country-style pubs, many of which provide excellent home-made food.

Many of the village activities centre on the Dormansland Memorial Club; this was built in 1920, on land gifted to the village and for the purpose of constructing a suitable memorial, to those men of the village who lost their lives in the First World War and subsequently in the Second World War.

The village is justly proud of the fact that, in his early family days, Winston Churchill was, for a time, a resident of the village, with his children being educated locally until pressure led to a move of residence.