Tongham is a village northeast of the town of Farnham in Surrey, England. The village's buildings occupy most of the west of the civil parish, adjoining the A31 and the A331. The boundaries take in Poyle Park in the east and the replacement to Runfold's manor house in the west.
Tongham is located on the north side of the Hog's Back, the narrowest part of the North Downs. The largest independent brewery in Surrey, the Hogs Back Brewery, takes its name from this eminence as does the Hog's Back Hotel. Tongham was the home of the Aldershot Stadium from 1950 to 1992. Aldershot itself is centred to the west.
History and economy
Archaeological evidence suggests the area of Tongham has been occupied since Neolithic times, particularly close to the Pilgrims' Way which formerly covered in part the top of the Hogs Back, a ridge above the surrounding area, but which is now the North Downs Way on the south side. Notable finds in the parish include two Neolithic arrowheads and Iron Age farmsteads.
Manor
The farmstead, and what few peasants' buildings there were, gain early mentions as Twangham from the 13th century to the 16th century in the rent rolls of successive Bishops of Winchester: Henry de la Poyle held court at Tongham manor in 1360. He had inherited the land from his grandfather, Walter de la Puille who held it rendering an annual small fee to the Bishop.
The manor descended from the emblazoned, but not noble, Gaynesford and White families to holders in the Tichborne family. The family sold it in 1725 to a Richard Smith. In 1819 an exact namesake, with Thomas and Jane Barrett also having an interest, sold the manor to Stephen Boyce. On his death it passed to his stepson, Charles Barron, and the manor remained, albeit with portions gradually being sold off, with a Barron until at least 1906.
Poyle Park
The manor of Poyle Park which decayed from a wealthy gentleman's architecturally impressive farmhouse into no more than a farm, was in the north of Seale but now forms most of the east of Tongham. In the 14th century Tongham, seemingly inclusive of this area, was assessed in the subsidy roll at £3 8s 5.5d. The Poyle family owned a synonymous manor in a parish of Guildford, held of the King. After the Gaynesford and Vyne families, the family of Sir Nicholas Woodroffe, Lord Mayor of London for 1579, held it until at least 1906, by passing to female-line descendants, the Chester family. In 1792 owner William Woodroffe (born Billinghurst) who was High Sheriff of Surrey for 1792 had his estate in bankruptcy (chancery) due to the expense of that office which he could not afford. Colonel Ross Donnelly Mangles, the Chairman of the East India Company was a tenant in the mid-19th century. The Grade II listed 17th century Poyle Cottage sits below the former manor. Poyle Farm is largely intact in terms of uninterrupted farmland.
From the industrial revolution onwards
From the population abstracts from 1811 until its evolution into a parish the settlement was a rural one large enough in size to be official classed as a statistically recordable hamlet. 's now dismantled railway was important for transporting materials to build the new military camp of Aldershot from 1856 until 1870 and the row of shops developed from this line. The parish church was completed in 1865 and Tongham, which had previously been part of the parish of Seale, was made into a separate parish the following year.
The military author and Honorary Remembrancer for the Borough of Aldershot (1963 to 1974), and Curator of the Aldershot Museum, Howard N. Cole, lived in the village.
Hogs Back Brewery
The twin oast houses in the village have been converted to residential use. Tongham nonetheless is home to the largest independent brewer in Surrey, the Hog's Back Brewery (established 1992) produces 3,800 barrels per year (2012 figures) from its large 18th-century premises. The brewery uses fuggles hops from the Hampton Park estate in Seale.
Amenities
Hog's Back Hotel
The Hog's Back Hotel, now owned by Legacy Hotels, features white stone quoining and dutch gables giving its 20th-century structure a character reminiscent of the former manor house on the site.
Pubs and shopping
There are two pre-19th-century pubs in Tongham: The White Hart on The Street, and The Cricketers on Oxenden Road. There is a small shopping parade in the village centre. The brewery operates an off-licence stocking non-proprietorial ales as well as its own.