Great Bookham Parish

"GREAT BOOKHAM, a parish in the hundred of Effingham, in the county of Surrey, 2 miles to the S.W. of Leatherhead. It is situated in a beautiful country near the river Mole.

The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Winchester, of the value of £340, in the patronage of Viscount Downe. The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas. It has a side chapel, with a monument to Edmund Slyfield, sheriff of the county in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In addition to the parish church there is a district church recently erected at Ranmore, the living of which is a perpetual curacy,* value £150, in the patronage of G. Cubitt, Esq. The parochial charities amount to £53 per annum. In this parish is Polesden, a fine mansion with extensive and beautiful grounds, situated in a picturesque spot overlooking Bog Hill. This estate belonged to Sheridan. The present house was erected by J. Bonsor, Esq. There are also several gentlemen's seats; among which are Eastwick House, formerly the seat of the Effingham family, and Beckham Grove.