Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1956-06-12
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of the village has evolved from
the Saxon "ceorls" or freemen
who once populated the dist
rict and whose characteristics
still survive in its sturdy de-
scendants some of whom still
live here today.
Most notable of all existing
structures here is the church
of Charlwood. The church had
already been standing some 500
.'cars when the news of the
defeat of the Spanish Armada
was received here. 1t was al
so in this same beautiful little
church that men and women
knelt in thanks for their de-
liverance from the German
scourge about 400 years later.
All in all, the Charlwood
Church has been a dominant
and inspiring edifice over a
period covering 900 years of
English history. Norwood Hill
ridge, just a stones throw
from Charlwood, resounded
with the clash of Roman ar
NOR a thousand years before
the armies of William the
Concuercr marched over the
same ROAD as far as the neigh
boring town of Dorking.
Char iwood is of Saxon ORR
gin both in name and charac-
ter and such pure Saxon
names as Knapp, Edolphs,
Flint and Sloughterwyk stand
proof of Saxon influence.
Puckney Gill and Pockmires,
the historians tell us, are both
reminiscent of heather mytho-
logy. Mount Noddy was NAM
ed for Nod, the Celtic god of
the sun.
Old records show that the
name Charlwood has evolved
! from the original "Cherlwude"
to "Charlwode" and thence to
"Charlwood". It is also inter-
esting to note that the nearby
town of Rowley evolved succ-
essively from "Trule" (the
prefix 1T" being the adjective
'The") to "Troule" to Trowle"
to "Rowle" to "Rowlee" to
"Roughley" to "Rowleigh" to
Raleigh" and down to pres
ent-day "Rowley'. Such names
as Culpepper, Wheeler, Man.
tie, Wood, White and Long
had their origin here.
Some of the older houses
here are just what one thinks
of when he thinks of old Eng
land. That is, they are either
slate or thatch-roofed and
with heavy oak timbers REIN
forced with mortar and paint
ed white. My friend, Pat Pike,
lives in a very old house here
and the beams and heavy tim
bers therein are thought to
have been brought here from
the coast since the design and
shape of the timbers indicate
that they were once ships
timbers. 1t is thought land
oonclusively sol that the re-
mains of wrecked ships were
used to build many of the To-
cal houses and many of the
bowed timbers can be seen
especially at the gable ends
and for the arched roofs.
In all of the England we
have seen, the district of Sur
rey stands out as perhaps the
most pleasant. The entire
countryside has a mellowed
quality that escapes descrlp-
ton and one feels inadequate
to explain his feelings when
he considers the remarkable
past and present of this COM
munity. The hedgerows both
stone and plant, are narrow,
winding and completely anci-
ent. There is no other place in
England more quaint or more
verdant. This land has seen
the Roman conquest, the in
Yasion of the Danes and the
sword of the Norman conquer
Eers. In more recent years, it
1 has seen and felt the bombs OF
the German blitZ and 1t has
survived them all! Too, Charl-
wood has seen the formation
of law and order from its
very roots and the form of
law used in America today is
living testimony of mans
brightest accomplishment in
that he has been able to bring
freedom to every person living
under this form of self-gOv-
ernment.
And SO il is that we salute
this community with its
charming people and customs.
We shall never forget the
kindness of its people nor the
extent of their open-handed-
ness. And to borrow a phrase
so popular in these parts and
to direct same to these won-
derful ladies and g entlemen
we say And the very best of