Bisley, Surrey, England

Bisley, Surrey, England

'Kelly's Directory of Surrey' for 1922 gives the following information on Bisley states that it ' is a parish and village, 2 miles north from Brookwood station on the South Western railway, 4 north-west from Woking, 6 north-west from Woking village, 8 south-west from Chertsey and 27 from London, and in the Chertsey division of the county, Godley hundred, Woking petty sessional division, union and county court district of Chertsey, rural deanery of Woking, archdeaconry of Surrey and diocese of Winchester. The church of St. John the Baptist is a stone building of the 12th century, in the Early English style, and has a bell-cot over the west entrance, containing 3 bells: the ancient chalice bears the date 1570; at the east end is a memorial window: there is also a tablet bearing the names of the men of the parish who fell in the Great War: in 1873 the church was enlarged and restored and in 1899 the churchyard was enlarged, the ground for the purpose being given by the rector, the Rev. John Gwyon; there are 150 sittings. The register dates from the year 1561. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £200 with 12 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of trustees and held since 1895 by the Rev John Gwyon, of St David's College, Lampeter, who is also a surrogate. There is a parochial church council, established under the "Parochial Church Councils Act, 1919", which exercises a controlling hand in all church matters. There are charities of about £40 yearly. The water of the holy well in this parish is impregnated with iron, and was at one time much resorted to by sick persons. The Bisley Refuge Farm School, erected in 1868, is for the reception of 156 homeless and destitute boys; the estate comprises about 120 acres; the boys are taught various useful trades. The Shaftesbury School, an addition was erected in 1873, for 150 boys and a chapel seating 350, was built in 1874; these are now known as the Bisley Schools. There is a bungalow hospital for the boys at these schools, erected in 1896 for 12 patients. Four cottages facing the village green were erected during 1893 in memory of William Williams, founder of the National Refuges, for the use of the officers of the schools. At Bisley is the Princess Christian's Brookwood Homes and Workshops for disabled soldiers and sailors, consisting of five large blocks of buildings and about 16 acres of land. The Auxiliary Convalescent Home to Queen Alexandra's Hospital was opened in 1914. A Village Institute was erected in 1912 by W. B. Wakefield Esq. and is let by him on a peppercorn rent to trustees. It contains a hall, to seat 250 persons, billiard and reading rooms. Adjoining is a miniature rifle range. A war memorial, consisting of granite cross 11 feet high, was erected near the village school in 1921. The Earl of Onslow OBE. is lord of the manor, and the National Rifle Association, the War Department and the National Refuges are the chief landowners. The soil is loam; subsoil. clay, gravel and sand. The chief crops are wheat, oats, beans and swedes. The area is 922 acres; rateable value, £3,091: the population in 1911 was 863, including 149 in the Refuge Farm School and 154 in the Shaftesbury School, most of whom are engaged in agriculture.

'The camp of the National Rifle Association here was opened in 1890 by His late Majesty King Edward VII. and Queen Alexandra, then Prince and Princess of Wales. From the year 1860, when Queen Victoria inaugurated the first meeting, the annual gatherings of the association had been held at Wimbledon, but the necessity for obtaining ranges of increased extent obliged the association to remove from the old site and Bisley was chosen as being the most suitable position. The ground on all sides rises more or less rapidly to a considerable eminence nearly in the centre of the site, about 226 feet above the sea level, and forming its highest point; here stands the clock tower, and a tall flagstaff on which a signal drum is hoisted. The various sections of the camp occupy the ground sloping away from this hill towards the south and south-east, in the direction of the main line of the South Western railway. from which, at Brookwood station, a short branch or tramway is carried into the camp, with a station at the entrance. The old N.R.A. tramway which has been transferred from Wimbledon, now skirts the east side of Bisley common in rear of the principal firing points; at the entrance to the camp on the south-east are the regimental enclosures, and beyond these the N.R.A. camp, with five miles of tents occupied by Territorials belonging to corps not having special regimental quarters; all these lie to the south of the branch line of rail; to the north of it is the camp of the civilian stall, and a range of substantially built wooden huts, with venetian shuttered windows. The open grassy space contiguous on the north forms the bazaar, and is surrounded by the tents of various commercial firms of gun makers, opticians and others; beyond this enclosure, westward, stand the refreshment pavilion, also transferred from Wimbledon, the umbrella tent and exhibition building and those of various clubs, and the extreme western division of the camp is allotted to the Council Club pavilion and members' and range officers' tents; in the open ground to the north-west are the butts for the running deer and man, and close by is the firing point for the 800 to 1,200 yards range, the butts for which, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, comprising 50 targets, are on Stickledown, a rising ground lying almost exactly north-west beyond the Hog Lees; butts, 7, 8, 9, for rifle practice and pool, and the revolver ranges are near the clock tower; butts 10 to 19, forming the mid or principal range for 200 to 600 yards, and comprising 100 targets, are north of the camp, the direction from the firing points, as in the long range, being north-west; still more to the north are butts 20 and 21 for the 200 yards range, and 22 and 23 for 200 to 800 yards, the direction in both being nearly due west: from the clock tower a splendid view is obtained of the country all round; northward and north­westward the view is closed by the Chobham Ridges, the final butt for the most extraordinary of stray shots; southward and at a great distance the line of the Hog's Back between Guildford and Farnham runs beyond a heathery valley; eastward the country is fairly level, but green and pleasant, with villages and detached farmsteads peeping out amidst the trees; westward, the Fox hills hide Aldershot from view, but on the hither side is the Guards' camp, on Pirbright common, and another camp by Stoney Castle, not far beyond the Bisley boundaries; 3 miles north-north east is Chobham Common, the site of the military encampment of 1853. The pre-existing hedgerows, trees and bushes have been as far as possible preserved, so that the various parts of the camp lie in a kind of leafy seclusion, contrasting agreeably with the glaring whiteness and bare appearance which distinguished the Wimbledon site, but the rest of the ground is chiefly covered with heather. The annual meetings open usually on the second Monday in July in each year. The principal prizes are the King's prize, founded in 1860, and consisting of £950, given in 365 prizes from £2 to £250,and shot for in three stages at different distances, the best shot in the first stage receiving the bronze medal and badge of the association; in the second stage, the silver medal and badge, and in the final stage £250 given by H.M. the King, with which is presented the gold medal and badge of the association; Queen Mary's Prize, a prize in kind, given by Her Majesty the Queen, a silver medal and a bronze medal by the NRA. and money prizes amounting to £200 in graduated prizes, is shot for by Class B Territorials; H.R.H. the Prince of Wales's Prize of £100, given by H.R.H. and £100 by the NRA. the latter sum being divided into graduated amounts; the Chancellor's Plate, founded in 1862, for members of Oxford and Cambridge Universities; the Ashburton Challenge Shield, presented in 1861 by Lord Ashburton for competition between the Public Schools; the Spencer Cup, presented in 1861 by Earl Spencer and competed for by one representative of each school; the Cadet Corps' Match Prize; the Elcho Challenge Shield, founded in 1862, and shot for by teams of 8, representing England, Scotland and Ireland; the Mackinnon Challenge Cup, given in 1891 for teams of 12 from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, the Channel Isles, and each of the Dominions over Seas; the Mappin Challenge Cup, for sections of territorials; the China Challenge Cup, presented by the volunteers of China in 1865; the National Challenge Trophy, for representatives of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland; and St. George's Vase and Dragon Cup, with money prizes and gold and silver jewels added, restricted to efficient territorials and retired territorials; the Brinsmead Challenge Shield for teams of five at disappearing targets; the Kolapore Challenge Cup, for representatives of the mother country, India, the Colonies and the Channel Islands, founded in 1871 by the Rajah of Kolapore, with £50 added by the N.R.A.; the Public Schools Veterans' Trophy, founded in 1874; the Belgian Challenge Cup, presented in 1867 by the Brussels Chasseurs Eclaireurs, and the Mullens' prizes, founded in 1881, both are now shot for by competitors in the Queen Mary's Prize. The total cash prizes at the meeting amount to over £10,000, with challenge trophies in addition. His Majesty the King is Patron of the Association; H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, president; Major-Gen Lord Cheylesmore K.C.V.O. chairman; Lieut-Col. Sir Philip Wigham Richardson O.B.E, V.D. vice-chairman of the council and Major C. E. Etches O.B.E. sec. and executive officer; offices, at the Camp.'

Bisley Rifle Ranges, Bisley, Surrey, England

Kelly Directory 1938 gives the following information

The camp of the National Rifle Association here was opened In 1890 by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, then Prince and Princess of Wales. From the year 1860, when Queen Victoria inaugurated the first meeting, the annual gatherings of the association had been held at Wimbledon, but the necessity for obtaining ranges of increased extent obliged the association to remove from the old site, and Bisley was chosen as being the most suitable position. The ground on all sides rises more or less rapidly to a considerable eminence nearly in the centre of the site, about 226 feet above the sea level, and forming its highest, point; here stands the clock tower, and a tall flagstaff on which a signal drum is hoisted. The various sections of the camp occupy the ground sloping away from this hill towards the south and south-east, in the direction of the main line of the Southern railway, from which, at Brookwood station, a short branch or tramway is carried into the camp, with a station at the entrance. At the entrance to the camp on the south-east are the regimental enclosures, and beyond these the N.R.A, camp, which is occupied by Territorials and other competitors not having special regimental quarters; all these lie to the south of the branch line of rail; to the north of it is the camp of the civilian staffs and a range of substantially, built wooden huts, with Venetian shuttered windows. The open grassy space con­tiguous on the north formsa the bazaar, and is surrounded by the tents of various commercial firms of gun makers, opticians and others; beyond this enclosure, westward, stand the refreshment pavilion, which was rebuilt in 1924 at a cost of £25,000, the umbrella tent and exhibition building and those of various clubs, and the extreme western division of the camp is allotted to the Council club pavilion and members, and range officers' tents; in the open ground to the north-west are the butts for the running deer and man, and close by is the firing point for the 800 to 1,200 yards range, the butts for which, Nos. 0,1,2,3 and 4, comprising 50 targets, are on Stickledown, a rising ground lying almost exactly north-west beyond the Hog Lees ; butts, 7, 8, 9, for rifle practice and pool, and the revolver ranges are near the clock tower; butts 10 to 19, forming the mid or principal range for 200 to 600 yards, and comprising 100 targets, are north of the camp, the direction from the firing points, as in the long range, being north-west; still more to the north are butts 20 and 21 for the 200 yards range, and 22 and 23 for 200 to 800 yards, the direction in both being nearly due west: from the clock tower a splendid view is obtained of the country all round; northward and north-westward the view is closed by the Chobham Ridges, the final butt for the most extraordinary of stray shots; southward and at a great distance the line of the Hog's Back between Guildford and Farnham runs beyond a heathery valley; eastward the country is fairly level, but green and pleasant, with villages and detached farmsteads peeping out amidst the trees; westward, the Fox hills hide Aldershot from view, but on the hither side is the Guards' camp, on Pirbright common, and another camp by Stoney Castle, not far beyond the Bisley boundaries; 3 miles north-north east is Chobham Common, the site of the military encampment of 1853. The pre-existing hedgerows, trees and bushes have been as far as possible preserved, so that the various partsof the camp lie in a kind of leafy seclusion, but the rest of the ground is chiefly covered with heather. The annual meetings open usually on the second Monday in July in each year. The principal prizes are the King's prize, founded in 1860, and consisting of £1,210, given in 440 prizes from £1 to £250, and shot for in three stages at different distances, the best shot in the first stage receiving the bronze medal and badge of the association; in the second stage, the silver medal and badge, and in the final stage £250 given by H.M. the King, with which is presented the gold medal and badge of the association ; Queen Mary's Prize, a prize in kind, given by Her Majesty Queen Mary, a silver medal and a bronze medal by the N.R.A, and money prizes amounting to £230; the competition for H.M. the King's Medal for the best shot in the Territorial Army; H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester's Prize; the Chancellor's Plate, founded in 1862, for members of Oxford and Cambridge Universities; the Ashburton Challenge Shield, presented in 1861 by Lord Ashburton for competition between the Public Schools; the Spencer Cup, presented in 1861 by the 6th Earl Specer K.G., P.C., G.C.V.O. and competed for by one representative of each school; the Cadet Corps' Match Prize; the Elcho Challenge Shield, founded in 1862, and shot for by teams of 8, representing England, Scotland and Ireland ; the Mackinnon Challenge Cup, given in 1891 for teams of 12 from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, the Channel Isles, and each of the Dominions over Seas; the China Challenge Cup, presented by the volunteers of China in 1865; the National Challenge Trophy, for representatives of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland; and St. George's Vase and Dragon Cup, with money prizes and gold and silver jewels added, restricted to past and present members of H.M. Forces; the Kolapore Challenge Cup, for representatives of the mother country, India, the Colonies and the Channel Islands, founded in 1871 by the Rajah of Kolapore, with £50 added by the N.R.A.; in addition the Junior Kolapore and Junior Mackinnon for the minor colonies attract large numbers of overseas competitors: in 1929 teams from sixteen Dominions and Colonies attended the meeting: the Public Schools Veterans' Trophy, founded in 1874; the Belgian Challenge Cup, presented in 1867 by the Brussels Chasseurs Eclaireurs, and the Mullens prizes, founded in 1881, both are now shot for by competitors in the Queen Mary's Prize. The total cash prizes at the meeting amount to over £10,000, with challenge trophies in addition. His Majesty the King is Patron of the Association ; H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester, president; Col. Lord Cottesloe C.B., V.D., T.D. chairman; Lt-Col. Sir Philip W. Richardson bart. O.B.E., V.D. vice-chairman of the council and Major C. E. Etches C.B., O.B.E, sec. and executive officer.; offices, at the Camp
Bisley Common, to the west, is part of the Bagshot Heath District.

Fox Inn, Bisley, Surrey, England