This page contains information about one or two subjects which, while not concerning the area of the village, may nevertheless be of interest.
Ancient barrows on Whitmoor Common:
In his treatise Natural History and Antiquities of Surrey published in 1719 John Aubrey noted " On this Common runs a great old Trench, South-East and Northwest, the Bank is on the Westward." This feature, described as "Ancient Boundary Ditch", is clearly depicted on the Ordnance Survey 25 inches/mile map published in 1915. It lay just to the West of the railway line, running North-West from near the Monkey Bridge
In "Notes on the History of Worplesdon", written by Miss Evelyn Thompson in 1921 and revised and republished by the Misses Joan Tovey and Adeline Maclean in 1951, mention is made of remains of Tumuli on Whitmoor Common which were opened by General Pitt Rivers in 1877. Two Bronze Age urns were discovered in one of them.
Coal at Slyfield Green:
John Aubrey also mentions an attempt to dig for coal at Slyfield Green. Some "Tinn" was found and then some coal but at that point " the Irons broke". The project was then abandoned because it had already cost £400 and the prospector was reminded that the Lord Chancellor and others had "Patent for all Mines in the Forest of Windsor".
Isolation Hospital on Whitmoor Common:
In 1900 Guildford & Godalming & Woking Joint Hospitals Board opened a small hospital on Whitmoor Common which was described on the Ordnance Survey 25 inches/mile map published in 1915 as Hospital (Infectious Diseases). It was surrounded by a ditch between a double hedge.
Plans for an extension were drawn up by A.J. Sturgess Architect and Surveyor, 25 High Street, Guildford in 1903. This appears to be shown on the 1915 map.
In the Electoral Rolls between 1905 and 1912 John Jordan was shown as occupying Isolation Hospital, Whitmore Common, while the Roll of 1915 lists Charles Poole, Smallpox hospital, Whitmoor common.
In 1909 Surrey County Council opened a smallpox hospital at East Clandon. Thereafter the hospital at Whitmoor Common was happily virtually unoccupied for many years, and so it was closed in 1936. The hospital and its Lodge are now private residences.
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