Hindhead | |
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Gibbet Hill, Hindhead |
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Hindhead shown within Surrey | |
Population | 3,874 4,292 (2011 Census. Ward) |
OS grid reference | SU886360 |
Civil parish | |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Hindhead |
Postcode district | GU26 |
Dialling code | 01428 |
Police | Surrey |
Fire | Surrey |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
EU Parliament | South East England |
UK Parliament | |
Hindhead is a village in Surrey, England. It is the highest village in Surrey, with buildings at between 185 and 246 metres above sea level. It is best known as the location of the Devil's Punch Bowl, a beauty spot and site of special scientific interest, and as the site of the Hindhead crossroads, a formerly notorious congestion spot, where the A3 between Portsmouth and London was crossed by the A287 between Hook and Haslemere. The A3 now passes under Hindhead in the Hindhead Tunnel and its route along the Punch Bowl has been removed and landscaped, but the crossroads still exists for local traffic.
Hindhead is centred 10.5 miles (16.9 km) south-west of Guildford, the county town of Surrey, on the border with the county of Hampshire. It is a ward within the district of Waverley, and forms part of the civil parish of Haslemere. The ward, which includes Beacon Hill, had a population of 3,874 at the 2001 census, increasing to a population of 4,292 at the 2011 Census.
The place-name "Hindhead" is first attested in 1571, and means "hill frequented by hinds", or female deer.
The settled parts of the village are elevated relative to all of surrounding parishes and form a mixture of paved streets and wooded roads as well as agricultural smallholdings which are few vis-à-vis other parts of Waverley District. Hindhead has the 2nd and 13th highest hills in Surrey: Gibbet Hill and Hatch Farm Hill, at 272m and 211m above sea level. These rise gradually from the rest of the village towards the north of the Greensand Ridge, upon which the village wholly lies.