Ockley | |
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Ockley Green |
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Ockley shown within Surrey | |
Area | 13.75 km2 (5.31 sq mi) |
Population | 871 (Civil Parish 2011) |
• Density | 63/km2 (160/sq mi) |
OS grid reference | TQ1540 |
Civil parish |
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District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Dorking |
Postcode district | RH5 |
Dialling code | 01306 |
Police | Surrey |
Fire | Surrey |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
EU Parliament | South East England |
UK Parliament | |
Ockley is a rural village in Surrey. It is lies astride the A29, the modern road using the alignment of Stane Street (Chichester). The A29 diverges from the A24 from London about 2.5 miles northeast and takes the alignment of Stane Street a mile north of the village. It has a medieval parish church, see list of places of worship in Mole Valley.
Finds of small artifacts dating to Roman Britain associated with the Roman road stretching from Chichester to London have been made since at least the 19th century.
Ockley's name fits the uncertain site of where battle took place described in the entry for the year 851 of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. According to the chronicler, king Æthelwulf and his son Æthelbald, together with the West-Saxon army, fought against an invading Danish army of 350 ships that had plundered London and Canterbury previously, and had also put king Beorhtwulf of Mercia to flight. The chronicler refers to the battlefield as Aclea, Oak Lea, and the Danish army was defeated suffering “the greatest slaughter… we have heard tell of up to this present day”.
Ockley appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Hoclei. It was held by Radulf (Ralph) from Richard Fitz Gilbert. Its domesday assets were: 1 hide. It had 5 ploughs, woodland worth 20 hogs. It rendered £3 10s 0d to its overlords per year.