FARNHAM, a market town in the Farnham parliamentary division of Surrey, England, 384 m. S.W. by W. from London on the Southern railway. Pop. of urban district (1931) but in 1926 the area of the urban district was enlarged. Farnham lies on the left bank of the river Wey, on the southern slope of a hill rising about 700 ft. above the sea-level. The parish church of St. Andrew is a transitional Norman and Early English build ing, with later additions, and was formerly a chapel of ease to Waverley abbey, of which a crypt and fragmentary remains, of Early English character, stand in the park attached to a modern residence of the same name. This was the earliest Cistercian house in England, founded in 1128 by William Gifford, bishop of Winchester. The Annales Waverlienses, published by Gale in his Scriptores and afterwards in the Record series of Chronicles, are believed to have suggested to Sir Walter Scott the name of his first novel. Farnham Castle, on a hill north of the town, the palace of the bishops of Winchester, was first built, shortly after the abbey, by Henry de Blois, bishop of Winchester, and brother of King Stephen; but it was razed by Henry III. Rebuilt and garrisoned for Charles I., it suffered during the Civil War, and was restored by George Morley, bishop of Winchester (1662 84). William Cobbett (q.v.) was born in the parish, and is buried in the churchyard of St. Andrew's. The neighbouring mansion of Moor Park was the residence of Sir William Temple (d. when Swift worked here as his secretary. Hester Johnson, Swift's "Stella," was the daughter of Temple's steward, whose cottage still stands. The town has grown in favour as a residential centre from the proximity of Aldershot Camp (3 m. N.E.).
The town of Farnham (Ferneham) grew up round the castle of the bishops of Winchester, who possessed the manor at the Domesday Survey. Its position at the junction of the Pilgrim's Way and the road from Southampton to London was important. In 1205 Farnham had bailiffs, and in 1207 it was definitely a mesne borough under the bishops of Winchester. In 1247 the bishop granted the first charter, giving, among other privileges, a fair on All Saints' Day. Bishop Waynflete is said to have con firmed the original charter in 1452, and in 1566 Bishop Horne granted a new charter. In the 18th century the corporation, a close body, declined, its duties being performed by the vestry, and in 1789 the one survivor resigned and handed over the town papers to the bishop. Farnham sent representatives to parliament in 1311 and 1460, on both occasions being practically the bishop's pocket borough. Farnham was early a market of importance, and in 1216 a royal grant changed the market day from Sunday to Thursday in each week. It was famous in the early 17th cen tury for wheat and oats, and hop-growing has been carried on in the vicinity since