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Haslemere,
in the south-west of the county, takes its name from the hazel
trees that grew round a lake that once existed here.
This
historic market town has many timber-framed and tile-hung
buildings and in the High Street there are several houses
dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries.
Following
the opening of a railway line, connecting London to Portsmouth
in 1859, Haslemere began to develop as a popular commuter
town.
A number
of well-known people settled in the area including Alfred,
Lord Tennyson, George Bennard Shaw, George Eliot and Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle.
Haslemere
later made a name for itself through music. Arnold Dolmetsch
(1858 - 1940), the French musican and early instrument maker,
had a workshop in Haslemere and his descentants still manufacture
harpsicords and viols here today.
The International
Dolmetsch Early Music Festival is held every July in the Haslemere
Hall.
Another
attraction in Haslemere for visitors is the Haselmere Educational
Museum, noted for its natural history collection. The museum
was established in 1888 by the surgeon Sir Jonathon Hutchinson
to provide educational opportunities for local people. Since
1926, the museum has been housed in a building with a Georgian
façade, that partly dates back to the 16th century with a
garden with views over the Surrey Hills.
Haslemere
stands in the Surrey
Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and much of the
woodland and heathland surrounding the town is owned by the
National Trust. Blackdown (918 ft) to the south is the second
highest hill in south east England, and nearby Gibbet Hill
(894 ft) gets its name from the gibbet where the bodies of
hanged murderers and highwaymen were left as a warning to
others.
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Haslemere
