Welcome to the history of the Holmwood

Owned and managed by the National Trust, Holmwood Common lies to the south of Dorking in Surrey, south east England. On these pages you will find a history of the Common and the villages and farms which surround it together with brief details of some of the area's notable buildings and residents.

Holmwood has a strong connection with the suffragette movement as the Dutch House in South Holmwood was the home of Emmeline and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence and you will find some information and a short film about the couple and their lives on the following pages. 

Details of the following publications which contain material on the history of the Holmwoods and nearby Dorking can be found on the Publications pages and purchased from the online store:

The Lost Villages: a history of the Holmwoods

Suffragettes, Suffragists & Antis: the fight for the vote in the  Surrey Hills

The Museum Guide to Dorking: a brief history of the town and the surrounding villages

Dorking in the Great War

Suffragette Planners and Plotters: the Pankhurst/Pethick-Lawrence story

Mary Neal and the suffragettes who saved Morris dancing

The Weaver, the Shoemaker and the Mother of a Nation: the story of Dorking’s Mayflower pilgrims. See this page also for a short film on the voyage of the Dorking pilgrims.