Abinger Hammer takes its name from the clock that overhangs the A25 road through the village. The clock, installed in 1909 by a local benefactor, features a wooden figure known as "Jack the Smith" who strikes a bell with a hammer on the hour. The figure commemorates the iron industry that once operated along the Tillingbourne Valley. The name "Hammer" itself is a direct reference to the trip hammers that were powered by the stream to forge iron, one of several Surrey villages (Friday Street, Hammer in Hampshire) that preserve the memory of the Wealden iron trade in their names.
The Tillingbourne Valley was an industrial corridor for centuries. The reliable flow of the stream, fed by springs rising from the chalk of the North Downs, made it ideal for powering waterwheels. Mills, forges, and workshops lined the valley from Albury to Gomshall. Gunpowder was manufactured at Chilworth, upstream, and the Tillingbourne also powered paper mills and corn mills. Watercress beds, fed by the same clear springs, were an important local crop well into the 20th century. The beds at Abinger Hammer were among the most productive in the valley.
Goddards, a house near the village designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1898-1900, has an unusual origin. It was commissioned by Sir Frederick Mirrielees as a "house to play in," a place for recreation rather than permanent residence. Lutyens designed it in his characteristic early style, blending Arts and Crafts principles with local Surrey vernacular. The house was later enlarged and eventually donated to the Lutyens Trust, then to the Landmark Trust. The village itself lacks its own pub or shop, relying on neighbouring Gomshall for both, but the valley setting between wooded hills and the distinctive clock make it one of the more memorable spots on the road between Guildford and Dorking.
