Cranleigh appears in the Domesday Book as part of Shere Hundred, a scattered agricultural settlement in the Weald. For centuries it remained a quiet farming community, its economy tied to the heavy clay soil and the surrounding woodland. St Nicolas's Church dates from around 1170, and its south doorway with carved Romanesque heads is one of the finest Norman doorways in Surrey. Inside, a carved stone face on one of the pillars has long been claimed as a possible inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat, though this remains folklore rather than documented fact.
The village's claim to medical history rests on Cranleigh Village Hospital, founded in 1859 by Dr Albert Napper. It is widely regarded as the first purpose-built cottage hospital in England, designed to bring basic medical care to a rural community that had no easy access to the county hospital in Guildford. The original building still stands. Cranleigh School was established in 1865 as the Surrey County School, intended to provide affordable education for the sons of local farmers and tradesmen. It has since grown into a major independent school with playing fields visible from the eastern end of the village.
The railway arrived the same year, 1865, on the line from Horsham to Guildford, connecting the village to the wider world for the first time. For a century the train brought visitors and carried agricultural produce, but the line closed in 1965 under the Beeching cuts. The loss of the railway was deeply felt, but many residents now consider the resulting self-containment part of Cranleigh's appeal. The trackbed has been partly converted into a footpath. The village expanded steadily through the 20th century, particularly after the Second World War, but the High Street retains a core of older buildings, and the annual bonfire night on the common continues a tradition stretching back generations.
