Shamley Green has been part of the parish of Wonersh since medieval times, a dependency that reflected its origins as a small agricultural settlement on the edge of the Weald. The large village green, one of the finest in Surrey, has been the centre of community life for centuries. Cricket has been played here since at least the 1700s, and the pitch on the green remains in use today.
The Red Lion pub on one side and the church of St Peter on the other frame the green. St Peter's was built in 1864 in the Victorian Gothic style, funded to save parishioners the two-mile walk to the mother church in Wonersh. Before its construction, villagers had no local place of worship and had to navigate muddy lanes to attend services. The Bricklayers Arms, another old pub in the village, served the workers who made bricks from the local Weald clay.
The surrounding area was traditionally agricultural, with connections to the Wealden cloth trade that sustained many Surrey villages in the medieval period. Wool from sheep on the surrounding commons was woven locally and traded at Guildford market. The village's most unexpected connection is to cinema. Alfred Hitchcock, who grew up in Leytonstone in London, was fond of the village and named his production company Shamley Productions after it. The name appears in the closing credits of his television series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," which ran from 1955 to 1965. Quite why Hitchcock chose Shamley Green is not entirely clear, but he knew the Surrey countryside and may have visited the village during drives through the county. The association has given the village a minor place in film history that delights residents to this day.
