History

The village of Ockham appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bocheham.  Its domesday assets were one and a half hides, one church, two fisheries, three ploughs, two acres (8,100 m2) of meadow, and woodland worth 60 hogs!  Ockham is believed to be the birthplace of William of Ockham (1287-1347), an English Franciscan friar and philosopher, who is commonly credited with the methodological principle Occam’s Razor.  In the mid 1800s, Ockham Park was the home of Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron and a pioneering mathematician often described as the world’s first computer programmer!

In 1943, the former Wisley Airfield (FWA) was temporarily requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence to aid in the assembly of wartime aircraft from the Vickers factory at nearby Brooklands.  It was never used for passenger traffic and was closed in 1972. It was returned to farmland except for the tarred and concrete surfaces which make up less than 24% of the land. It is known as Three Farm Meadows (TFM) and is largely categorised as best and most versatile farmland.