Tongham

The farmstead, and what few peasants' buildings there were, gain early mentions as Twangham from the 13th century to the 16th century in the rent rolls of successive Bishops of Winchester: Henry de la Poyle held court at Tongham manor in 1360. He had inherited the land from his grandfather, Walter de la Puille who held it rendering an annual small fee to the Bishop.[3]

The manor descended from the emblazoned, but not noble, Gaynesford and White families to holders in the Tichborne family. The family sold it in 1725 to a Richard Smith. In 1819 an exact namesake, with Thomas and Jane Barrett also having an interest, sold the manor to Stephen Boyce. On his death it passed to his stepson, Charles Barron, and the manor remained, albeit with portions gradually being sold off, with a Barron until at least 1906.[3]

The manor of Poyle Park which decayed from a wealthy gentleman's architecturally impressive farmhouse into no more than a farm, was in the north of Seale but now forms most of the east of Tongham. In the 14th century Tongham, seemingly inclusive of this area, was assessed in the subsidy roll at £3 8s 5.5d. The Poyle family owned a synonymous manor in a parish of Guildford, held of the King.[3] After the Gaynesford and Vyne families, the family of Sir Nicholas Woodroffe, Lord Mayor of London for 1579, held it until at least 1906, by passing to female-line descendants, the Chester family. In 1792 owner William Woodroffe (born Billinghurst) who was High Sheriff of Surrey for 1792 had his estate in bankruptcy (chancery) due to the expense of that office which he could not afford. Colonel Ross Donnelly Mangles, the Chairman of the East India Company was a tenant in the mid-19th century.[3] The Grade II listed 17th century Poyle Cottage sits below the former manor.[4] Poyle Farm is largely intact in terms of uninterrupted farmland.

From the population abstracts from 1811 until its evolution into a parish the settlement was a rural one large enough in size to be official classed as a statistically recordable hamlet.[3] Tongham's now dismantled railway was important for transporting materials to build the new military camp of Aldershot from 1856 until 1870 and the row of shops developed from this line.[5] The parish church was completed in 1865 and Tongham, which had previously been part of the parish of Seale, was made into a separate parish the following year.[3]

The military author and Honorary Remembrancer for the Borough of Aldershot (1963 to 1974), and Curator of the Aldershot Museum, Howard N. Cole, lived in the village.

The Hogs Back Brewery is a major employer in the largely commuter village

The twin oast houses in the village have been converted to residential use. Tongham nonetheless is home to the largest independent brewer in Surrey, with six other main breweries in the county. The Hogs Back Brewery (established 1992) produces 3,800 barrels per year (2012 figures) from its large 18th-century premises.[6] The brewery uses fuggles hops from the Hampton Park estate in Seale.[7]

Hog's Back Hotel

The Hog's Back Hotel, now owned by Legacy Hotels, features white stone quoining and dutch gables giving its 20th-century structure a character reminiscent of the former manor house on the site.[8]

The shopping parade is centrally located

There are two pre-19th-century pubs in Tongham: The White Hart on The Street, and The Cricketers on Oxenden Road. There is a small shopping parade in the village centre. The brewery operates an off-licence stocking non-proprietorial ales as well as its own.

The 1865 Anglican church of St Paul, designed by Ewan Christian, is Grade II listed and was chiefly funded by John Back who owned Aldershot Park, a large public park with many leisure facilities accessible via a track from the village, crossing the double divide of a river valley (with the Blackwater Valley Path) and dual carriageway.[9] Cyril Garbett, the son of its first vicar, and later Archbishop of York, was born in Tongham in 1875, a leader in the liturgy and charitable works of a large part of the Church of England.

Tongham was the home of Aldershot Stadium which hosted greyhound racing, stock car racing (and other short-oval motorsports), including speedway. The stadium lasted from 1950 until it was demolished for construction of the A331 road at the end of 1992.

As part of the outer London Commuter Belt, and well within the Aldershot Urban Area, the means of travel shows most people aged 16–74 either use a motor vehicle to work outside of the village or to commute within it.[1]