Headley

click image to see slideshow

The Seat was commissioned by the Parish Council in 1995 and has stamped into its structure the different spellings/pronunciations of the village name since Domesday.
1066 Hallege, Hetliga, Hetle, Hedlegh, Hethlege, or Hertelegh, Herteleigh; 1300 Hedle, Hertlegh, Hethalie; 1600 Hedleigh, Heathley: 1765 Hedley, Headley. There are also three other Headleys in neighbouring counties and all share the same basic meaning and derivation, which is the "clearing in the heather", from the Old English pre 7th Century "haeth", meaning heathland or heather, with "leah", a fenced clearing or farm.
The Chestnut tree that it encircles was planted in 1891 on the site of the village stocks and hopefully will survive the current leaf curl that is affecting those trees.
The seat is made from slightly conical steel rings that were expertly rolled by Jeffries Millers Rings.to give it a flowing and comfortable profile. It was galvanised and painted black.
It also probably saved a life acting as a crumple zone when a motorist crashed his van into it instead of turning with the road. It was subsequently repaired by A&F Engineering, Farnham; who also assisted in making the Cricket Stumps for the entrance to the Rose Bowl, home of Hampshire cricket.