Albury, harassed from the locals....

The site of the original village of Albury lies a mile to the East of the present village. The process of the move occurred sporadically from about 1780 onwards. It appears to have started with Captain (later Admiral) Finch who had bought the Mansion from his brother, the 4th Earl of Aylesford. He wanted to develop a park around his house and so harassed the villagers that many of them moved to the neighbouring hamlet of Weston Street. In 1785 the old road between Albury and Shere was closed, and the following year the road that used to run past the George Inn was diverted. That building fortunately still stands having been converted into a cottage. Successive owners of Albury continued the harassment until the mid-19th Century when the banker Henry Drummond had a new parish church built for the villagers to replace the Saxon Church which was closed in 1841. In Albury today the name Weston recurs, in for example, Weston House, Weston Lodge, Weston Lea, Weston Fields and Weston Farm.

Plenty more sly dog history here......Albury news