The Tithe Maps were established to determine the amount of money each landowner owed to the Church. The legislation was designed bring clarity about how much was owed by each landowner. The plans are very accurate and the roll shows who owned each parcel of land and who was the tenant. The whole country was surveyed. The relevant maps and rolls are currently held by the Local History Centre for the area.
The relevant fields which eventually formed Yew Tree Road are shown on the Tithe Map as Field Parcels 130, 131, 134, 135 & 137.
The Field Parcels are shown in the Tithe Apportionment as owned by Mary Caroline Smith and occupied by Richard Whitbourn. The former occupied a property on the Petworth Road (A.283) and is still standing and known as ******** and the Coach House (Tithe Parcels 435 & 436). Richard Whitbourn occupied other Field Parcels and is likely to have been a local farmer. The size and shape of the fields do not change on later maps.
The principal roads in the immediate area are Cramhurst Lane and Gasden Lane/Wheeler Lane. There are two buildings of significance along Cramhurst Lane – the farmhouse and a cottage which are both still standing although slightly altered.The Haslemere Road (A.286) looks like a track across heathland and has no separate parcel number.
Yew Tree Road Witley History 