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For some, Peper Harow is an ancient and sacred place of healing and tranquillity.
It is probable that this was a Saxon holy place, and due to the presence of Bonville Springs, a 'holy well' close to the River Wey, Peper Harow may have been a place of pilgrimage. The ancient Yew tree in the churchyard has been dated at over 600 years old, and some local belief puts its age at 1,000 years.
It is not unusual that pagan sites were occupied by early Christian settlers, and indeed, the Pope's advice to Mellitus, first bishop at St Paul's in London in 604, was that this practice should be pursued.
CISTERCIAN PRESENCE
The Cistercian Order was founded as an offshoot of the Benedictine Order and its monks wore light-coloured (undyed) woollen cloth in contrast to the black-robed Benedictines. A silent order, the Cistercians placed great importance on manual labour. A large number of lay brothers, often local peasants, laboured with the monks growing crops as well as managing oxen and sheep.
Oxenford Grange, forming a boundary of the Peper Harow estate, was one of several sites in the area where grain and farm produce were stored by the monks. In the 12th Century, a devastating flood on the river flats forced the brothers to abandon this spot for higher ground close to Waverley Abbey.
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