Cranleigh is a big town as well as civil parish, self-proclaimed the biggest in England, about 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Guildford in Surrey. It exists eastern of the A281, which links Guildford with Horsham, on an alternative route that is not an A-road. It remains in the north-west corner of the Weald, a huge remnant woodland, the main neighborhood residue being Winterfold Forest straight north-west on the northern Greensand Ridge. Until the mid-1860s, the area was typically spelt Cranley. The Post Office persuaded the vestry to use -leigh to avoid misdirections to close-by Crawley in West Sussex. The older punctuation is publicly noticeable in the Cranley Hotel. The beginning of the name is recorded in the Pipe Rolls as Cranlea in 1166 and Cranelega in 1167. A little later in the Feet of Fines of 1198 the name is composed as Cranele. Etymologists think about all these versions to be the fusion of the Old English words "Cran", suggesting "crane", and also "Leoh" that together indicate 'a forest clearing visited by cranes'. The name is popularly believed to come from imputed huge crane-breeding premises at the Anglo-French named Vachery Pond, commonly in your area called Vachery. The figure of a crane decorates the old drinking water fountain of 1874 in 'Fountain Square' in the middle of the village. A set of cranes adorn the crest of the 21st century granted layer of arms of Cranleigh Parish Council.