The parish church of St Nicolas stands in the village of Cranleigh which, according to the sign leading into the village, is “England’s largest village”. The church itself was built in the early 12th Century and its font also dates from this time. In 1944, during the second world war, a bomb hit the church destroying the church room and infant school and thereby leaving only three of its fourteen stained glass windows intact. The church also has a 12th Century carving known as the Cheshire Cat which some believe to have been Lewis Carroll’s inspiration for his famous Alice in Wonderland character.