Haslemere offers several different ways to spend a stay: collections and human history, railway heritage, historic architecture and a route along the Greensand Ridge. Choose what interests you most—whether museums, railways, architecture or countryside should be the focus.
Museum and activities for children
The Haslemere Educational Museum was founded in 1888 by Sir Jonathan Hutchinson as a small private museum in his garden at Inval, for the people of Haslemere. Its collection includes more than 240,000 natural history specimens. Three permanent galleries are devoted to geology, natural history and artefacts relating to human history. Geology and natural history explore natural history topics; the artefacts turn the focus to traces of human history.
The Museum Explorers at the Haslemere Educational Museum are for children aged five to eleven. The group meets once a month on a Saturday, with additional sessions during the school holidays; parents do not have to stay. If this activity suits your travel plans, check the specific dates in advance: programme details may change.
Railway heritage and remembrance
The Haslemere Signal Box is a London and South Western Railway Type 4 signal box; it signalled the Portsmouth Direct line from 1895 to 2025. The Haslemere Signal Box Museum has a wide-ranging collection of railway memorabilia from the Haslemere area and further afield. While the Signal Box marks a technical chapter through its design, railway company and line, the collection reaches beyond the local area.
The Haslemere Memorial Garden is dedicated to the 636 Southern Railway employees who lost their lives in the Second World War. This memorial adds a dedicated place of remembrance to the technical and collection-related aspects of railway heritage.
Buildings from different periods
Haslemere Town Hall was built in 1814. The building at 2 High Street was originally the Fox Inn and is a timber-framed building dating from the 17th century or earlier. St Bartholomew’s Church was rebuilt in 1870 on the site of a much older building dating back at least to the 13th century. These examples show different historical layers: a precise construction date, a former use alongside an older building style, and a rebuilding on a historically older site.
The Greensand Way, festival and getting here
For a countryside-focused visit, the Greensand Way starts in Haslemere. It follows the Greensand Ridge through Surrey and Kent. This route takes you beyond the town’s architectural and collection history into a landscape shaped by the Greensand Ridge.
The Haslemere Fringe Festival takes place every year on the first weekend in July at Lion Green. If you want to plan your trip around it, check the exact date for the year in question, as dates may change in future.
Haslemere is connected by rail to London and Portsmouth, and by bus to Guildford, Farnham and Midhurst. For specific onward or return travel, please check the current timetables.
Discover more destinations: Ewhurst, Gatwick, Abinger Common, Banstead, Windlesham, Lingfield, Ottershaw, Woking.
For the main travel overview: Surrey.
