by treaty. Certainly the area would have been dominated by Sussex while Aelle was Bretwalda and later occupied by Wessex under Cædwalla. Pre-Christian religious centre Christianity is thought to have come relatively late to the Anglo Saxons of Surrey with the religion being formally established sometime after 675 when Surrey's only known sub-king Frithuwold converted and founded Chertsey Abbey. As such this area was one of the last in southern England to convert formally to Christianity. Nevertheless, the area around Godalming has been described as "one of the most religiously dominated landscapes in England" and is and was a deeply pagan place. On a hill just south of Godalming town there was once a religious site dedicated to the war god Tiw at Tuesley (Old English Tīws leah) meaning "Tiw's Clearing". Close to this site can also be found a "holy well" called Lady Well. Access to both these sites is restricted by order of Ladywell Convent, a convent which owns the surrounding land. Another pagan site, this time dedicated to the god Thunor, is at the nearby village of Thursley. Adjacent to this village is the appropriately named "Hammer Pond".Whitelock, Dorothy, The Beginnings of English Society, The Heathen English, Penguin Books, London, 1954, pp.22-23 The local parish council assert that the name Thursley (Old English Þunres leah) means the "sacred grove of Thunor." An outcrop of sandstone on a prominence on Thursley Common was believed to have been Thor’s Stone, created by a thunderbolt thrown by the god. This stone, also called the Cricklestone, now lies almost unknown since its reputation was transferred erroneously to a block of chert (alias the Pudstone) near Pudmore pond in 1896 by the popular Victorian writer Sabine Baring-Gould in his book The Broom-squire. There still remains much mystery concerning a very ancient yew tree at Peper Harow or Pipers Hearg meaning "Piper's Temple" whereat the tree itself may have been the actual object of worship (see: Irminsul). The tree is now contained within a church yard and surrounded by graves. An even more ancient grove made up of many very ancient yew trees as well as oaks that are believed to have been used by druids is at Newland's Corner, near Merrow. Close to this grove is Silent Pool - an ancient lake once used for ritual offerings. It is still thought to be haunted by either a "sprite" or an "Anglo-Saxon maiden"