Farnborough, in Hampshire, dates to Saxon times with the name 'Ferneberga' or 'Fearn-beorh' meaning 'Fern Hill'. Ferneberga formed part of the Hundred of Crondall and belonged to King Alfred (d 901).

In Restoration days, the manor house, standing on the outskirts of Windsor Forest, was a favourite hunting lodge of Charles II. In 1722, the house, after being redesigned by Sir Christopher Wren, seems to have acquired the name Farnborough Place. The summit of the Manor's hill ("Windmill Hill" mentioned in the Domesday Book as worth 10 pence) was chosen by Mr. Thomas Longman, the head of the well-known publishing firm, as the site for his great country manor, replacing a much smaller Georgian house. The plans were entrusted to Henry Edward Kendall, an architect at the height of his career. The current Farnborough Hill, completed in 1863, is generally in the early English domestic style characterised by massed gables, turrets, chimneys, carved stone friezes and ornate woodwork...