ABSTRACT
The story of the Diggers’ attempt to set up their commune on St George’s Hill is well known, but perhaps less attention has been paid to the second episode in their history, which was enacted out wholly in the parish of Cobham. This essay explores the Diggers’ – and in particular Winstanley’s – connections with Cobham, both before and after the digging on the Little Heath. In a postscript John Gurney challenges the idea, almost universally held so far by Winstanley scholars, that the Digger leader chose to come to Cobham in 1643, following the collapse of his business venture in London, on account of his father-in-law holding property there.
