Articles
The History of A.H. Conisbee
Then and now - The Living history of our village
The Conisbee family had Surrey connections from the 18th century and several of the family were butchers. In 1861 the 1st Earl of Lovelace built a shop at Park Corner, Horsley, which the Conisbees occupied but it was not their first butcher's shop in East Horsley and apparently they already had shops at Effingham and Ripley. We certainly know from Kelly's Directory that there was a shop in Ripley from 1905. The property was known for many years as Aberdeen House but nobody knows why - it is possible the name came from Aberdeen Angus.
Although there is some doubt as to whether Conisbee's was there continuously, what we do know is that it closed as retail butchers in 1997 but still sold meat to the trade until its final closure. It has now reopened as a dog grooming business and a vets’ practice.
The premises next door to Conisbee's had once been Lacy's, an antique shop and a cycle shop which burnt down with two fatalities. In recent years these premises haves housed a kitchen business, Goodrich Meech estate agents, now Wills and Smerdon, and a barbers.
