Cranleigh is a village and civil parish, about 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Guildford in Surrey, England. It lies on a minor road east of the A281, which links Guildford with Horsham. It is in the north-west corner of the Weald, a large remnant forest, the main local remnant being Winterfold Forest directly north-west on the northern Greensand Ridge.

Until the mid-1860s, the place was usually spelt Cranley. The Post Office persuaded the vestry to use "-leigh" to avoid misdirections to nearby Crawley in West Sussex. The older spelling is publicly visible in the Cranley Hotel. The name is recorded in the Pipe Rolls as Cranlea in 1166 and Cranelega in 1167. A little later in the Feet of Fines of 1198 the name is written as Cranele. Etymologists consider all these versions to be the fusion of the Old English words "Cran", meaning "crane", and "Leoh" that together mean 'a woodland clearing visited by cranes'. The name is popularly believed to come from imputed large crane-breeding grounds at the Anglo-French named Vachery Pond, often locally known as Vachery. The figure of a crane adorns the old drinking water fountain of 1874 in 'Fountain Square' in the middle of the village. A pair of cranes adorn the crest of the 21st century granted coat of arms of Cranleigh Parish Council.

Winterfold House, north-east of the village along Barhatch Lane, was built in 1886 for Richard Webster QC, afterwards Viscount Alverstone. He became Lord Chief Justice in 1900 and died in 1915. A bench in the woodland above the house is known as 'Lord Justice Seat'.

The house was then bought by Charles Armytage-Moore, founder partner in the stockbrokers Buckmaster & Moore. He reconstructed the main facade in Queen Anne style, and enhanced the gardens with rare rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas and magnolias. One particular red-flowered species (Rhododendron barbatum Wallich ex G. Don 1834) won an Award of Merit when exhibited by Winterfold House in 1934. During World War II Winterfold was requisitioned by the Government and used by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) as a training school designated STS 4. Amongst the many recruits that attended Winterfold were Violette Szabo GC.

Armytage-Moore died in 1960. The house was sold to HRH Prince Carol of Romania. It achieved notoriety by being searched for evidence after the Great Train Robbery of 1963, but nothing was found. The house and estate of 212 acres was sold in 18 lots at auction in 1978.