Village Photo Calendar 2021

The Tithe Map of 1844 shows fourteen parcels of land (with buildings) in Church Street between the river and the Church, with nine of these being on the side opposite the Rectory – today only three! No 28 Church Street, built in 1516, is of late mediaeval construction with three bays. It is one of three dwellings in the village built during the life of the Abbey. The present-day St. Peter & Holy Cross church was built in 1858. It replaced an earlier Norman church and is constructed of flint and Bath stone. The architect was Henry Woodyer, using local builder Mr Holdway. Construction was sponsored by the Iremonger family, descendants of whom maintain a family Mausoleum within the churchyard. The Church has a peal of 5 bells dating from 1707.

Old Inn Cottage, Chilbolton

The Common was sold to Chilbolton Parish Council by the Church Commissioners in 1954. The conveyance states “in consideration of the sum of £50 firstly all those pieces of common land containing an area of 48.422 acres or thereabouts and known as the Village Green and Chilbolton Common and secondly all or any other pieces of waste or commonable land situate within the said Parish of Chilbolton. The stretch of Common in front of the original New Inn (now Old Inn Cottage) was the village cricket pitch. One of the last publicans was Mr. Thomas Waterman. The Inn was sold at public auction in 1926 as a private residence. In 1922, Strong & Co. of Romsey purchased the site of today’s Public House, on land where the former post office and blacksmith’s shop stood. This second ‘New Inn’ became the Abbots Mitre in 1969.

The Mayfly Inn, Testcombe

Thomas Strong leased (1858) and then purchased (1875) a brewery at The Horse Fair, Romsey, together with 23 licensed houses. When Thomas Strong died in 1886, his executors sold the business to David Faber. Strong & Co of Romsey Ltd, first registered in 1894, progressively acquired breweries and public houses in Hampshire and neighbouring counties, including the Weyhill Brewery where brewing may have survived as late as 1926. In 1955 Strong & Co became an associated company of the Whitbread Group, leading to a complete takeover in 1968 and cessation of brewing at Romsey in 1981. Inn Keepers at the Seven Stars were George Fifield (1851), William Fifield (1861), Jacob Neville (1871 & 1881), William Webb (1891 & 1901) and George Hayes (1911). The Inn became ‘The Mayfly’ in the late 1970’s; Barry and Julie Lane took over from Julie Tuckett in 1986 and retired in 2018, when it became managed by Fuller’s.

19 & 20 High Street, Cherry Tree and War Memorial, Wherwell

Stretching back 100 years, Wherwell boasted three general stores, a forge, two cobblers, a laundry, two public houses, two general builders, a tea shop, dispensary and midwife, and two coal merchants. The shop, pub and post office in the High Street was run by Mr & Mrs Alfred Olliff. Beer was supplied by Simmonds Brewery; the public house part closed in 1949.  The cottage opposite, on the curve, has been used for a mixture of trades – butchers, crockery and finally a shoe shop. The War Memorial is triangular and records names from both Great Wars; on the North face those who died, on the other two faces those who served. The Cherry tree, now felled, marks the site of an original massive ‘Pound Tree’, with hollow trunk, which was felled in 1956.

West Mill and the Long Bridge

At the time of the Domesday Survey, there were three water mills in Wherwell, worth 27s. 6d. Nothing remains of West Mill but the other two, East Mill (in Mill Lane) and Fullerton Mill, still boast their water wheels. West Mill cottage was built circa 1750; the Ford and the Drovers’ route to the east, mark that which was an important crossing of the river Test.

Nicholas and Mary Grey have lived there for 22 years and observe “It is striking how the islands have established themselves during the past 100 years and the willow trees tower high into the sky. The snipe and the woodcock are with us no longer but other birds perch on the long bridge – a flash of blue green announces the kingfisher; egrets, swans, ducks and the regal grey heron are all part of the vibrant river life. The dawn chorus is as vocal as ever.”

Chilbolton Post Office and Shop

Chilbolton is on the list of Hampshire Post Offices that were open in 1845. Since then, Mr. Henry Child (1855) was wheelwright, carpenter, Postmaster and Shopkeeper; William John Olliff (1875) was carpenter Postmaster and Grocer; Mr. Frederick Annell (1899) was Postmaster and shopkeeper; Mr. George Stanley (1907) was Postmaster and shopkeeper; Mr. William Rose (1911); Mr Robert Hunt (1919); Bruce & Molly Hunt (1942).  The village’s first telephone exchange (numbers 1 to 20) was in the sitting room with batteries kept in the wood shed. There were nineteen subscribers because nobody would accept ‘13′.  The automatic exchange was opened in 1929.

Shepherds’ Cottage, Winchester Corner, Wherwell

Shepherds’ Cottage was originally two dwellings with five bedrooms and two staircases, and was converted into a single cottage c1975. Many village families have lived here. In the 1930’s, Mr & Mrs Parker with two sons; in the 1940’s Nan West, the village midwife, with three daughters and brother Sam Elkins; in the 1950’s Jim Halford, who married one of Nan’s daughters; in the 1960’s Ernie and Rita Rowles lived next door to Ted and Rose Nutley. Shepherds’ Cottage, owned for over 25 years by Audrey Hansford, a well-known local artist, is famed for its superb display of roses and has appeared on the cover of Country Life magazine.

Testcombe, Coley Lane, Chilbolton

Testcombe stands on land granted by Athelstan (895-940) King of the Mercians, to the Abbey of Winchester. The first recorded event is 1776, when John Baverstock acquired the copyhold. Edward Silva, a Portuguese wine merchant, bought the house in 1884. The present house, an Arts and Crafts building of Early Tudor style with brick and ½-timber, was built in 1893 after a devastating fire. The architect was William Caroe (1857-1938) who at the same time designed Room Cottages for estate workers. When Edward Silva died in 1899, ownership passed to wife Marion (1845-1925) and then daughter Marion Grace (1876-1963) who in 1897 had married MP Coningsby Ralph Disraeli (1867-1936) the nephew of British Prime Minister Benjamin  Disraeli.

Poplar Dene, Cart Lane, Chilbolton

Centuries old Grazing Rights were confirmed in the 1838 Inclosure Award. A total of 38 cattle was awarded to eight farms, which included plots 156 (Poplar Farm – shown green), larger plot 100 (Penton’s Farm) with smaller plot 96 (Abbot’s Farm) adjoining, together with plots 147 (Goater’s Farm) and 153 (Durnford Farm) to the north and plot 165 (Bury Farm) to the south. In 1972, none of the holders of these grazing rights had any cattle to graze. Thus, a village meeting decided the future management of Chilbolton Cow Common was best served by letting the grazing to a farmer from outside the parish. At auction in 1895, Poplar Farm was described as “a Freehold farm comprising a six-bedroom farmhouse with adjoining stable, barns, coach house and piggery, together with two comfortable cottages  with  gardens  embracing  an  area  of  98  acres”.

Bickerstaffe, Wherwell

Bickerstaffe was built in the early 1970’s as a bee-keepers dwelling, on a plot of land which includes the track bed of the branch line between Fullerton and Hurstbourne Junction. In 1909 there were five daily return trips (Whitchurch to Fullerton, approx 20 minutes) and one goods trip – with no Sunday service. The railway was converted to single track in 1913. Passenger trips were reduced to 3 per day in 1920, until the last passenger train in 1931 – after only 46 years of service. During WWII the line was used for evacuating wounded troops from Southampton to the Midlands and to service a munitions store ‘hidden’ in Harewood Forest. Surplus bombs were removed in the early 1950’s by trains travelling at ‘walking pace’ under the cover of darkness. The last train left Longparish  on  28^th  May  1956  behind  T9  class  locomotive  30288.

Primitive Methodist Chapel and Aldings, Wherwell

Like many Hampshire villages, Wherwell had two chapels – a Primitive Methodist (1887 to 1954) and a Wesleyan Methodist (built 1846). The chapel in Fullerton Road benefited from the devoted service of the Lewis family; Mr Louis Lewis was Chapel Steward and Sunday School Superintendent, Mrs Sarah Lewis lovingly cared for the chapel. Their only son Jim, who died a prisoner-of-war in Thailand, was chapel Organist. Aldings was formerly a pair of mid C18^th cottages, with thick rendered walls and thatched roof. It was one dwelling in the mid C20^th when owned by Mrs Watson, who jointly with Paul Jewitt wrote the first Wherwell Pageant in 1936. Sir Percy Orde (1889 –1975) & Lady Eileen Orde (1898 – 1998),  parents  of  Diana  Dyer,  moved  into  Aldings in  1958.

Freelands, Wherwell

The Freelands Estate was formerly several pieces and parcels of meadow or pasture owned variously by Richard Stanbrook, Richard Holdway, Sarah Fisher and William Iremonger. Freelands House was built in 1878 and ownership passed to the Hon. Kenelm Pleydell-Bouverie in 1889. In ‘Country Life‘ (1949) Freelands was described as “a pleasantly situated country residence sitting in attractive grounds with ½ mile trout fishing, six bedrooms, four reception rooms, two bathrooms, convenient offices, main electricity, excellent water supply, stabling and garage with rooms over, boathouse, orchard, paddock, rough grazing and woodland, five cottages, in all 32 acres”. The parents and descendants of Sir Anthony and Emilia Tuke lived at Freelands from 1950 to 2018.