OLD ALRESFORD
The parish of Old Alresford covers a long sweep of
rolling country of about 3,671 acres, (fn. 1) generally rising
from south to north, from a height of 200 ft. above
the sea level in the south near the valley of the River
Alre and the village of Old Alresford, to a height of
600 ft. in the north-east near Woodridden Wood.
The arable and pasture land is for the most part in
the west of the parish; the woodland, Upper and
Lower Lanham Copse and Woodridden Wood, lying
away to the north. About two miles south-east of
Old Alresford, in the parish of Bishop's Sutton, the
River Alre 'beginnith of a great Numbre of fair
Sylver Springes,' which 'resorting to a Botom make
a great brode Lak, communely caullid Alsford Pond.' (fn. 2)
This pond, the reservoir from which the Itchen
is for the most part supplied, was formed by Bishop
Godfrey de Lucy towards the end of the twelfth
century in order to render the River Itchen navigable
from Alresford to Winchester as well as from Winchester to Southampton (see under New Alresford).
Entering the parish from New Alresford, immediately
north of the pond, Old Alresford Park stretches to
the east, in the north-west of
which stands Old Alresford
House, best known to fame
from its connexion with Admiral George Brydges Lord
Rodney (1719–92), who considerably enlarged and improved the original house
during his residence. It is a
large white brick mansion
finely situated with its grounds
gradually sloping down to
the lake. Colonel Richard
Norton, 'idle Dick Norton,'
the farmer of the manor of Old Alresford, resided
at Old Alresford House during the Commonwealth, and Oliver Cromwell paid several visits
to him there. In the most westerly corner of the
park, seeming almost to be within its boundaries,
is the church of St. Mary surrounded by a churchyard. A large eighteenth-century house of red brick,
north of the church, was till recently the rectory. It
has lately been sold, and is now known as Old
Alresford Place. The present rectory is a white
building standing east of Old Alresford Place and
opposite Upton House. The main block of houses,
however, is some yards higher up the road,
which rises slightly as it goes north. Here are the
smithy, the village green—an irregularly-shaped plot of
grass, the post office, an iron foundry, and the national
school, built in 1846 by the Onslow family. There is
also a group of almshouses, built to house three destitute couples in 1852 by the Misses Onslow in memory
of their mother. Some yards still further north is an
industrial home (Primitive Methodist), which was in
existence by the middle of the nineteenth century.
Manor Farm lies west of the village, and still further
west, near the Itchen Stoke border line, is Fob Down
Farm. About a quarter of a mile east of the village,
reached by Kiln Lane, which cuts across the fields east
and west, is Upton Hamlet, consisting of a few scattered
farm buildings, and including Upton Farm and Upton
House. The latter was occupied by a younger branch
of the Onslow family during the early nineteenth
century, but is now occupied by Mr. J. F. Christie, J.P.
Rodney, Lord Rodney. Or three eagles purple.
Armsworth tithing covers the north-west corner of
Old Alresford parish. It consists of Armsworth House,
the seat of Mr. Thomas Alderman Houghton, J.P.,
and two or three cottages within Armsworth Park.
The house is a modern building, standing a short distance to the west of the site of an older house, of
which nothing but some outbuildings of comparatively
modern date remains. An upper room in these buildings has for more than seventy years been used as a
chapel, served from Old Alresford, and in it is an altar
table of 1620, with a movable top and carved baluster
legs, formerly in Old Alresford church. In the present house is preserved a very interesting fourteenth-century pix of copper gilt, found on the estate at a
spot called Wield Row, and a set of silver coins of
Mary, Elizabeth, James I, and Charles I, also found
here.
As in New Alresford the principal industry is watercress growing, the best beds lying up stream beside
the Bighton road.
The soil is mainly gravel on the lower levels round
the streams; but higher up it is loam on chalk. The
chief crops are wheat, oats, and turnips.
Parts of the parish of Old Alresford (Nythen
Common) were inclosed in 1801–2. (fn. 3)
The tithe map is with the parish clerk. The
tithes were commuted in 1843 for £747.
The following place-names occur in early records:
Gooseland (fn. 4) (xv cent.), Fysshewareclose, Glen Pytts, (fn. 5)
and Yardmanligh (fn. 6) (xvi cent.), and Pieway, Pingleston
Lane, The Nythyn, (fn. 7) Bishopp's Meade, and The
Cadefeild (fn. 8) (xvii cent.).
MANOR
The manor of OLD ALRESFORD was
included in the grant of the 40 mansae
at Alresford made by Kinewald, king of
the West Saxons, to the church at Winchester. Its
history is given under Alresford Liberty (fn. 9) (q.v.).
A sixteenth-century perambulation of the manor,
preserved at the Public Record Office, (fn. 10) shows what a
large area it covered. 'Beginning at the bridge of
New Alresford at the end of the great weir, and thence
west where the stream runs to the southern angle of
Fobdowne, thence north to the angle of the manor of
Abbottystone near a fulling-mill there, thence east to
Harymsworgate, (fn. 11) and thence north to Bugner
Corner (fn. 12) and thence to the park of Welde, and round
the park east to the common of Weld, thence to
Dedhob, (fn. 13) from Dedhob to Weldbayle, thence …
to Bentworth Holt, thence to Howpenn Corner …
and thence to a certain road near the Dell there …
and then the way stretches south to another angle on
the east of Lister's wood called Ron Downe, and
abutting upon the way opposite Rede Busshes …
and then stretches south between Rede Busshes (fn. 14) on
the west and the common of Chawton on the east
… thence even to a void plot of land called Fowremarkes (fn. 15) near Cookemere and called Fowremarkes
because the four tithings abut together there—Medsted, Ropley, Faryngdon, and Chawton, thence west
… even to the Greane Dene, thence west … to
Gullett Mere (fn. 16) and thence between the land called
Solrydg (fn. 17) on the north and the land of the warden of
New College on the south to the great trench in
Ramscombe wood, (fn. 18) and thence west over Pyewey to
Byckton Down, thence north to the Pounde Post,
thence north to Myll Oke, and from Myll Oke to
Hangyng Beche, and by a lane leading to Layneham
Downe, (fn. 19) and thence west by Bykwodd and Byckton
Feld even to Cokeslane, and by the said lane even to
London wey and over the way to the east of the
Nythen, and thence south to Furdley Dyche Corner,
and thence west on the south of the great pond even
to the bridge where began the perambulation.'
From these boundaries it is clear that the manor comprised the whole of the modern parishes of Old Alresford and Medsted, and part of the parish of Wield.
The bishop derived a large income from his property,
his chief sources of wealth apart from the rents of
assize being the woods and copses, the great pond,
fisheries, and mills.
In the reign of Edward VI woods and copses in the
manor comprised an area of 464 acres made up as
follows: Le Lawnde Copys 30 acres, Great Haywodd
Copys 36 acres, Peked Haywodd Copys 18 acres,
Fyncheley Copys 60 acres, Bradley Copys 7 acres,
Burley Copys 3 acres, Stancombe Wood by Hangyngbeche 34 acres, Little Stancombe by Stancombe Gate
21 acres, Stancombe Hill 81 acres, Le Holte 96 acres,
and Ramscomb 78 acres. (fn. 20) Pannage of pigs in these
woods was an important asset. They were looked
upon as so valuable that the surveyor sent down from
London to survey the whole bailiwick of Bishop's
Sutton previous to its purchase by Sir John Gate in
the reign of Edward VI advises him as follows:
'Thoughe your lordship like not to take the holl bailiwicke, yet I wold you forsooke not Old Alresford and
Sutton for the wodds' sake and the comodities and
gretness that shall ensew to your tenaunts of Ludshett.' (fn. 21)
He adds as a further inducement: 'The tenants at
Alresford have no woods in the lords' woods but by
byinge for their money and otherwyse they do not
medyll there … But the tenants desyre to bye some
nowe or els they shall dye for could this winter.' (fn. 22)
The next source of income, the great pond, increased
the bishop's revenue in various ways. It was his
custom from early times to farm out the reeds and
flags growing in it for 8s. a year. (fn. 23) An additional sum
of £1 6s. 8d. was paid every year for the privilege of
catching eels called 'Srigges' and water-fowl in the
pond. (fn. 24) The fishery in the pond was worth another
£1 a year when it was farmed out. (fn. 25) When the
bishop failed to find a tenant he committed it to the
charge of a servant, who, however, was not allowed to
help himself to the fish, a certain John Colson being
fined heavily in Elizabeth's reign for appropriating
pikes and perches from the pond and giving them to
his friends. (fn. 26)
The bishop also had various other fisheries in the
manor: the fisheries of Boblesham or Bubblesham
and Burrow which were farmed out for 6s. 8d. and
8d. respectively, a fishery from Dean Bridge to Jening's
Mill, and from thence to Broadwater and Mousewater,
which was let with the mill, and a fishery called the
Compe from the Bonte to the Compehole which was
leased together with New Mill. (fn. 27) Other fisheries
mentioned in the deed of sale of Old Alresford manor
to Thomas Hussey in 1648 are the Shittles and a
fishery at Andrewes Mills and from them to the
borough. (fn. 28) These fisheries also indirectly augmented
the bishop's income from the manor, the bailiff of the
borough of New Alresford paying 1s. 4d. every year
for 'lez fysshestalles' in the market place of New
Alresford. (fn. 29) To pass on to the mills, which were
another valuable asset. In 1086 there were no fewer
than nine in the manor of the annual value of
£9 2s. 6d., (fn. 30) and there is frequent mention of mills in
subsequent documents. Of these the most important
were two water corn-mills called Burrowe Mills, two
fulling-mills called Andrewes Mills, a fulling-mill
called Jening's Mill or Jones Mill or Black Mill, a
fulling-mill called the New Mill, and a water-mill
called the Weir Mill, (fn. 31) and in the ministers' accounts
and court rolls there are also mentions of various other
mills the names of which are not given. (fn. 32) In the
course of the seventeenth century the cloth-trade declined, and a hint of this is afforded by an entry in a
court roll of 1612 to the effect that Henry Perrin paid
a fine for licence to destroy an old fulling-mill called
Jening's Mill or Black Mill, and to take the timber
thence to his own use. (fn. 33) About the same time Andrewes
Mills were converted into corn-mills, and consequently
four corn-mills called Burrowe Mills or Town Mills
or Andrewes Mills were included in the sale of Alresford Liberty to Thomas Hussey in 1648. (fn. 34) The lord
of the manor derived a good income from the various
mills, the Town Mills alone being farmed out at £10, (fn. 35)
but he was sometimes forced to disburse a considerable
sum in repairing them, as may be seen from a study
of the various ministers' accounts. For instance, the
farmer of Old Alresford in 1399 gave in great detail
the debts he had incurred in repairing the various
mills, including the hire of four men to bring a new
mill-stone for the mill of the borough from Portsmouth to Alresford. (fn. 36) Only two of these mills now
survive—Weir Mill and a disused fulling-mill built
across the Alre.
CHURCH
The church of OUR LADY was
entirely rebuilt in 1753, a west tower
was added in 1769, and in 1862 the
eighteenth-century work, except as regards the tower,
was Gothicized, and a south transept, north organchamber, and vestry added. As a result the building
is of very little architectural interest, though the tower
is a good specimen of its kind, of red brick with roundheaded western doorway and belfry windows, and
finished with a parapet carrying stone ball finials at
the angles.
The only thing of note in the church is the monument of Mrs. Jane Rodney on the north wall of the
nave, dated 1757, a fine piece of eighteenth-century
work in white marble with figure sculpture. Her
husband afterwards became the famous admiral, Lord
Rodney, and in the church are monuments to the
second and third lords.
There are six bells, by Wells of Aldbourne, dated
1769 and 1770, a tablet on the west face of the tower
recording their casting, as well as the building of the
nave and tower.
The plate comprises an undated seventeenth-century
communion cup and paten, a standing paten of 1679,
a flagon of 1717, and a small bowl of 1845.
The first book of the registers contains baptisms
1556–1727, marriages 1559–1729, and burials 1562–
1701. The second has the burials in woollen, 1678–
1728, and the third runs from 1728 to 1779, the
marriages only to 1752. The fourth and fifth have
baptisms and burials 1780–1812, and the sixth marriages 1754–1812.
ADVOWSON
At the time of the Domesday
Survey there were three churches in
Alresford worth £4 (fn. 37) ; one of these
churches possibly became later the parish church of
Medsted, the other two the parish church of Old
Alresford with the chapelry of New Alresford attached.
The church of Old Alresford with the chapel were of
considerable value at an early date; for in 1291 they
were valued at £26 13s. 4d., (fn. 38) in 1340 the ninths
came to £8 16s. 4d., (fn. 39) and by 1535 the rectory of
Old Alresford alone was valued at £50. (fn. 40)
The advowson of St. Mary's Church at Old Alresford has always been in the hands of the bishop of
Winchester. The living is now a rectory in the gift
of the bishop.
Peter Heylyn, the distinguished theologian and
historian, became rector of Old Alresford in 1633.
He lived at New Alresford, and while there was a
good friend to smiths and carpenters, saying that 'he
loved the noise of a workman's hammer, for he thought
it a deed of charity as well as to please his own fancy
by often building and repairing to set poor people a
work and encourage painful artificers and tradesmen
in their honest callings.' (fn. 41) At the time of the Commonwealth he was voted a delinquent, and his goods,
chattels and livings sequestered, but in 1662 he was
restored to his living. He died, however, shortly
afterwards. Another distinguished rector was the
poet and dramatist John Hoadly, (fn. 42) youngest son of
Benjamin Hoadly, bishop of Winchester, who was
presented to the living in 1737.
CHARITIES
In 1642 John Pinth gave £10,
and John Edgur (date unknown)
gave £10 for the use of the poor.
The two gifts were united, and by accumulations
amounted in 1822 to £30, which was laid out towards
building two tenements, in respect of which 30s. a
year is distributed in half-crowns to indigent persons.
In 1705 Christopher Perin by his will devised
17 perches of land and cottages thereon for the occupation of poor widows. The cottages are let at weekly
rents to poor persons, and after payment of rates,
insurance, and repairs, about £2 10s. a year is distributed among the poor.
In 1886, 1 a. or. 24 p. and buildings thereon, was
conveyed to trustees for the establishment of an institution for the orphans of Primitive Methodists and
others. In the event of the determination of this
trust, the trustees are empowered to sell the premises
and apply the proceeds for the benefit of the Connexion.