EAST STRATTON
Strattone (x cent.); Eastratton (xii cent.).
The parish of East Stratton, containing nearly
1,997 acres of land, lies immediately east of Micheldever, on ground which rises generally from a height
of 296 ft. above the ordnance datum in the south
to nearly 400 ft. in the north.
The main road from Winchester to London, following for the most part the course of the old Roman
road, enters the parish north of Micheldever Wood,
and about half a mile on, near one of the main
entrances to Stratton Park, the seat of Lord Northbrook, sends off a branch road east towards the
village. Thence it continues north and uphill
towards Popham, running for a distance of nearly two
miles along the western border of the well-wooded
grounds of Stratton Park, and forming the western
boundary of the parish. Stratton Park is indeed the
chief feature of the parish, with its long stretch of
woodland thickening towards the north, where
Embley and Biddles Wood lead on to Rownest and
College Woods, outside the northern boundary of
East Stratton.
The narrow road that branches east to the village
runs for about half a mile over level ground between
the low wooden fence which bounds the southern
stretch of the Stratton Park estate, and over which
glimpses can be caught of the house and grounds,
and the low hedges which encircle the arable lands
lying away to the south. Then as it reaches the
modern church which stands north opposite East
Stratton farm it suddenly faces some picturesque
thatched cottages and branches north and south, the
branch to the south leading past groups of thatched
cottages and the Plough Inn, which lies to the right
towards Northington. That to the north sweeps
sharply down past groups of thatched cottages which
stand behind low brick walls and bright cottage
gardens, to a low iron fence and gate which leads
across the park to Stratton House. The descent is so
steep that a brick gutter to carry off the surplus rainwater has been devised down the east side of the street,
and this being edged by short grass, and being crossed
before each house by a narrow stone plank, forms one
of the most distinctive characteristics. The parsonage
house is on the west side of the road, but since the
living is a chapelry annexed to Micheldever
vicarage, the vicar resides at Micheldever. The
village school, built in 1850, stands at the bottom of
the village just inside the park, east of the high stone
cross which marks the site of the original church.
Stratton House is a comparatively modern building,
with a central block having a tall Doric portico and
wings at either end. The portico is of stone, but the
rest of the house is mainly of plastered brickwork,
and dates from the time of Sir Francis Baring, who
bought the estate in 1801. Part of one wing is,
however, of greater age, and is said to date from the
latter part of the seventeenth century, and to have
been inhabited by the ill-fated William Lord Russell,
but no details of his time remain.
The great interest of the house lies in its pictures,
although some of the best are in Lord Northbrook's
London house. Two large paintings by Vandyck of
Queen Henrietta Maria with the dwarf Sir Jeffrey
Hudson, and of the earl of Newbury are among the
best, but there are some good landscapes by Claude
and Crome, and a long set of portraits, including
Warren Hastings, Nelson, and Gibbon, as well as the
well-known painting of the brothers Baring. In the
dining-room, where are the two Vandyck pictures, is
a painting by Reynolds of a sleeping girl, and a vast
and ambitious view of the Fire of London by
Loutherbourg, dated 1797; and a large collection
of water-colours by Edward Lear, author of the
Book of Nonsense, is preserved in the house. The
stable court and offices lie at the back of the old
wing, and the flower garden comes up to the house
on two sides, the land rising fairly quickly behind.
The soil being shallow, trees do not reach perfection,
but there are many fine oaks, beeches, yews, &c., an
avenue of trees showing the line of the old high road,
which was diverted westward when Sir Francis Baring
was improving his newly-purchased property.
The soil of the whole parish is clay and chalk, with
a subsoil of chalk with Woolwich and Reading beds
immediately south of the village. Thus the chief
crops on the 622 acres of arable land are wheat,
barley, oats, and turnips. With the exception of
Dodsley Wood in the south of the parish, the 352
acres of woodland are comprised in Stratton Park and
the woods adjoining. There are 344 acres of permanent grass in the parish. There is no inclosure
award.
MANOR
EAST STRATTON was granted with
West Stratton to the New Minster c.
900, the two being then assessed at 9
hides. (fn. 1) It formed part of the portion of the prior and
convent, and as such was not taken into the king's
hands on the voidances of the abbey. (fn. 2) The lands
were apparently held of the abbey in small parcels;
for instance, in the thirteenth century one free tenant
held 3 virgates there, another ½ a virgate, and a third
1½ virgates. (fn. 3) The grange or manor-house was leased
with the demesne lands from time to time, the lessees
in 1539 being Robert Clerke and Walter and William
his sons, who rented it at £8 13s. 4d. At the same
time the perquisites of the court only amounted to 9d. (fn. 4)
After the surrender of Hyde Abbey the manor was
seized by the crown and sold in 1544 to Edmund
Clerke, one of the clerks of the Privy Seal, and his
wife Margaret, (fn. 5) from whom it was purchased in 1546
by Sir Thomas Wriothesley, earl of Southampton. (fn. 6)
Its descent has since been coincident with that of
Micheldever manor. The last earl of Southampton
made Stratton Park one of his chief seats, and his son-in-law, Lord Russell, pulled down part of the hamlet
and added it to his deer park. (fn. 7)
BURCOT'S FARM
BURCOT'S FARM, which lies on the road from
East Stratton to Northington, is evidently identical
with 'Burcote,' which Edward the Elder granted to the
New Minster c. 900. At that time there were 4½
hides attached to the holding. (fn. 8) Perhaps, therefore, it
was at Burcot that Waleran the Huntsman held his
4½ hides of the abbey's demesne lands in 1086. (fn. 9) In
1199 Adam of Burcot held 1 hide in Burcot, the
service from which was in dispute between Roger de
Seures and Walter de Audeli and the abbot of Hyde. (fn. 10)
Adam's nephews and heirs John of Burcot and Adam
of Repling held respectively 2½ virgates and 1½ virgates
of land in Burcot. In 1249 Hamo de Basing assured
them in their tenure of these lands, for which they owed
him certain rent. (fn. 11) Nicholas of Burcot in 1277 granted
to the abbey of Hyde an annual rent of 1½d. from the
master and brothers of St. John, Winchester, to hold
for a yearly rent of a rose to John (sic) of Burcot, (fn. 12)
and finally released all his claims to the abbot. (fn. 13)
Before 1373 Burcot had passed to John Hampton in
marriage with a certain Thomasine. At that date he
brought a suit against Sir William Cobham and his
wife Alice and others for disseisin of two-thirds of a
messuage and certain lands in Northington, Swarraton,
and Totford. It was decided that the tenement in
question was Burcot, 'quedam mansio infra villam de
Northampton,' and that John Hampton and his wife
had been unjustly dispossessed of it, in consequence of
which they recovered seisin against Sir William
Cobham. (fn. 14) The later descent of the farm is unknown.
CHURCH
The church of ALL SAINTS was
begun in 1873 to take the place of the old
church in the park, now removed, by the
earl of Northbrook and the Hon. Francis Baring. It is
in fifteenth-century style, from designs by T.G. Jackson,
in chalk faced with flint with Chilmark stone dressings, and consists of chancel, nave, north aisle with
arcade of four bays, vestry, organ chamber, south
porch, and tower on the north, finished with a
spire.
There is a modern ring of bells.
The plate consists of a communion cup and paten,
silver-gilt, of 1709, and a silver paten, flagon, and almsdish.
The registers are incorporated with those of Micheldever from 1540 down to 1813, but the following
registers of earlier date are kept here: a book of
baptisms, marriages, and burials 1719–1809, a burial
book 1719–28, and a marriage book for 1760–1812.
Till 1888 all burials took place in Micheldever
churchyard.
ADVOWSON
The church of All Saints is a
chapel attached to Micheldever and
in the same gift. There was a separate chapel here at the time of the appropriation of
Micheldever church to Hyde Abbey. (fn. 15)
An iron building is used as a Primitive Methodist
chapel.