A
Brief History of the Village
Medieval
Times
| |
The
name Hartley Wintney was recorded in the 13th
century as Hertleye Wynteneye which means “the
clearing in the forest where the deer graze by Winta’s
island”. Winta was probably a Saxon
who owned the island in the marshes where a priory
of Cistercian nuns was founded in the middle of
the 12th
Century.
There
is no evidence of there being any Roman settlement
here before Saxon times, although there were Roman
settlements not far away at Odiham and Silchester.
Before Roman times the area was probably fairly
heavily wooded with a lake and a marshy area.
A small settlement around a wooden church in the
vicinity of St Mary’s Church would possibly
have existed in Saxon times. A deer park,
which stretched from Odiham to the outskirts of
the settlement and to the north, was used for 600
years by Royalty and others for hunting and the
wood was used for fuel. |
|
| |
There
is no evidence of there being any Roman settlement
here before Saxon times, although there were Roman
settlements not far away at Odiham and Silchester.
Before Roman times the area was probably fairly heavily
wooded with a lake and a marshy area. A small
settlement around a wooden church in the vicinity
of St Mary’s Church would possibly have existed
in Saxon times. A deer park, which stretched
from Odiham to the outskirts of the settlement and
to the north, was used for 600 years by Royalty and
others for hunting and the wood was used for fuel.
|
|
| |
The
Village would have been included in the Hundred
of Odiham in the Domesday Book of 1086 (a record
of the Great Inquisition of lands of England made
by the order of William the Conqueror).
It was part of King Harold’s royal
estate at Odiham and after 1066 it became King William’s
land.
In
medieval times Odiham was a settlement of some size
and importance. About
100 years after the conquest the lands comprising
Hartley Wintney became a separate manor owned by
the Fitz-Peters family; this conquest.
This family subsequently gave land to the
Cistercians to found a Priory of Nuns.
The
Priory was located on a marshy island near the River
Hart close to where the M3 now passes and was within
walking distance of the of the Church (St Mary’s);
today only the Barn remains visible.
It was a farming and contemplative community,
and although a daughter house of Waverley Abbey,
Farnham, in practice the Bishops of Winchester would
have been responsible for the Priory.
Monasticism was popular in the 12th
century and several nunneries were founded in order
to have masses said for departed souls.
The Priory then acquired more land from the
de Bendengs of Elvetham and the Herriards of Winchfield.
The nuns would have been responsible for
seeing to the needs of travellers and may
have run the old Lamb Inn, which catered for those
journeying to and from the south and the west country.
St Mary’s Church was probably built
around 1254 but has had subsequent additions.
The settlement had obvious
geographical importance being strategically placed
on the routes from Reading and Windsor to the Royal
Palace at Odiham and to Winchester.
King John would have ridden through this
area on his way to sign the Magna Carta in 1215.
Hartley Wintney would, at this time and for
the next 300 years, have been a typical mediaeval
village with open fields clustered around St Mary’s
Church, Dilly Pond and the manor barn.
The Priory was dissolved in 1536. |
|
| |
Tudor
period
 Henry
VIII came to Elvetham in 1535 to visit Jane Seymour,
who was Anne Boleyn’s maid of honour.
Anne Boleyn was beheaded the following year
and Jane Seymour became Queen of England.
Queen
Elizabeth visited Elvetham in 1591 and was
entertained by the Earl of Hertford, who had previously
been out of favour at court for marrying
the sister of Lady Jane Grey.
Elvetham was the adjacent parish to Hartley
Wintney although the two are now combined. |
|
| |
Civil
War
During the Civil War (1642-51),
the Roundheads had headquarters at Hartford Bridge
and the whole areas saw much action during this turbulent
time.
|
|
| |
18th
Century
 This
was a time of peace and Hartley Wintney became
prosperous with tenant farms replacing the open
fields. The coaching route from London to
the West allowed various trades to flourish, housing
was built along the coach road and this area became
known as Hartley Row. A tollgate was established
on the turnpike road at Phoenix Green in 1755
by the Alton and Odiham Turnpike Trust.
The Hartley Wintney Cricket Club was formed in
1770 and continues to play on one of the oldest
greens in the country.
19th
Century and Victorian Era
Hunts
Common was the site for big annual fairs which continued
until World War 1; the site now accommodates the
Community Orchard planted in November 2000.
During this century Lady St John Mildmay
of Dogmersfield had the Oak trees planted on the
commons to provide wood for building the ships for
the Royal Navy: fortunately the wood was never needed.
The
London and Southeastern Railway arrived at Winchfield
in 1838. This posed
a threat to the coach trade but new industries and
shops were established and sustained by the increasing
population. Hartley
Row flourished with shops on either side of the
main road. There was
a brewery (now converted into offices) and a tanyard,
schools and chapels were built to cater for the
incoming population and the Golf Club was originally
started for employees of the Elvetham Estate in
1884.
Unfortunately
the new prosperity was not for everyone and the
Union Workhouse was built on the site of the present
golf course. Gas works
were built in 1861 in Hares Lane and the village
had its own water supply until the early 1950s which
was reckoned to be responsible for the good health
of the inhabitants.
|
|
| |
20th
Century
The
1939-45 war saw great changes and upheavals in the
village with properties being requisitioned for
war purposes; troops were billeted in the village
and the Victoria Hall was used as a Red Cross Centre.
The gas works and the brewery closed and
the first council estates were built to enable young
local residents to remain living in the village.
It
is interesting to note that in 1945, there were
nine grocers, seven milkmen, six bakers, three butchers,
two tailors, one chemist, four general stores, one
hardware shop, one general newsagent, one dairy,
eight pubs and three Post Offices (Hartley Wintney,
West Green and Phoenix Green).
There was also a ladies and children’s
outfitters and wool shop together with a café
and hairdresser. The
village had two policemen and a fire brigade.
The Church of St John the Evangelist was
built in 1870 and in 1945 the old Church of St Mary’s
was only occasionally used.
There was a Methodist Chapel, a Baptist Chapel
and a further Methodist Chapel at West Green where
the Mission Church of St George was erected in 1914.
The population at that time was between 2300
and 2500: currently the adult population is nearly
4000. |
|
| |
21st
Century
Hartley
Wintney retains its essentially rural character
and continues to support groups and organisations
to which you can find links within the website.
This
history of Hartley Wintney is, by necessity, extremely
brief although it is hoped is provide more comprehensive
information in the near future.
-
Further
information can be found in a booklet “The
Old Village of Hartley Wintney” by David
Gorsky published by the Hartley Wintney Preservation
Society which is currently out of print but
a copy is held at Fleet Library.
-
The
County Records Office in Winchester 01962 846154
is able to provide information on the records
it holds for the village.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
.
.
.
.
