This village lies to the North East of Alton, Holybourne with its Saxon Church, lies near the possible site of the Roman posting station (Mansio) of Vindomi, believed to be at the crossing of two Roman roads - Winchester to London and Silchester to Chichester (ref Roman Britain). Some say that the name Holybourne was derived from the fact that a fresh water spring is situated in the churchyard almost opposite the west door of the church. The spring and stream are now culverted for 30 to 40 yards to the village pond and is a tributary to the River Wey, just to the south of the village. Wild watercress can be found growing in the lower part of the stream.

In medieval times the area of Holybourne lay in three manors, Holybourne Eastbrook, Alton Westbrook and 'Neatham'. Manor farm was the demesne farm of the manor of Holybourne Eastbrook which also had holdings east and west of the brook. The large manor of Alton Westbrook included the tithing of Holybourne Westbrook as well as the tithing of Alton Westbrook and sub-manors of Kingsley, South Hey, Mill Court and Rotherfield. Neatham was a separate manor which had holdings in Holybourne and Binsted. It was not until 1579 under Robert White of Aldershot that Holybourne Eastbrook and Holybourne Westbrook came into the same hands. Neatham manor still held property in the area of Holybourne until the end of the manorial system in the early 1900s.

The village also stands on the old coaching road from London to Southampton, now mercifully by-passed, and is served well by the nearby market town of Alton which boasts two supermarkets, a range of shops and restaurants as well as a weekly market in the High St. While Holybourne still nestles quietly in the valley it continues to progress into the 21st century. Over the last 30 years the population has steadily expanded from 500 to 1500 and Holybourne has moved from its position as a temporary 'stopping place' to that of an ideal commuter village while retaining its village identity and its sense of history.

Village life for many years has, and still is, centered on the church, the village shop with its Post Office, the White Hart and The Queens Head public houses, and the village hall. Recreation for the younger generation may be found in the large playground, for others the village boasts a successful village cricket team, which plays near the old Roman settlement, and the amateur Holybourne Theatre. The Theatre originally started in a Nissen hut in the old German Prisoner of War camp during WWII. For the more active, there is an extensive network of old footpaths that linked the local villages and farms running amongst the beautiful rolling fields and woodlands, which more often than not, still lead to another village and its local hostelry or hostelries!

Travel an hour away brings cities such as London, Winchester, Portsmouth and Southampton within reach. Portsmouth, with major attractions such as Admiral Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory, Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose, and the Naval and Submarine museums. Winchester with its Cathedral and King Arthur's 'Round Table' ( Henry VIII had it made!) and London, which needs no introduction! In the immediate vicinity we find Jane Austen's house, the Watercress Line which took its name from supplying London Hotels with fresh Watercress, Selborne Hangar and the Gilbert White museum.

http://www.roman-britain.org/places/neatham.htm

Holybourne probably came into being both because of its location near a spring and because it was situated by trackways created from prehistoric times.

Stone axes have survived as confirmation of the hunting activities of Stone Age people in this area. There is also the existence of Dicket's Plantation hillfort which dates from the Iron Age, on Holybourne Down. Today there is still evidence of Iron Age constructions on Holybourne Down. It is also likely that due to the Celts' veneration of water sources, the area near the church may well have been the site of a Celtic shrine.

The Romans were our next guests, probably establishing a Roman Army posting station near Cuckoo's Corner. If it was a posting station, it is thought it could have been a settlement named Vindomi, as reported in the Antonine Itinerary XV. Calleva (Silchester) to Vindomis was 15 Roman miles; Vindomi to Venta Belgarum (Winchester) was 21 Roman miles. A Roman mile comes from the Latin phrase "milia passuum" (MP), a thousand paces which is about 1618 yards and approximately 0.9 of a modern mile.

Evidence has been found of a Romano-British civilian settlement in the form of post holes, ovens, wells, pits, bronze smelting works, a flint bath house and cremation burials and was probably a 'small settlement'; however, little physical evidence can be seen today!

With the influence of the Celts and Romans dying out, the Saxon influence came to the fore. There is very little information on how Holybourne faired during this time although evidence of a couple of grubenhaus, of the late 5th/early 6th centuries, were found within the area of the Romano-British settlement. (grubenhaus literally translated as 'pit-house' - A timber building based around a sunken hollow, the floor of which may have been suspended above the hollow to counteract dampness.)

With the victory of William the Conqueror, the fate of Holybourne lay in Royal hands, as the King owned everything in England! When the Domesday Book was written, in 1086, Holybourne lay in the Neatham Hundred. Much of the settlement was part of the manor that became known as Alton Westbrook but one hide had been granted to Wulfward by King Edward the Confessor. By 1086 though, this holding was in the hands of King William himself.

The Domesday description reads:

'In Neatham Hundred - The King himself holds Holybourne. Wulfward held it from King Edward. Then and now (it answered) for 1 hide. Land for 4 ploughs. In lordship ½ plough; 6 villagers and 4 smallholders with 1 plough. 1 slave; meadow 5 acres; woodland for fencing; 1 pig from pasturage. Value before 1066 and now, 50s; when acquired 40s'

There is also an additional Holybourne entry in Domesday that was added, possibly as an after thought, to the entries of the New Forest.

'In Neatham Hundred - Godwin held Worldham before 1066; it paid tax for 1 hide and 1 virgate. In the same Hundred, Godwin also held Holybourne; it paid tax for 2 hides. Land for 2 ploughs. The worth of both lands 40s.'

The meaning of the latter entry is not yet clear but it would seem that the first entry is most likely to have been the part of Holybourne that later became known as the Manor of Holybourne Eastbrook. In the notes of the Philimore edition of 'Domesday Book' it says the 'a hide' was a unit of land measurement, either of productivity, of extent, or of tax liability, and containing four virgates. Administrators attempted to standardize the hide to 120 acres, but hides of widely differing extents are found in different areas. In hideage and value, the Holybourne entry is similar to that of Will Hall in Alton. The six villagers and 4 smallholders would have had their own dwellings in which they and their families lived. The slave would have been landless and have worked full-time on the lord's land. The meadow would have been in the bottom of the valley - probably near the River Wey.

In 1303 John de Westcote acquired a messuage (a house and the ground around it), a carucate of land (equivalent to a hide) and rents in Holybourne and La Holte of (i.e. from) William Connyn, the previous owner. The inclusion of the rents shows that the property had tenants and so was a manor. The description seems to fit the manor that was described in the first Domesday entry for Holybourne and so he seems to have become Lord of the Manor of Holybourne Eastbrook.

In the late 1300s, the manor of Holybourne Eastbrook was held by Gilbert Banbury, who probably lived there. There is no record of his occupation, but he and Thomas Bochard had acquired property, including a workshop, in the market area of Alton in 1377. Gilbert's daughter, Johanna, inherited Holybourne when her father died. By then she had married Bernard Brocas of the Brocas of Beaurepaire and Roche Court family. Johanna was succeeded by another Bernard Brocas, who was probably her stepson. He died in 1459 and the properties passed to his son, yet another Bernard (no lack of imagination in those days!!). He placed his estates in trust in 1460/1, possibly due to the uncertainties of the War of the Roses. When he died unmarried a few years later, William Brocas inherited. He also died without a direct heir.

There are many more records from manorial records and rentals for Holybourne Westbrook that may yield further information for this period but that research and recording on this site is work still to be done. Two family names mentioned in documents of 1369 and 1387 are familiar to our village today; that of Goodchild, whose ancestor was a Richard Goodchild ordained in 1369, and the second is the Milward family.

Around the mid to late 16^th century, a small treble bell, cast in a foundry at Wokingham, inscribed "Ave Maria", was hung in Holybourne church tower and is still in use today. A second bell was added in 1600 and inscribed "Our hope is in the Lord R.E. 1600" (RE stands for Richard Eldridge). A third bell, a tenor bell, was added in 1728

There are however, about ten family names with potentially a long village tradition entered in the church records. The first surviving record of marriage was for a Wilan Stascy and Sarey, his wife in 1692, and the family history continued to appear in church registers up until the time of Caroline Stacey who was buried in Holybourne churchyard in 1957. Likewise the Mapey family is among those with a lengthy village history, appearing in the church registers since 1692. There was also a group of Quakers in the village. In the 'Compton census' of 1676, there were said to be 135 conformists and 16 non-conformists in Holybourne. The 'Book of Sufferings' tells about what the Quakers had taken from them when they would not pay their tithes or pay towards the 'stepple house'.

While the downland was cleared and gradually enclosed, agriculture developed around Neatham and Holybourne with the consequent development of the local cottage industries. A major crop, which started to appear in Hampshire and Surrey in the mid sixteenth century, was the 'hop', which spawned other industries such much later 'sack spinning'. Up until the mid-twentieth century hops were still grown in abundance in this area. Several local properties included malthouses, kilns or brewhouses. Another local industry was that of 'wooden rake' making taking place in a cottage known 'Mapeys' and the home of the Forders. The Forders bought a cottage next door which they pulled down and made into their garden/work area. They altered the existing building to house 2 generations of their family - eventually selling to the Mapey family. (see Mapey family snapshot).Ref(http://www.hops.co.uk/sectionone/KentHistory.htm )

From at least the beginning of the seventeenth century there were tanners yards in Holybourne (one owned by John Hunt 1610). There was a recorded rental from a Thomas Hunt in 1752 for a tanyard near to 'Cutts', a strip of land between the main road and the river Wey. There was at least one other tannery which was situated between the main road and the church, it is thought that the tanneries probably disappeared by the mid nineteenth century.

There are records as far back as 1694 for the forge on London Road, with the London to Winchester, Gosport, West Country and Southampton coaches running through Holybourne once the Turnpike was established in 1753 by an Act for a Turnpike between Basingstone (near Bagshott). Through Frimely and Farnham, thence through Bentley, Holybourne, Alton, Chawton, Ropley, Bishop's Sutton, New Alresford to Winchester. Although, the 'Alton Machine' went through c1750 with people in a basket on the back. (picture in Curtis' History of Alton or 'Inns of Alton' by Jane Hurst). Wagons and coaches were hauling both goods and passengers, London Road, even in these early days was busy. By 1800 there were five coaches a day passing through on the London Road. An interesting little fact that has relevance even today is that a 'Thomas Heath, son of Mr Heath of Bonhams' was killed on the road by the Gosport coach in 1832.

It was 1719 that gave birth to Andrew's school with an endowment of £100 per year from Thomas Andrews to found a free school for the children of Holybourne as well as three from Froyle, twelve from Alton and five from Binsted. In 1721 the trustees set aside £800 to purchase land from Richard Trimmer on which to build a school house.

Many changes were taking place in rural England at this time - big increases in the population, along with discontent amongst agricultural workers. Unlike some other country areas that experienced rioting and even the hanging of rioting labourers, in Holybourne, local labourers met with local farmers who agreed to give "reasonable price for labour", the dispute was very short and peaceably settled.

Other major changes occurred in the area with many small farms changing hands and country areas disappearing to become part of big estates. In 1770 Sir Thomas Miller, 5th Baronet, formerly of Lavant, near Chichester, purchased Froyle Place and the Lordship of the Manor of Froyle, his son, Sir Thomas Combe Miller was a vicar of Froyle from 1811. At the beginning of the 19th century the 'Millers' of Froyle, began buying land around Holybourne, including Howard's Farm, land in Neatham and Manor Farm. Note the history of nearby Froyle . By 1840 the Railway Company was also buying land in Holybourne with the rail line from London to Alton finally coming into being in 1852.

Many of the fields bought and sold may also be familiar to some residents, such as Dicketts, Streamacre, Leggefield and Peacombe. Another name that may be familiar today came from a brewery run by Denis and henry Gardiner from a property that they leased belonging to the Inwood family - hence the present name of the building. A second brewery existed on the north side of London Road at Fishers' and later 'Complins'. By 1842 William Complin ran Fishers Brewery in property leased from William Cooper and later the 'Prince of Wales' 'brewshop'. A short history appeared in the Spring 2005 issue of the village magazine, the excerpt is attached here - Fishers & Complins

There had been 2 mills in Neatham since at least the medieval period, the lower 'fulling mill' at the bottom of Fulling Mill Lane, now lower Neatham Lane and the Upper Neatham corn mill (burnt down in the 1930s). Note that 'fulling' is the cleaning, shrinking and thickening of cloth, and it is not known if this mill was ever used for 'fulling'. The fulling mill was converted to a corn mill in the mid 1700s.

The development of Holybourne from the 19^th century onwards owes a lot to its importance as a stopping place on the South Coast, and Winchester to London road. Many of the shops faced on to the main Winchester/London road along with Bed & Breakfast and restaurant facilities.

Some of the amenities listed from the first directory of 1855 - 2 grocers, a butcher and shoemaker and three public houses. By 1895 there were 3 grocers, 2 bakers, a butcher, a draper, 2 shoemakers, an oilman, nurseryman, dairyman and shopkeeper. By the 1901 census there were 118 houses and 558 people in Holybourne and 21 houses with 95 people in Neatham. Hop growing was still an important industry for Holybourne and the surrounding areas up until circa 1956. Some villagers can still remember notices on the doors of the public houses at hop picking time stating 'No entrance to travellers or hop-pickers'. It is said that this was because of the smell from their clothes that were permeated by the smell of the hops they had been picking.

Hop Stringers at Work - (hops are not climbing plants)

Descriptions of Holybourne, its commerce and 'private residents' are shown in White's Directories which covered all of Hampshire. It is assumed that the latter had to pay, hence, only trades people and 'those who were someone' were in them. Two extracts from 1859 and 1878 are reproduced here in extracts from White's Directories.

However, the importance of Alton was obviously increasing and Holybourne decreasing; by 1939 the number of shops in Holybourne was down to 3. As the Winchester/London road became more important and very busy, Alton and Holybourne became 'bottlenecks' for traffic and in the 1970s the Alton bypass was built. While the bypass alleviated the heavy traffic flow it also took away the passing clientele which further weakened Holybourne's business base until today we are left with one village pub and a Post Office.

In some respects this would be expected to cause the death of a village, but Holybourne is not remote and sits very close to the market town of Alton. Alton serves the retail and business needs leaving Holybourne as a quiet residential area just far enough away from the hustle and bustle of daily life with all the advantages of its position in the countryside and location near major towns, cities and coastline. So, while the business life within the village declines, residents increase and Holybourne now boasts around 1500 residents of all ages.

Holybourne was also not untouched by the Boer war or the two World Wars. While I have still to gather more information on this period, one fascinating little story has came to my attention. The Missing Scarf of Colour Sergeant Thomas Ferrett - Thomas Ferrett of Holybourne was awarded one of 8 scarves knitted and presented by Queen Victoria as an award for gallantry in the South African Campaign. An interesting coincidence is that a distant relative moved to Holybourne, from Norfolk, in 1949 to become headmistress of Holybourne School and this is where the story, in a letter to a newspaper, from J A Benton begins and tells some of the history of the family and the search for the scarf. (The public house in High Wycimbe that is mentioned in the letter was in fact at Tylers Green.) Click on the photo below to read the letter.

The sixteen deaths from this village in WW1 are recorded on a memorial tablet in the church and a plaque (shown below) in London Road at the junction of Howards Lane. This memorial, containing 175 names of armed forces personnel from the village, was made by a professional wood carver and put in place by the Downie family outside what was then Holybourne Cottage, which was demolished in the late 1960s, to make way for Cranford Drive. The 152 Soldiers and 23 Sailors were from the village population of only 500, the 16 killed are marked on the plaque with a small cross, however, at least two others are known to have died as the result of WW1. Interestingly there are five military graves in Holybourne but only four have their name inscribed on the Church War Memorial.

WW1 Memorial - London Road, Holybourne

There was quite a debate on what form the War Memorial should take. At the Annual Parish Meeting on the 4th April 1919, attended by about 30 people, a number of suggestions were raised. The Rev. Peacock suggested a granite cross on a triangular space approaching the entrance to the church. Sir John Atkinson was in favour of a permanent Village Hall, Mr Complin (the brewer) wanted a handsome tablet on the walls within the church. Mr Christmas wanted a place of amusement in the village and Mr Peile suggested the endowment of a Holybourne Nurse Fund. Two months later Sir John Atkinson thought that any memorial should name all those who offered their lives in the War. Alternatives suggested were a war memorial for the fallen in the Church or a Victory Hall for thiose who served and surplus money towards the Enlargement and Endowment Fund of Alton Cottage Hospital. At the end of July, the War memorial Committee submitted their design for a Memorial Tablet costing around £140 which was erected within four months and a further amount of '£22 13s 3d' collected for the Hospital Memorial Fund. (source HVA Magazine Dec 2003 by JH)

One person missing from the Church War memorial was a Private Harry Clement Arnold of the Royal Marines Light Infantry, he died age 29 years on 26th November 1914. He was serving on board the battleship HMS Bulwark which exploded and sunk while at anchor off Sheerness, Kent. When the smoke from the explosion had cleared, the battleship had dissappeared beneath the cold waters leaving only 12 survivors from a crew of between 700 and 800. Private Arnold was the son of William and Annie Arnold of Holybourne of Main Road, North Holybourne which is now London Road, he was also the husband of Annie R A Arnold of 12 Victoria Road, Alton. ref Holybourne Village Magazine Vol 1, No 9, p28 a letter from a relative Graham R A Jansen. Also reference the story of The Sinking of HMS Bulwark in 1914.

In the churchyard can be found the memorial to a very brave young lady with Holybourne connections, that of Diana Hope Rowden, a member of the SOE and executed along with other SOE members in July 1944, her story is told here in Diana of the SOE researched by Linda Croucher.

Holybourne must be one of the few villages to still have its own theatre. The theatre was opened by Sir Michael Redgrave on 6 May 1971, but its history goes back to the foundation of the Holybourne Dramatic club in January 1948, the month that British Rail was born. The first play on the present site was performed in November 1950 in the Nissen hut left over from the war.

The site was known as Fishers and was occupied by a brewery before the war, in the days when hop fields separated Holybourne from Alton. The brewery closed and Complins housed German prisoners in Nissen huts during the war, at what was then called Fishers camp. One of the huts was converted by the Germans POWs into a little theatre with a raised stage and sloping auditorium. In the Summer 2005 edition of the village magazine there was an interesting story of four German POWs and a Guard - reproduced here - Fishers POWs and a Guard.

After the war, all the huts except for the this little theatre were dismantled and the Complins site was developed. The little theatre remained derelict until the spring of 1950 when the owner gave the theatre hut and some of the surrounding land to the 2-year-old Holybourne Dramatic Club.

Ref: A short Editing of C W Hawkins in 1982 from a book by Una Snow

The name 'Mapeys' is a well known Holybourne landmark near to the modern day 'Rakemakers development - they really did make old wooden rakes near Rakemakers! - The name of 'Mapeys Cottage' comes from Thomas Mapey (1802 to 1876) who moved into the cottage in 1848, the family eventually emigrating to Australia in 1912. Thomas was married to Charlotte who had 10 children, two of whom died young, Minnie (who wrote the letter below) was one of these children. Mapeys itself became a 'bed & breakfast' and restaurant just after the second world war and then eventually reverted back to standard living accommodation, as it still is, although the present owners have now taken the name 'Mapeys' off the cottage wall.

If you click on the image below you can read the letter (also typed) and view some of the old Mapey family pictures and see how they dressed between 1880 and 1910

A Letter from Minnie

Freehold Estate Auction Details - Front Page

Just click on the image above which will then take you to the Auction Map of the 'Lots'. From there you can click on the map position and review each Lot detail and discover how much of Holybourne was described in 1874.