Location and Communications.

Holybourne lies to the eastern edge of the market town of Alton in the Wey valley and the rolling hills and vales of Hampshire. An hours journey through the countryside can take you to either Southampton, Winchester, Portsmouth, Guildford, Basingstoke, Reading or even London. Apart from Holybourne being well served by both the London rail link and the road network we are also wired to Broadband, which is very important if you can work from home and avoid the commute to work.

Community

Although Holybourne is an expanding community, village life for many years has, and still is, centred on the church, the village shop with its Post Office, the White Hart Public House and the ‘soon to be renovated’ village hall. The area is also well served by the Local WI, the Lions and Round Table and with about 1500 residents we are still small enough to care.

Leisure

The village boasts a playground for the younger generation, and for others the village has a cricket team, which plays on the old Roman encampment field, and the amateur Holybourne Theatre. 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! Slightly further afield, within the Alton boundaries we have access to a very good sports centre, tennis, bowling, golf, skate boarding and a very successful rugby club plus a host of other activities including a local cinema.

Education

For those with children in education, Holybourne has both a primary and secondary school and Alton provides a sixth-form college, plus there is a wide choice of private schools in the area. Holybourne also hosts The Lord Mayor Treloars College for the severely disabled, an internationally recognised college.

Shopping

Apart from the city shopping centres within an hours drive, Alton provides a wide range of shops as well as two supermarkets and a weekly market.

Health

The community is well served by an excellent health centre and a community hospital in Alton near the sports centre. Also near the centre is an excellent and respected Rehab unit founded with the help of the local doctors and communities. There are also several very good Dental practices in the area.

Religion

Within Holybourne we have the CofE Church of the Holy Rood and the Jehova's Witness Kingdom Hall, within Alton we have St Mary's Roman catholic Church, Alton Methodist church, Alton Evangelical Free church, a Quaker meeting house, Alton Baptist church, and the Salvation Army Hall.

History

As you may note from the history section, Holybourne itself is steeped in history. However, much of the history of this area has been determined by its proximity to the old Roman port of Chichester, being part of the diocese of Winchester, the ancient capital of Wessex, and close to today’s capital, London. Travel an hour away brings all of these cities 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’ and London, which needs no introduction! In the immediate vicinity we also find Jane Austen’s house, the Watercress Line, Selborne Hangar, the Gilbert White museum and the source of the tale of ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’.

Holybourne can boast of having:

 

Useful Links

Find everything from education, census statistics to crime stats for Holybourne on the following two links.

http://www.upmystreet.com/overview/?l1=GU34+4

http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/Default.asp?nsid=false&CE=True&SE=True