A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



EAST MEON 



Menes (xi cent.) ; Meonis (xii cent.) ; East Menes 

 (xiii cent.) ; Estmune, Estmunes, Moene and Est- 

 meone (xiv cent.) ; Estmene (xv cent.) ; and 

 Estmeane (xvi cent.). 



Until 1894 the parish of East Meon included the 

 tithings of Oxenbourn, Coomb, Riplington, Peak, 

 Langrish, and Ramsdean, and contained 11,370 

 acres of land and 7 acres of land covered by water. 

 In that year the tithings of Langrish, Ramsdean (in- 

 cluding part of Stroud Common), and Bordean were 

 formed into a separate parish of Langrish, and the 

 area of East Meon was thus reduced to 8,8 1 8 acres 

 of land and 5 acres of land covered by water. The 

 parish falls naturally into two parts, namely, the rich 

 pasture-land lying along the banks of the River Meon, 

 and the lofty downs which hem the valley in on 

 every side. The village is almost in the centre of 

 the parish, and lies for the most part to the south of 

 the road from Petersfield to West Meon, which here 

 makes a sharp descent from Barrow Hill. Park Down, 

 which rises to the north of the road and seems to 

 dominate the whole village, has the schools, a row of 

 cottages, the church, and vicarage standing on its lower 

 slopes. On the south side of the road nearly opposite the 

 church is Court Farm. Directly opposite the church 

 Church Street runs southward to join the main 

 village street, which follows the line of the Meon, 

 here a small and shallow stream running westwards 

 and spanned by several bridges. The almshouses, 

 erected in 1863 by Mrs. Forbes of Bereleigh, in 

 memory of her husband Mr. George Forbes, are at 

 the corner of Church Street opposite the church, and 

 at the other end is the George Inn. The main street, 

 which runs on the south bank of the stream, is pic- 

 turesque with its timber and plaster houses, and here 

 and there a red brick building of more pretensions. 

 Especially notable is a fine house on the north side, 

 with heavy cornice and moulded brick door and 

 window-heads, which dates from the beginning of 

 the eighteenth century. In contrast to this comes a 

 series of quaint thatched cottages, one of the prettiest 

 of which, with a rose-covered porch and deep-eaved 

 roof, serves as the butcher's shop. From the east end 

 of the village a road runs south towards Clanfield, 

 passing the smithy at the corner of a narrow lane 

 which leads to Leythe House, the residence of 

 Mr. Gerald Kingsbury. For about a mile the road 

 passes through the low-lying fertile pasture-land bor- 

 dering the stream, but after passing the source of the 

 river it begins to ascend steadily, being confronted 

 by the steep grassy slopes of Chidden Down, Hyden 

 Hill, and Tegdown Hill, which separate the parish of 

 East Meon from the parishes of Hambledon, Clan- 

 field, and Catherington. As the road ascends the 

 grass-grown banks, older disused tracks are seen on 

 either side, and from the top of the ridge, where 

 the way leads down to Clanfield through the copses 



which cover the southern slopes of the hills, a good 

 view can be obtained of the village of East Meon, 

 now more than two miles distant, with the church 

 standing at the foot of Park Down, while the spire of 

 Privett Church can be seen away in the distance. 



Westbury House, the property of Colonel Le Roy- 

 Lewis, stands in a park of loo acres two miles west 

 of the village on the borders of West Meon parish. 

 A fine avenue of trees leads past the house, in front 

 of which the River Meon is artificially widened into 

 a lake. Bereleigh House, the seat of Mr. H. Curtis 

 Gallup, stands in a park of 50 acres, about a mile 

 and a half from the village to the east of a shady lane 

 which leaves the main West Meon road near the 

 vicarage, and joins the main road from Petersfield 

 to Winchester. The following are tithings in the 

 parish : Oxenbourn ' on Oxenbourn Down about 

 2 miles south-east, Coomb about 2 miles south-west 

 past Hockham and facing Teglease Down, which 

 separates the parishes of East Meon and Meon 

 Stoke, Riplington on the West Meon road near 

 Westbury Park, and Peak about 3^ miles north-west. 

 The soil varies ; the sub-soil is clay and chalk. The 

 chief crops are wheat, barley, and beans. The parish 

 contains 3,83 2 J acres of arable land, 2,646! acres 

 of permanent grass, and 764 acres of woods and 

 plantations. 1 The common lands were inclosed in 

 l86o. 3 The following place-names are found in 

 East Meon in the sixteenth century : Selscombe, a 

 grove called Estney, and Barnyparke in the tithing of 

 Coomb, land called Maldles, a toft and land called 

 Gentlemans, Fisherman's Mead, Bunny Bridge, Lake 

 Bridge, Quarrey Lane, Peke Lane, Scutt's Close, an 

 inn called the ' Angel ' and the Litten in the tithing of 

 East Meon ; Uscombes Dean, Glaselane, and Frexden 

 in the tithing of Oxenbourn ; Bleyse Garden and 

 Rookcomblane in the tithing of Ramsdean ; and a 

 toft called Peppercombe and lands called Bevermon, 

 Fernhills, and Shillingworth or Shillingore in the 

 tithing of Bordean. The following place-names 

 occur in a survey of the manor taken in the middle 

 of the seventeenth century : Hyde Lane, 4 The Berry 

 Garden, 6 Dove Garden, a meadow called Nuttsbury, 6 

 Gasson 7 Mead, two corn mills under one roof com- 

 monly called Shutt Mills, and Puddle Acre ; Kill- 

 borow, Hackwermead, Mustardcomes, and Merry- 

 wethergate in the tithing of Ramsdean ; Fish Acres 

 in Oxenbourn ; and Frogland, Abbeyland, and Cawsey- 

 mead in the tithing of Meonchurch ; inclosed ground 

 called Thisly Field and Partridge Furlong, and a 

 lake called Weary Lake. 



The modern parish of Langrish, covering an area 

 of 2,552 acres of land and 2 acres of land covered by 

 water, falls into two main portions the compara- 

 tively low-lying land of Stroud Common, and the 

 downs and hangers which form its northern, southern, 

 and western boundaries. The village with its modern 



1 King John, when carl of Moruin, 

 granted land in Oxenbourn to Fulk de 

 Cantilupe to be held by service to the 

 bishop of Winchester, and after John's 

 accession Fulk gave him two palfries to 

 obtain a confirmation of this grant (Rot. 

 de oblatii et fnibus, 317; Close, 7 John, 

 m. 1 6 ; Chart. R. 7 John, m. 7). 



* Statistics from Board of Agriculture 



8 Par/. Accts. and Papers, 1 893-4, Ixxi, 

 485. 



4 The piece of the main Petersfield 

 road between the church and the 

 schools is still called 'the Hyde' by the 

 older inhabitants. 



64 



* The name is still in use and is ap- 

 plied to a piece of land let out in allot- 

 ments on the south side of the Hyde to 

 the east of Court House. 



5 The West Meon road where it 

 makes a sudden bend to Drayton is still 

 called Nuttsbury (pronounced Nuzbtiry) 

 Arch. 7 This name is still in use. 



