A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



HAMBLEDON 



Ambledune (xi cent.). Hamuldon (xiv cent.). 



Hambledon is eight miles north of Cosham station, 

 and twelve miles north of Portsmouth. The parish 

 is about six miles in length, and three and a half miles 

 in breadth at the widest part. The area is 9,446 

 acres, including the tithings of Denmead or Barn 

 Green, Chidden, Glidden, Rushmere, and Ervill's 

 Exton. 



The village of Hambledon lies in the west of the 

 parish, and is thus described by Cobbett in his Rural 

 Rides (1853): 'Hambledon is a long straggling 

 village lying in a little valley formed by some very 

 pretty but not lofty hills. The environs are much 

 prettier than the village itself, which is not far from 

 the north side of Portsdown Hill. This must have 

 once been a considerable place, for here is a church 

 pretty nearly as large as that at Farnham in Surrey, 



House, at the outskirts of the village on the north, the 

 residence of Mrs. Charnock. The main street, after 

 leaving the village, runs north-east, entering the down 

 country near Park House, and gradually ascending till 

 it enters the parish of Catherington by the Bat and 

 Ball Inn, the home of the famous Hambledon Cricket 

 Club, which occupies a lonely position, some 400 ft. 

 above the level of the sea. In the north of the parish 

 are the tithings of Glidden and Chidden, the former 

 of which lies two miles east of the village on the 

 southern slopes of Broadhalfpenny Down," and the 

 latter some two miles north-east. 



Opposite Hambledon church a steep shady lane 

 leads southwards to Hambledon windmill, which has 

 now fallen into picturesque decay, and thence past 

 Rushmere Farm, with its large sheet of water, to Den- 

 mead, which is an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1881 



HAMBLEDON VILLAGE 



which is quite sufficient for a large town.' The 

 entrance to the village from the south by the road 

 from Portsmouth is extremely picturesque. Bury 

 Lodge, the residence of Captain Butler, is situated to 

 the east of the road, while to the west a little nearer 

 the village are green meadows sloping upwards from 

 the road to one or two houses, which stand well back 

 with a back-ground of trees. Cams Cottage, one of 

 these, is the residence of Captain Francis H. Harvey. 

 The church of St. Peter and St. Paul stands on high 

 ground to the north of the village street, and is 

 approached from it by a short and steep road bordered 

 by old-fashioned timber cottages. There are several 

 large houses in the village, the most important being 

 Hambledon House, the residence of Captain Bern- 

 hard Liebert ; Fairfield House, at present occupied 

 by Captain Edward Adderley, J.P. ; and Whitedale 



from Denmead tithing, a part of Ervill's Exton tithing, 

 the East or Creech Walk of the Forest of Bere, until 

 then extra-parochial, which is now inclosed and 

 planted chiefly with Scotch and other firs, and a part 

 of the parish of Catherington. The village of Den- 

 mead, or Barn Green as it is usually called from its 

 small triangular green, lies to the north-east of the 

 Creech Walk, and its church, dedicated in honour of 

 All Saints, was built in 1880 at a cost of 2,000. 

 Ashling House in the village is the residence of 

 Mr. George Chadwick Booth, who is a large land- 

 owner in the parish. The window-arches and general 

 appearance of one of the farm-houses near the village 

 suggest that it contains the structure of a chapel which 



18 This down was long the cricketing centre for Hampshire, 

 Surrey, and Sussex, and many celebrated matches have been 

 played here. 



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