A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



BISHOP'S WALTHAM 



Waltham Woolpit (xv-xvii cent.) ; Waltham 

 Westputt (xvii cent.); also called South Waltham 

 to distinguish it from various other places of the 

 same name. 



The parish of Bishop's Waltham, together with the 

 former tithing of Curdridge, comprises the whole of 

 the Hamble valley from its source to the head of the 

 estuary at Fairthorne, and also those spurs of the 

 South Downs at the foot of which the two branches 

 of this river rise. The transition from the down 

 lands to the woods of the valley is very marked, and 

 divides the county into two distinct geological por- 

 tions, the downs being of chalk formation and the 

 valley chiefly clay. The meeting of these two 

 formations is the cause of some curious springs close 

 to the town.' 



Entering the parish from the north or east (that 

 is to say, over Stephen's Castle Down or Bishop's 

 Down), the slope down to the valley is steep, the town 

 lying not more than 1 20 ft. above sea-level, whereas 

 Stephen's Castle Down attains at one point a height 

 of 389 ft. The name Stephen's Castle Down is 

 supposed to date from the days of King Stephen, 

 during whose war with the Empress Maud some 

 earthworks are said to have been here erected. Over 

 this down runs the old road from Waltham to Win- 

 chester ; the new one (opened in 1830) strikes west 

 from the town and approaches Winchester up the 

 Itchen valley. A continuation of the old Winchester 

 road leads through Curdridge to Botley, and main- 

 taining a fairly high level gives a good view of the 

 Hamble country, with the Hamble itself on the right 

 hand and one of its tributaries on the left. The 

 whole valley is well wooded, the road being bordered 

 by oaks and pines, through which fields of wheat, oats, 

 barley, and occasionally strawberries, may be seen. 

 As the road approaches Botley station, Curdridge 

 church is passed on the right hand. Here a few 

 cottages behind the.church constitute the village of 

 Curdridge. ' Curdridge Common ' consists of a few 

 fields with patches of furze and heath, sloping up 

 from the road opposite the church. In 1894 Cur- 

 dridge was constituted a civil parish, 2,174 acres be i n g 

 deducted from the original 8,325 acres of Bishop's 

 Waltham. Of these, 2,189$ !l Bishop's Waltham 

 and 71 5j in Curdridge are arable land ; 1,641 J in 

 Bishop's Waltham and 730$ in Curdridge are 

 permanent grass ; and 1 60 j in Bishop's Waltham and 

 267^ in Curdridge are woods and plantations.' The 

 chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, and clover ; and 

 the cultivation of fruit is on the increase. 



Botley station in this parish was opened by the 

 London and South Western Railway Company in 

 1832. A single line of railway from Botley Junction 

 to Bishop's Waltham, with a station at the latter 

 place, was opened in 1863. A steam rail-motor has 

 recently replaced the ordinary train service for 

 passengers on this line. 



The best view of the town of Bishop's Waltham, 



which stands on the left bank of the Hamble stream 

 about half a mile below its source, is from the hill on 

 the opposite side of the valley. Immediately below 

 lies the station, the head of the single line which runs 

 up the valley. Beyond the station is the Abbey 

 Pond and Mill, and beyond these again rise the ruins 

 of the old palace of the bishops of Winchester. To 

 the north of the palace lies the little town, red-tiled 

 and compact, with the church at its east end. On 

 the west side of the valley, facing the town, is a large 

 clay-pit, and the brick and tile works which are the 

 chief industry of the place. Terra-cotta used to be 

 included, but, like the matting and tanning trades, 

 has been discontinued of recent years. 



On the west side of the valley the groups of houses 

 known as ' Newtown ' have arisen within the last 

 thirty years, chiefly along the Winchester road. 



The principal street of the town is the High 

 Street, running north and south, and ending soutlv- 

 wards in the square. Two streets run parallel to it 

 on the east, Houghten Street and Basingwell Street, 

 and at the north of the town Bank Street meets them 

 at right angles, a narrow street in continuation of 

 Houghten Street leading to the church. There are 

 no buildings of unusual interest in the town, but a 

 good many examples of eighteenth-century brickwork, 

 and a few timber fronts of older date, notably a gabled 

 house in the west of the square with a moulded 

 beam below the gables, an almost exact replica of 

 which, dated 1613, is to be seen in Petersfield. The 

 Crown Inn is an old house, with latticed windows, 

 and a picturesque yard behind it." Near the entrance 

 to the churchyard is an early eighteenth-century 

 house with good detail. 



There used to be stocks at the entrance to 

 St. George's Square, 4 standing back from the road on a 

 little plot of grass which may still be seen. Until 

 about thirty years ago a maypole stood behind the 

 church on a plot of grass which still bean the name, 

 but the old dances were discontinued in the seven- 

 teenth century. Tradition says that the present High 

 Street runs through what was once the village green. 

 The old market-house, which used to stand in the 

 centre of the square, was pulled down about the year 

 1841, a good deal of the material being used in the 

 construction of the present fire-engine house. Under 

 the market-house, which was built on arches, was the 

 cage or lock-up for prisoners. 



Dr. Samuel Ward, one of the translators of the 

 authorized version of the Bible, was buried at Bishop's 

 Waltham in 1629, and several other interesting 

 persons have been connected with the town and 

 neighbourhood. Vernon Hill House, which stands 

 on the hill of the same name to the north-east of 

 Bishop's Waltham, was built by Admiral Vernon just 

 after the capture of Porto Bello, and Emerson once 

 visited here. Northbrook House was the residence 

 of Parry the Arctic explorer, and here Lieutenant 

 Cresswell brought him the news of the finding of the 



l^SSLVA Agriculture, ^^ ^^'^, t^^^TS^ 

 the battle of Trafalgar, when '" " * - Pa h " "* llTed ' U the 8qU " C m th ' ( 



Atter the battle of Trafalgar, when pictures here from memory) we 1 

 some two hundred French prisoners were quartered at the Crown Inn 



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