A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



shafts resting on human heads. In the nave the 

 thirteenth-century north and south doorways, with 

 segmental rear arches, remain, but are blocked, and 

 the two windows to the west of them on each side of 

 the nave are in modern stonework. The external 

 arch of the south doorway, with a roll label, remains 

 perfect, but of the north doorway only part of the 

 west jamb, with an edge roll, survives. The west 

 window, likewise modern, is of four lights, and below 

 it is a large modern wall-painting of the Maries at 

 the tomb of Christ. The west doorway opens to a 

 charming wooden porch, covering the west end of the 

 church, and from it a path runs to a modern lych-gate 

 on the north side of the churchyard. 



The font in the south-west angle of the nave is of 

 the twelfth century, with a round bowl ornamented 

 with an arcade of narrow arches, which for nearly 

 half the circumference are round-headed and intersect 

 each other, while the rest are pointed and do not inter- 

 sect. It stands on a round shaft and base, both modern. 



The monument of Mr. Philemon Ewer, the ship- 

 builder, who died in 1750, is in the north transept, 

 and records that he built ' seven large ships-of-war for 

 his Majesty's service during the late war with France 

 and Spain .... gaining the reputation of an inge- 

 nious artist, an excellent workman, and an honest man, 

 dying with a fair character and a plentiful fortune.' 



There are two bells, the treble by I. H, 1652, with 

 the usual inscription ' In God is my hope,' while the 

 tenor, by Thomas Mears, 1838, was given to the 

 church in 1889 by Commander T. W. Oliver. 



The plate consists of an Elizabethan communion 

 cup, a silver-gilt paten of 1 890, a silver paten of 

 modern French make, and a spoon of 1895. 



The first book of registers runs from 1653 to 

 1717, the second contains the marriages for 1754- 

 1836, and the third the baptisms and burials 1792 

 1812. The incompleteness of the list is accounted 

 for by the fact that many Bursledon entries are made 

 in the registers of Hamble. 



The name of Bursledon does not 



4DPOWSON occur in Domesday Book, nor is it 



found in the registers of the bishops 



of Winchester. Bursledon was probably a chapelry 



dependent upon the priory of Hamble (itself a cell of 

 the Benedictine monastery of Tirou in Chartres), the 

 lands of which were purchased in 1391 by William of 

 Wykeham to assist in the foundation of Winchester 

 College. 10 Bursledon is not expressly mentioned 

 among the lands of Hamble Priory at this date, but 

 in a subsequent lease by Winchester College (dated 

 i Henry V) of the lands of Hamble Priory, the tithes 

 of Bursledon are mentioned as appurtenant." Subse- 

 quently the chapel was held by Winchester College 

 until 1849, when Bursledon was formed into a sepa- 

 rate parish, the advowson being in the gift of the bishop. 

 The history of Bursledon chapel cannot therefore be 

 carried back beyond the fourteenth century, unless a 

 conjectural identification of Bursledon with Brixenton 

 be accepted. 18 A charter of Henry de Blois (1129 

 1171) to St. Cross Hospital, Winchester, makes a 

 grant of ' the church of St. Peter of Waltham, with 

 the church of Upham and with the chapel of Durley, 

 and with the " capella de curia," and with the chapel 

 of " Brixentona," which the monks of Hamble hold 

 of the said Hospital for a yearly rent of two shillings, 

 with all tithes, etc.' " The monks of Hamble more- 

 over are known to have possessed the tithes, services, 

 and dues arising from a hide of land at ' Brixedone,' 

 which they had under a grant from Henry de 

 Blois made with the consent of the parson of 

 Bishop's Waltham, to which church these tithes had 

 belonged." 



Another theory is that Bursledon is the second of 

 the two churches of Bishop's Waltham Manor re- 

 corded in Domesday. 14 This theory is borne out by 

 an entry in the Bishop's Waltham parish registers, 

 dated 1736, in which it is stated that ' Mortuaries are 

 due in the parishes of Hamble and " Busseldon " to the 

 Minister of Bishop's Waltham.' 16 



There is a Congregational chapel here, built in 

 1860. 

 nujotTTifv The school. See article on 



t</J-*7 /W J /-GO c T , rr , * i T i r 



Schools, V.C.H. Hants, n, 397. 

 The parish has been in possession of about eight 

 acres of land for a long period. The land is let for a 

 market garden. The rent of 16 a year is carried to 

 the church expenses fund. 



DROXFORD 



Drokeneford (ix cent.) ; Drocheneford (xi cent.); 

 Drokenesford (xiv to xv cents.). 



The parish of Droxford lies in the Meon valley, 

 the River Meon, which here runs due north and 

 south, flowing just within its eastern boundary for 

 nearly three miles. The western boundary of the 

 parish runs along the chalk downs on the west side of 

 the valley, the highest point being 400 feet above 

 sea level. The village is built along the main road 

 from Fareham to Alton, which here runs parallel to 

 the river on the west, taking an undulating course on 

 the lower spurs of the downs. The church, manor 

 house, and rectory stand in the middle of the village, 



a little to the east of the road, and at the bottom 

 of a dip between two ridges ; the houses of the village 

 being to the north, west, and south. Hazleholt Park, 

 the residence and property of Mrs. A. Taylor, 

 occupies some 280 acres in the north-west corner of 

 the parish, in a depression of the down land. Drox- 

 ford parish (exclusive of the now separate parishes of 

 Swanmore and Shedfield) comprises 2,469 acres, of 

 which 906 J are arable land, 401 permanent grass, 

 and 357f woods and plantations. 1 The chief crops 

 are wheat, oats, and barley. The common lands of 

 the parish were inclosed in 1855.* 



In the latter part of the thirteenth century Droxford 



10 Col. of Fat. 1288-92, p. 433 i Col. 

 Paf. Let. 17,440 ; y.C.H. Hants, ii, 106. 



11 Winchester Coll. Muniment Room. 

 From information supplied by Rev. T. F. 

 Kirby. 



la Paper on Bursledon Church by 



Rev. C. E. Matthews, who mentions in 

 support of this theory that the name is 

 given as ' Brisselden ' in the Admiralty Re- 

 cords of the Corporation of Southampton. 



13 Harl. MS. 1616, fol. 9. 



14 Arch. \, 251. 



284 



15 Durley Parish Mag. July, 1900, and 

 March, 1901. 



15 Extract from Par. Reg. iii, 1736. 



1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. 1905. 



" Part. Blue Books, Indosure Awards, 

 151. 



