A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



the advowson fell into the hands of the king. Ed- 

 ward VI granted it together with the manor of Merdon 

 to Sir Philip Hoby, 68 and from this time the advow- 

 son followed the descent of the manor. 69 



The living of St. Mark's, Ampfield, is a vicarage in 

 the gift of the Heathcote trustees. 



In 1720 Mrs. Wyndham left 20 

 CHARITIES in respect of which 2Os a year was 

 distributed among the poor on St. 

 Thomas's Day. 



By deed, 1817, the trusts of a sum of money were 

 declared which had been raised by subscription for 

 the purpose of providing a Sunday evening service 

 at the church. The fund was added to from time 

 to time, and is now represented by 1,224 iSs. 8</. 

 consols. 



In 1864 James Beckley, by will proved this date, 

 left 3,647 2/. 6d. consols to the rector and church- 

 wardens, and directed that the income should be 

 applied weekly to five poor widows or widowers not 

 under the age of fifty-five, who receive //. 6d. a week 

 each. 



In 1893 Emma Baker, by her will proved this date, 

 bequeathed a moiety of her residuary estate for the 

 benefit of the poor. A sum of 318 was received in 

 respect thereof, of which 300 was invested in 

 301 \6s. <)d. India 3 per cent, stock, the balance 

 being distributed among the poor together with the 

 income accruing on the stock. 



The sums of stock belonging to the charities respec- 

 tively are held by the Official Trustees of Charitable 

 Funds. 



LITTLETON 



The parish of Littleton, covering about 1,303 acres, 1 

 lies on the downs which stretch away north-west of 

 Winchester. The road leading from Winchester to 

 Stockbridge through Weeke village sends off two 

 branches at Weeke Mark, where the boundary lines of 

 Weeke and Littleton meet, one branch going north- 

 east through Harestock, the other going north-west 

 through Littleton village and on to Crawley. After 

 a long descent this road rises abruptly near Flower 

 Down and continues generally uphill until it descends 

 to form the short village street of Littleton. From 

 the top of the hill the roofs of the thatched cottages 

 and farm buildings are seen in the near distance 

 backed by high downs. The church of St. Katherine, 

 more commonly called the church of St. Mary Mag- 

 dalene, is on the right beyond most of the houses 

 and stands on a high mound ; while behind the 

 church is the village schoolhouse. Opposite is the 

 manor farm, in front of which is one of the few 

 small ponds in the parish. Away north and east of 

 the village are grass downs reaching away to the thick 

 belt of hedgerow which lines the Roman road from 

 Winchester to Andover and forms the eastern boundary 

 of the parish. The soil is loam with a subsoil of 

 chalk. The arable land producing ordinary crops of 

 wheat, barley, and oats is mostly in the south of the 

 parish and round the village itself. 



It seems to be impossible to discover any early 

 mention of the place-name of Harestock, which is a 

 group of houses, mostly quite modern, in the south 

 of the parish, although it would seem likely that it 

 was originally a field-name. 



Harestock House is the residence of Maj.-Gen. 

 Adolphus Brett Crosbie. 



Place-names in the parish that occur on the 

 thirteenth and fourteenth-century Court Rolls and 

 Ministers' Accounts for Littleton' are Woodcot, Lupen- 

 shull or Lyppinghulle, Mydle Furlonge Close, Long- 

 acre, and Basyndowne. The tithe map is in the hands 

 of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. 



LITTLETON was probably included 

 M4NOR in King Kinegils' grant to the church of 

 Winchester of land within a seven-mile 

 circle of the city. 5 As such it seems to have been 

 considered as part of Chilcomb and excluded from 

 individual mention in the various charters to the 

 church even in the confirmation of its possessions 

 made by the pope in 1205.* It is first definitely 

 noticed as a manor in 1243 in the confirmation made 

 by the pope in that year. 5 King Edward I granted 

 the prior and convent free warren in their demesne 

 lands of Littleton in 1300, and in the levy for a 

 feudal aid made in 1316 the prior was returned as 

 holding the 'vill of Littleton." In 1334 there is an 

 entry on the Receiver's Roll for the priory of 5 for 

 rents from the manor, but evidently, like Chilbolton, 

 Littleton was most valuable for sheep-farming, as its 

 yearly receipts for wool reached 15 l$s. id? The 

 village was evidently visited by the plague in 1364, 

 since rents from various tenements were returned on 

 the Ministers' Accounts as unpaid, owing to the 

 death of the tenants by the plague (causa pestilential)? 

 In the description of the proceeds of the manor made 

 in the sixteenth century there is an interesting entry 

 among the rents from the tenants of lo/. rent for 

 having common rights on ' Basyndowne.' At that 

 time the manor was farmed by a certain Laurence 

 Bell at an annual rent of 17. He had also the 

 farm of the tithes of the manor, and the demesne 

 lands valued at l 13*. \d. The fines, tallages, 

 heriots, strays, and perquisites of court only amounted 

 to i os., while 6s. 8</. was due yearly for the ' farmer ' 

 of the manor pro toga sua. 10 



The details of a lease made in 1 500-1 by Prior Silk- 

 stead of 40 acres at Littleton near the hospital or house 

 of St. Mary Magdalene to William Atkins the custo- ' 

 dian of the same, seem to show that at Littleton, as 

 at Silkstead, there was a house where the brethren of 

 St. Swithun went for country air, and it is sug- 

 gested that the chimney of the old vicarage, the 



68 Pat. 5 Edw. VI, pt. 6. 



69 Recov. R. East. 42 Eliz. rot. 48 ; 

 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxix, No. 1 1 o ; 

 Rccov. R. Mich. 2 Jas. I, rot. 246 : Inst. 

 Bks. (P.R.O.). 



1 Ord. Surv. 



3 Ct. R. and Mins. Accts. penes D. and 

 C. of Winchester (Winton. Cath. Lib.). 



8 Wharton, Angl. Sacr. i, 285. 



4 Cal. of Pap. Letters, i, 21. 

 6 Ibid. 201. 



6 Chart. R. 29 Edw. I, rn. 12, No. 54. 



422 



' Feud. Aids, \\, 309. 



8 Obed. R. of St. Sivithun (Hants Rec. 

 Soc.), 224. 



9 Mins.Accts. (Winton. Cath. Lib.),224. 



10 Winton. Cath. Doc. (Hants Rec. Soc.), 

 i,88. 



