A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



OTTERBOURNE 



The small parish of Otterbourne, covering roughly 

 an area of 1,412 acres, of which 1,385 are land and 

 27 land covered by water, lies about four and a half 

 miles from Winchester at the base of one of the chalk 

 downs which rise south-west of the city. From the 

 comparatively low-lying village, which is in the north 

 of the parish, the ground rises to a height of 237 ft. 

 above the ordnance datum at Otterbourne Hill at the 

 south end of the village, and then falls again in the 

 south and south-east of the parish to the low ground 

 west of Allbrook which is traversed by the Itchen. 



The road from Winchester to Southampton cutting 

 through the parish forms the main village street. As 

 it runs downhill from Shawford towards Otterbourne 

 a group of three or four houses near by the lane which 

 leads north-west to Silkstead and Hursley seems to 

 mark the beginning of the village, but is in reality in 

 Compton parish, and Otterbourne only begins at the 

 bridge over the narrow river a branch of the 

 Itchen which feeds a water-cress bed a few yards 

 away north of the road. 



Beyond the bridge is a small group of well-worn 

 cottages, some of which were built of the stones from 

 the old church when it was rebuilt by Keble in 

 1837-9. Here the road curves slightly to the west 

 past the vicarage with its quaint chimneys, up a slight 

 incline to the main group of cottages and houses com- 

 posing the village, some thatched and half-timbered, 

 others red brick and modern. A large white house 

 standing in good grounds on the east side of the road 

 is Otterbourne House, the residence of Mrs. Christian. 

 The village inn stands well back from the road on the 

 west side, and so a small front courtyard is formed in 

 which stands the familiar sign of the ' White Horse.' 

 Higher up the road on the opposite side is ' Elderfield,' 

 where Miss Charlotte Yonge the authoress lived for 

 many years. The house is now the property of 

 Mr. G. Norsworthy, by whom it has been much mod- 

 ernized and enlarged. On the west, close by the 

 entrance to Cranbury Park (see under Hursley) at the 

 bottom of Otterbourne Hill, stands the church of St. 

 Matthew, half hidden from the road by high shrubs 

 and trees planted inside the churchyard wall. The 

 village school, erected in 1874, is north-east of the 

 church. 



From the base of Otterbourne Hill the soil changes 

 from clay to gravel. At the top of the hill on the 

 east is the village green, round which roughly grouped 

 in a half circle the cottages of this part of the village 

 used to stand. Now, however, the cottages here 

 are mostly modern, and the name Maypolefield, 

 applied to some allotments here, suggests that this 

 was once the scene of the yearly maypole dance. 

 From the top of the hill a fine view opens to 

 the south over woods and hills to the distant 

 Southampton Water, beyond which is the dim 

 outline of the Isle of Wight. Passing over the 

 hill the main road continues towards Southampton 

 over the stretch of woodland country, comprising 

 Otterbourne Park, on the southern outskirts of 

 which is 'The Grange,' the residence of Mr. 

 Jones Bateman. Almost opposite the church of St. 



Matthew a lane, known as Kiln Lane, branches east 

 from the village street, and passing the pound, near 

 which the stocks originally stood, leads to Otterbourne 

 Farm, and to a rough stile which leads across a field 

 to the ruins of the original parish church, the chancel 

 of which is still standing. An effort has been made 

 during the last few years to utilize this chancel for 

 gild and other services. At the back of the ruined 

 church runs the London and South Western Railway 

 main line from London to Southampton, the rush and 

 roar of the trains contrasting sharply with the sense of 

 quiet and decay and desolation that seems to hang 

 around this bit of grey weatherbeaten building 

 standing in the midst of old headstones, round which 

 grow rank grasses and weeds. Across the water- 

 meadows that stretch to the south a short lane leads 

 up to the old moated manor-house, that is now no 

 longer even a farm-house, the house being dilapidated 

 and the moat choked with weeds and rushes. The 

 old panel picture representing a battle, possibly 

 between Turks and Austrians, was removed from the 

 house a few years ago. 1 Parallel with and east of the 

 railway line as it cuts from north to south through 

 the parish, the River Itchen, one branch of which is 

 here diverted into an aqueduct, runs down to All- 

 brook, and after taking a circuitous course to the east 

 goes south to Bishopstoke, and thence to Southampton 

 Water. 



Allbrook itself, once a hamlet of only one or two 

 cottages, has now become quite a flourishing modern 

 village, owing to the success of its saw-mills, which 

 are at the extreme east of the village near the railway 

 line. Monotonous modern cottages, small provision 

 shops, and a small school-chapel compose the village. 

 Allbrook Farm is on the north side of the street near 

 the saw-mills, and close by is the village school, built 

 in 1874. Passing out of the village to the west the 

 road curves north-west, uphill past 'Rookwood,' a 

 modern house, the residence of Mr. Coombes, owner 

 of the saw-mills, to Boyatt Farm, becoming a rough 

 narrow lane between ploughed fields and hedges. At 

 the back of the farm-house, which is a square red- 

 brick building, dating from the seventeenth century, are 

 the Boyatt brickworks. Until 1 840 a pound and stocks 

 stood opposite the farm-house. Boyatt Wood and the 

 lands west and south of the farm are in a detached 

 portion of South Stoneham parish. 



To the east of Allbrook is Highbridge, where is 

 another small hamlet, half in Otterbourne, half in 

 Twyford. Here was the small Roman Catholic 

 chapel, where tradition places the secret marriage 

 between George IV and Mrs. Fitzherbert, though 

 modern research has definitely proved that the 

 marriage took place in London.' 1 



The soil of the parish is gravel, with a subsoil of 

 gravel and chalk, and on the 43 8 acres of arable 

 land crops of wheat, barley, and turnips are grown. 

 A belt of woodland, including Freemantle Copse and 

 Great Moorlands Copse, stretches away to the west of 

 the parish, and this, together with Peverell's Wood, 

 which is in the extreme south-west, makes up the 

 227 acres of woodland. The greater part of the 



1 For a description of thii and for much 

 valuable and detailed information con- 



cerning Otterbourne, see Miss Charlotte 

 Yonge's John Kttli, Pariihts. 



440 



" See W. H. Wilkins, Mr,. Fi^hirbtrt 

 and George ly, i, 96 et eq. 



