A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



In 1901 Miss Charlotte Mary Yonge by her 

 will, proved this date, left 100 to the vicar for the 

 time being for the benefit of the parish schools so 

 long as they should be voluntary Church of England 

 Schools. 



The legacy was invested in the purchase of ^96 I ot. 

 New South Wales 3^ per cent stock. 



The above-mentioned sums of stock are held by 

 the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds in trust for 

 the respective charities. 



SPARSHOLT 



Speresholte (xii and xiii cents.) ; Sparshall, Spershott 

 (xvi cent, et seq.). 



The parish of Sparsholt including the modern 

 parish of Lainston covers an area of 3,672 acres. The 

 whole of the parish is on high ground, which reaches 

 its greatest height towards the centre of the parish, 

 where the village of Sparsholt and Lainston House 

 lie. The road from Winchester to Stockbridge 

 branches south-west about two miles from Weeke, cuts 

 across Lainston Avenue, passes Upper Dean Farm, and 

 turns up a steep hill into the village. On the right- 

 hand side behind a high hedge is the vicarage, and a 

 few yards higher up where the village street forks is 

 the church of St. Stephen. The road to the left 

 leads down between thatched and half-timbered cot- 

 tages to Ham Green, to a smithy and group of cot- 

 tages taking the name of the green. That to the 

 right leads past some cottages and houses to Merecourt 

 Farm. A shady lane to the right leads up another 

 steep rough lane to Westley and the picturesque 

 buildings of Westley Farm. Half a mile east of the 

 village is Lower Dean Farm and the cottages and farm 

 buildings forming the small hamlet of Dean. Lainston 

 House, north-west of the village, stands in the midst of 

 well-wooded country on high ground with an east- 

 ward fall. It is a fine H-shaped brick building with 

 stone dressings, dating generally from the early years 

 of the eighteenth century, but part of the east front 

 belongs to an Elizabethan house. The main entrance 

 is on the west through a picturesque forecourt with 

 wrought-iron gates. To the north is a red-brick 

 pigeon-house lined with chalk. Opposite the iron 

 gates is a hexagonal walled garden which, with its 

 long gravel paths, sun-dial, and rose gardens, seems to 

 incorporate past centuries, and to go back to the days 

 when the notorious Elizabeth Chudleigh was married 

 in the now ruined church of St. Peter, which stands 

 almost hidden among the trees to the south of the 

 house. Stretching away to the west is the famous 

 lime avenue, about three-quarters of a mile in length. 

 Fine views can be obtained from Lainston : away to 

 the south, over down and pasture land, Winchester is 

 seen in the distance, and away to the north another 

 long sweep of downland stretches away towards Little- 

 ton and on to Crawley. The south-west corner of 



the parish is thickly wooded, and the woods slope 

 gradually upwards to the track of the Roman road 

 which forms the southern boundary of the parish. 

 Crab Wood, Burrow Copse, and Cow Down Copse are 

 three of the best-known woods. Among place-names 

 in the parish mentioned in the sixteenth century are 

 Goose Acres, Floodfield, and Berksdeane. 1 



The manor ofCHILCOMB as granted 

 MANORS by King Edward to the church of Win- 

 chester in 908 included lands in Spars- 

 holt. 1 Stigand bishop of Winchester, probably between 

 1050 and 1060, granted one hide at Sparsholt to 

 Athelmar for his own life and that of Simon his son 

 for such payment as he could make. As witnesses to 

 the grant came Stigand and his following from the 

 Old Minster and Alfwin the abbot and his monks 

 from the New Minster and all the thegns of the 

 shire. 3 In the Domesday Survey Sparsholt, though not 

 mentioned by name, was evidently included in the 

 manor of Chilcomb, the later manor of Barton and 

 Buddlesgate, and one of the nine churches pertaining 

 to the manor was probably the church of Sparsholt. 4 

 The manor of Barton and Buddlesgate still comprises 

 part of Sparsholt parish. 



Lands in Sparsholt were held independently, it 

 would seem, of those held by the prior and convent, 

 by Godfrey de Caritate in the reign of King Henry 

 II. 6 On his death they descended to his son John 

 de Caritate, who was employed in King John's 

 service in 1215 and 1216. Owing partly to some 

 jealousy between the de Caritate family and the 

 family that took the name of Sparsholt and held other 

 lands in the parish, 7 the lands held by the de Caritate 

 family seem to have been separated from Sparsholt 

 probably by the beginning of the thirteenth century 

 and to have become a manor known later as the 

 manor of L4INSTON* Unfortunately it seems 

 impossible to gather any definite imformation 

 concerning Lainston until 1342, when Sir Henry 

 de Harnhulle conveyed by fine one carucate in 

 Lainston and the advowson of the church of Lain- 

 ston, held by Henry de Laverstoke for the term 

 of his life, to John de Winton and Joan his wife.' 

 John de Winton died seised of the same in 1361, 

 leaving a brother and heir Richard de Winton, 10 



1 Exch. Dep. Mich. 33 & 34 Eliz. 

 No. 9. 



3 Kemble, Codex Dipl. ii, 153. 



8 Ibid, iv, 170. 



* y.C.H. Hants, i, 463*. 



5 Cur. Reg. R. No. 65, m. 1 d. ; PipeR. 

 (Pipe R. Soc.), xi, 187. 



'Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), i, 136*, 

 188. 



' See Fromond's Court and Westley 

 below. 



8 Thi seems to be a possible conjecture, 

 although it is difficult to give any tangible 

 proof. The jealousy between the two 



families is certainly shown in the suit given 

 in Cur. Reg. R. No. 65. The eleventh 

 juror in the suit moreover stated that 

 Godfrey de Caritate built a church of stone 

 on the site of a traditional wooden chapel, 

 and it seems possible that this church, 

 which could hardly have been on the site 

 of the church belonging to the prior 

 and convent, was the present ruined 

 church of Lainston. Otherwise the 

 origin and existence of that second church 

 in the parish is difficult to explain, as 

 Lainston is certainly not a hamlet. It 

 follows that if the church that Godfrey de 



444 



Caritate built was the church of Lainston 

 it was built to avoid attending the church 

 of Sparsholt, and the greater probability 

 is that it was built on his lands in Spars- 

 holt, which were the nucleus of the 

 manor of Lainston. 



Feet of F. Hants, 16 Edw. Ill, No. 

 10. It is possible, however, that it 

 descended to him from Sir Robert de 

 Harnhulle, whose confessions William de 

 Corfe, a Franciscan, was granted licence 

 to hear in 1322 (f.C.H. Hants, ii, 16). 



le lnq. p.m. 36 Edw. Ill, pt. 2 (ist 

 Nos.), No. 78. 



