Bishops Sutton or Bishop's Sutton is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

east of the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

of Alresford in the

City of Winchester The City of Winchester () is a local government district in Hampshire, England, with a city status. The district covers the ancient settlement of the city of Winchester itself, but also covers a large area of central Hampshire including Bis ...

district of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 419, increasing to 463 at the 2011 Census.

Geography

The parish of Bishops Sutton, has irregular shape and is an area of with of that being water. The village, which is at the centre of the parish, lies on low-ground (250 ft above sea level) compared to the surrounding area; it is by the head-waters of the

River Alre The River Alre (also, occasionally, Arle) is a tributary of the River Itchen in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises in Bishop's Sutton and flows west for to meet the Itchen below New Alresford. The river is a classic English chalk st ...

. A long strip of land runs north-east between the parishes of

Bighton Bighton is a village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. According to the 2011 census it had a population of 341, compared with 319 in 2001. The village is about north-east of New Alresford. Notable reside ...

and

Ropley Ropley is a village and large civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It has an acreage of , situated east from New Alresford, and is served by a station on the Mid Hants Railway heritage line at Ropley Dean, just ov ...

, rising to a height of along the downs to the north. South of the river the boundary extends to the high ground above Cheriton Wood and Bramdean Common. Historically,

Watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf ve ...

cultivation formed a significant occupation in the area, due to its

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...

geology and the calciferous River Alre allowing it to grow in the beds of

Chalk stream Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water percolates easily through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, th ...

s. In 1865, the construction of the Mid Hants Railway, also known as the ''Watercress Line'', meant fresh watercress could be delivered to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and further afield. Today, agriculture is still a major employer in the parish with southern areas being

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...

for crops. The main road in the village is the B3047 named Bishops Sutton Road this bears medium to low traffic into Alresford and has two side streets in the centre of the village, Church Lane and School Lane. The A31 bypasses the village to the south. The average commute to work for residents is . The villages is by or on (depending on which track was preferred) the

Pilgrims' Way The Pilgrims' Way (also Pilgrim's Way or Pilgrims Way) is the historical route supposedly taken by pilgrims from Winchester, Hampshire, Winchester in Hampshire, England, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent. This name, of compa ...

between

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, which can still be walked via the

North Downs Way The North Downs Way National Trail is a long-distance path in southern England, opened in 1978. It runs from Farnham to Dover, past Guildford, Dorking, Merstham, Otford and Rochester, along the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty ...

History

In the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, the Bishop's Sutton was recorded as Sudtone (which included

and

Bramdean Bramdean is a village in Hampshire, England. It is a linear settlement located along the busy A272 trunk road which was widened by the American troops in 1943 in preparation for D-Day. The village itself is peculiar due to the large number of lar ...

), and the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

of Bishop's Sutton was known as the hundred of ''Esselei'', and comprised those places as well as

West Tisted West Tisted is a small village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is northwest of Petersfield, just off the A32 road. The nearest railway station is the restored Ropley station on the Watercress Line, trains from which co ...

. Eselei, which was a small hundred, remained the hundred until the eighteenth century when the law was amended to make it part of the hundred of Bishop's Sutton. A

gazetteer A gazetteer is a geographical index or directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas.Aurousseau, 61. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup, social statistics and physical features of a country, region, or co ...

of 1868 links Bishops Sutton with a former residence of the

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...

which was then used as a

malthouse A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain food ...

. However, in 1872 it is recorded that the Bishops once had a

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

in the village with the only alleged remains being its

kennel A kennel is a structure or shelter for dogs. Used in the plural, ''the kennels'', the term means any building, collection of buildings or a property in which dogs are housed, maintained, and (though not in all cases) bred. A kennel can be made o ...

. The 1871 population was 537 in 114 houses. The village has a number of historic buildings and many are

thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

, with it being part of a conservation area. The

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

Church of St Nicholas, built in the 12th century, is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. It consists of a simple two-bay structure of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and chancel although additions were made to it through the

medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and into the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

. The village also has the grade II* 17th/18th Century brick-built ''Sutton Manor House'' which is on the sight of an earlier timber-framed construction. Its garden wall is also Grade II listed. There are also a number of grade II properties: Western Court Farmhouse, Old Ship Cottages, Newhouse Farmhouse, The Ship Inn

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, 1 and 2 Church Lane, Old Mill House, The Old Post Office, Tavy Cottage Yeoman's Cottage, Dairy Cottage, Grove Cottage and Bassett Farm Cottage and its

granary A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animal ...

. Several of these entries show elements of

Tudor architecture The Tudor architectural style is the final development of Medieval architecture in England and Wales, during the Tudor period (1485–1603) and even beyond, and also the tentative introduction of Renaissance architecture to Britain. It fo ...

Amenities and community life

Much of the population is retired, and it won the ''Hampshire and Isle of Wight village of the year award'' in 2011 due to the wide range of events and activities organised to transcend the generations by the parish council. The village has a summer fete, an active

village hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

with links to local businesses and a village green with a pond and meadow used for recreation.

Governance

Bishops Sutton elects one representative to

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier of ...

every four years, this is currently: Bishops Sutton elects one representative to the City of Winchester District Council, currently: The parish council has six elected councillors and a website with local news and events.

References

External links