East Stratton is an estate village in the parish of
Micheldever
Micheldever is a village in Hampshire, England, situated north of Winchester. It lies upon the River Dever .
The river, and village, formerly part of Stratton Park, lie on a Hampshire grass downland, underlain with chalk and flint. Parts of th ...
at the entrance to the landscaped grounds of
Stratton Park, some eight miles northeast of
Winchester,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
, England.
Both park and village demonstrate the evolution of a landscape directed by three eminent families -
Wriothesley,
Russell and
Baring - during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
In East Stratton can clearly be seen a sequence of village development stretching over four centuries. At the north end, thatched cottages dating from the 17th and 18th centuries border the lane which sweeps down to the entrance of the Park. Around the village cross-roads and
War Memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Symbolism
Historical usage
It has ...
are grouped other cottages and the 'new' 19th-century church, All Saints, East Stratton and farm. Further south are five pairs of early 19th-century estate cottages and the 19th-century Plough Inn (now renamed the Northbrook Arms). A dozen houses erected in this century by the Rural District and
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England.
The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...
now extend the village as far as Cold Harbour, once a small separate hamlet.
The name Stratton comes from
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
and means ''farmstead or village on a Roman road''.
History
The Manor of East Stratton was granted to the New Minster (
Hyde Abbey
Hyde Abbey was a medieval Benedictine monastery just outside the walls of Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was dissolved and demolished in 1538 following various acts passed under King Henry VIII to dissolve monasteries and abbeys (see Dis ...
) about AD900 by King
Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder (17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin ...
and remained in the Abbey's hands until the
Dissolution
Dissolution may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books
* ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers
* ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music
* Dissolution, in mu ...
. In 1564 the manor was purchased for £1,318 by
Sir Thomas Wriothesley, later
Earl of Southampton
Earl of Southampton was a title that was created three times in the Peerage of England.
The first creation came in 1537 in favour of the courtier William FitzWilliam. He was childless and the title became extinct on his death in 1542.
The s ...
(d.1550). The last earl,
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
(d.1667), made "the house at
Stratton Park one of his chief seats in the Country." He was probably responsible for first enclosing the park.
In 1667 the manor passed to Thomas's daughter Lady Rachel and her husband
William, Lord Russell who is said to have "pulled down part of the town or hamlet of Stratton and laid it into his Dear Park". Lord and Lady Russell improved the estate and house, laying out "orchards, gardens and avenues, planted groves, wildernesses and other ornaments to adorn and accommodate this beautiful and pleasant scene". Lord Russell was executed in 1683 for complicity in the
Rye House Plot
The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York. The royal party went from Westminster to Newmarket to see horse races and were expected to make the ...
but Lady Russell continued to look after the estate until her death in 1723.
In 1723 the estate passed to Lady Russell's grandson
Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of Bedford
Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of Bedford (25 May 1708 – 23 October 1732) was an English nobleman and peer. He was the son of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford.
Russell married his sister's stepdaughter, Lady Anne Egerton, daughter of ...
. He is generally credited with the demolition of "a great part of the ancient mansion at
Stratton Park lest it should cause the magnificent residence at
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, ...
to be neglected ..."
In 1801 Sir
Francis Baring purchased the estate for £150,000 and the Baring family have owned the Stratton estate ever since. Sir Francis immediately started improving the estate. The old house was removed and remodelled in the classic style by
George Dance Jnr
George Dance the Younger RA (1 April 1741 – 14 January 1825) was an English architect and surveyor as well as a portraitist.
The fifth and youngest son of the architect George Dance the Elder, he came from a family of architects, artists an ...
who designed the 'new cottages'. The House became The Vyne Stratton School in the 1920s, but not for long.
Open fields round the village were closed in 1800–1850, the park was twice extended south and new cottages and the Plough Inn were erected at the south end of the village. East Stratton Farm lay in the middle of the new road to the New Farm. By the middle of the century much of the old village had been knocked down for improvements to the park.
Opposite where the old church had stood a new school was built, to replace the old one which had burnt down, by
Sir Thomas Baring in 1846, he described it as 'a neat
Elizabethan style' and it still stand in the park today. The school could accommodate 150 children but its average attendance was 60. It was closed in the 1960s
The old church which had been largely rebuilt in 1810 was demolished and a cross was built in its place. The new church,
All Saints, was built in the village and was opened in 1888.
References
External links
Website: www.eaststratton.org.uk
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Villages in Hampshire