Ecchinswell is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in the

Basingstoke and Deane Basingstoke and Deane is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England. Its primary settlement is Basingstoke. Other settlements include Bramley, Tadley, Kingsclere, Overton, Oakley, Whitchurch and the village of Deane, som ...

district of

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.

Geography

Watership Down ''Watership Down'' is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Berkshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natura ...

, location of Richard Adams' novel of the same name, is just south of Ecchinswell. Ladle Hill on Great Litchfield Down, also lies to the south. Part of the hill is a biological SSSI, first notified in 1978. The hill has a partially completed

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

on its summit, and the surrounding area is rich in Iron Age tumuli, enclosures, lynchets and field systems. Ladle Hill and Watership Down are easily accessed from the Wayfarer's Walk cross-county footpath that passes through the parish.

Governance

The village of Ecchinswell is part of the

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 authorit ...

Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green (occasionally referred to as just ''Ecchinswell and Sydmonton'') is a civil parish within the district of Basingstoke and Deane in Hampshire, United Kingdom. Sydmonton is the home of Sydmonton Court, esta ...

and is part of the Burghclere, Highclere and St Mary Bourne

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Basingstoke and Deane borough council Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southam ...

. The borough council is a

Non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shi ...

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 ...

Literature

Nuthanger Farm at Ecchinswell features extensively in Richard Adams'

Notable people

Part_of_Ecchinswell's_1914-1919_War_Memorial

* The

potter A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US * Potter, Arkansas *Potter, Nebraska * Potters, New Je ...

Geoffrey Eastop Geoffrey Eastop (16 January 1921 – 25 December 2014) was an English potter. Eastop was born in London, where he studied at the Croydon School of Art and Goldsmiths' College. He also studied at the Academie Ranson in Paris. During World Wa ...

(1921–2014), lived in the village * Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, former Chairman of the Financial Services Authority and the

Committee on Climate Change The Climate Change Committee (CCC), originally named the Committee on Climate Change, is an independent non-departmental public body, formed under the Climate Change Act (2008) to advise the United Kingdom and devolved Governments and Parliament ...

, has a cottage in Ecchinswell

References

External links

Ecchinswell.net
Villages in Hampshire {{Hampshire-geo-stub