East Dean is a

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 ...

and small village in the

Test Valley Test Valley is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England, named after the valley of the River Test. Its council is based in Andover. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by a merger of the boroughs of Andover and Romsey, a ...

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, about northwest of

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a historic market town in the county of Hampshire, England. Romsey was home to the 17th-century philosopher and economist William Petty and the 19th-century British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, whose statue has stood in the t ...

. The village is mentioned 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 ...

'' as "Dene", appears as "Estdena" in 1167, and as "Dune" in 1212. The village is on the right (south) bank of the River Dun. The former

Salisbury and Southampton Canal The Salisbury and Southampton Canal was intended to be a 13-mile long canal in southern England from Redbridge, now a western suburb of Southampton at the head of Southampton Water, to Salisbury connecting with the Andover Canal at a junction ...

followed the river valley, as does the railway which now forms the Salisbury-Southampton section of the

Wessex Main Line The Wessex Main Line is the railway line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton Central. Diverging from this route is the Heart of Wessex Line from Westbury to Weymouth. The Wessex Main Line intersects the Reading to Taunton Line at and th ...

Church

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of St Winfrith dates in part from the 11th century and is a

Grade II* listed 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 ...

building. The church underwent a restoration in 1894–5. The font dates to the 15th century and was brought from

West Tytherley West Tytherley is a village and civil parish in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Stockbridge, which lies approximately 6 miles (10 km) north-east from the village, although its post town is Salisbury. The ...

. A stained glass window was installed in 1908.

References

Villages in Hampshire {{Hampshire-geo-stub Civil parishes in Hampshire Test Valley