Stockbridge, Hampshire
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Stockbridge is a small town 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 ...
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. It is one of the smallest towns in the United Kingdom with a population of 592 at the 2011 census. It sits astride the
River Test The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for to Southampton Water. Settlements on the Test include the towns of Stockbridge and Romsey. Below the village o ...
and at the foot of Stockbridge Down.


Description

The town is situated on the
A30 road The A30 is a major road in England, running WSW from London to Land's End. The road has been a principal axis in Britain from the 17th century to early 19th century, as a major coaching route. It used to provide the fastest route from Londo ...
, which once carried most of the traffic from London to
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, south
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
, Devon and
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
in the
South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
, though today this route is less important than the A303 dual carriageway to the north. The bridge over the
Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
led to the town's name, a local legend suggested a coach stop stocked provisions, but it derives from an earlier bridge that was made of 'stocks' (tree trunks).
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
is by road;
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 ...
is by the B3049 road that joins the A30 nearby. The town's long high street was thus on a useful route between the two medieval cathedral cities. The town's civil parish has an area of . The town's street crosses the River Test, marking the border of the parishes of Stockbridge and
Longstock Longstock is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It lies on the western bank of the River Test, to the north of Stockbridge and to the west of Leckford. The parish has a population of around 450. The parish church, St Mary's, was l ...
by a low bridge of three arches rebuilt and widened in 1799. Five smaller river channels flow through the town. For a brief time, to provide space for fish, these were split into eight artificial ditches just above the town. The town is on a shared pedestrian/footpath, the
Test Way The Test Way is a http://documents.hants.gov.uk/countryside/walks/TestWayleaflet.pdf long-distance footpath in England from Walbury Hill in West Berkshire to Eling in Hampshire, which follows much of the course of the River Test. The northern ...
.


History and economy

The place-name 'Stockbridge' first appears in
Charter Rolls A charter roll is an administrative record created by a medieval chancery that recorded all the charters issued by that office. Origins In medieval England, King John in 1199 established a fixed rate of fees for the sealing of charters and lett ...
of 1239 as ''Stocbrigge''. In ''Inquisitiones post mortem'' of 1258 it appears as ''Stokbregg''. The name means 'stock bridge', referring to a bridge constructed from stocks (meaning 'tree trunks'). Stockbridge witnessed the capture of Robert of Gloucester by
William of Ypres William of Ypres ( nl, Willem van Yper; 1090 – 24 January 116524 January 1164 O.S., 1165 N.S.) was a Flemish nobleman and one of the first mercenary captains of the Middle Ages. Following two unsuccessful bids for the County of Flanders, ...
in 1141.''Parishes: Stockbridge'', William Page (editor), Institute of Historical Research, 1911, A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 4, retrieved 8 October 2012
/ref>
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...
stayed in Stockbridge in August 1294, as did the last Catholic King, James II, on his way to Salisbury to meet the forces of the
Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands. The title ...
. He dined at the Swan Inn in November 1688, which still exists. The right to hold a market was awarded to the town (as the ''parcel known as The Street in
King's Somborne King's Somborne is a village in Hampshire, England. The village lies on the edge of the valley of the River Test. Location King's Somborne is a large parish covers , of which are covered by water. Most of the ground is low-lying, with a high poi ...
manor'') before 1190 in Richard I's reign, reviewed and confirmed in 1200, and extended to an annual three-day fair by Henry III. As in the 12th century, the town consists almost wholly of one long wide street and it is to this characteristic that it owed its early name of ''Le Street''. The town grew and prospered as an unincorporated ''mesne borough'' before, probably by
plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...
, the place became almost deserted and the poverty of the remaining inhabitants was so great that the market which had been confirmed to the town by
Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...
and Henry VI was discontinued. By the mid-Tudor era, under
Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
, the wealthy
burgage Burgage is a medieval land term used in Great Britain and Ireland, well established by the 13th century. A burgage was a town ("borough" or "burgh") rental property (to use modern terms), owned by a king or lord. The property ("burgage tenement ...
s numbered 58, partly in consequence of this, in 1562 two members of parliament were granted.
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
had confirmed the right to annual fairs in 1641, however during the start of the nineteenth century a marked decline in trade was noted at the three increasingly agricultural fairs, with one continuing until after 1911 The population of the parish was 853 in 1871, with 185 inhabited houses. Hampshire's four tourist Pocket Guides cover the traditional towns of Stockbridge, Alresford,
Bishops Waltham Bishop's Waltham (or Bishops Waltham) is a medieval market town situated at the source of the River Hamble in Hampshire, England. It has a foot in the South Downs National Park and is located at the midpoint of a long-established route betwee ...
and Wickham.


Manor

In the
medieval 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, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
centuries passed as a mentioned part and parcel of
King's Somborne King's Somborne is a village in Hampshire, England. The village lies on the edge of the valley of the River Test. Location King's Somborne is a large parish covers , of which are covered by water. Most of the ground is low-lying, with a high poi ...
manor, not specifically in that manor at Domesday but likely as there was mention of the manor here specifically being in Richard I's time, as when they were forfeited to the crown when Henry IV (of Lancaster) took the throne, in 1402. Then it was let which gave rents of assizes to various men, including to
Joseph Foster Barham Joseph Foster Barham, the younger (1759 – 28 September 1832) was an English politician, merchant and plantation owner. Life He was the son of Joseph Foster Barham I (formerly Joseph Foster) of Bedford and his wife Dorothea Vaughan. Thomas Fost ...
, MP, on whose death in 1832, it went to his wife who married the
Earl of Clarendon Earl of Clarendon is a title that has been created twice in British history, in 1661 and 1776. The family seat is Holywell House, near Swanmore, Hampshire. First creation of the title The title was created for the first time in the Peera ...
to hold for their son; then sold to George G. Maitland then to Charles Warner then to Francis Hardinge and then to the more nationally famous person mentioned below. One of the mills belonged to the lord of Leckford Abbotts in 1548


Buildings


Education


State

Primary: * Stockbridge Primary School Secondary: * Test Valley School


Political history

Stockbridge elected two members to the
unreformed House of Commons "Unreformed House of Commons" is a name given to the House of Commons of Great Britain and (after 1800 the House of Commons of the United Kingdom) before it was reformed by the Reform Act 1832, the Irish Reform Act 1832, and the Scottish Reform ...
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
granted the two members of parliament in 1562; elections proved corrupted and a private Bill for the disfranchisement of the borough was introduced in 1693, rejected at the Third Reading. In 1714, Mr Steele one of the MPs (see Stockbridge) was forced out for bribery and writing
seditious Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...
pamphlets. The
Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament, Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major chan ...
resulted in its end as a
rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...
. Stockbridge had a railway station on the Andover & Redbridge Railway (colloquially the ''
Sprat and Winkle Line The Sprat and Winkle Line was the common name of the Andover to Redbridge railway line which ran between Andover and Redbridge in Hampshire, England. In the Romsey area it joined, and then left, the Salisbury to Southampton line. It was built by ...
''), later a branch line of the
LSWR The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...
. This closed in 1967 under the
Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised British Rail, railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Develop ...
.


Religious buildings

Only the
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...
measuring about 8 metres by 5 metres, some of the windows and the graveyard survive of the original parish church at the eastern end of the town, now known as Old St Peter's Church. A licence to give divine service from 1323 to 1333 was given to John Fromond, architecturally this places about a century after the likely building of the church's chancel. A
Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
church, St Peter's, designed by J Colson, was built in 1866 at a central location in the High Street. The Roman Catholic church of St Thomas More is a modern brick built hall off of the High Street near Stockbridge Town Hall.


Sport and leisure

Due to its hatchery south of the town and many channels, Stockbridge is renowned for trout fishing.Stockbridge Pocket Guide, 2011, Test Valley Borough Council, for distribution centres other than Andover and Romsey se
Council website
/ref> One of the UK's most exclusive clubs, described by Country Life as the dream of every fly-fisher, with exclusive fishing rights over 13 miles of prime trout breeding and fishing waters, the Houghton Fishing Club founded in 1822, for many years met socially at The Grosvenor Hotel, a current landmark by its jutting out into the pavement. Stockbridge has the
Non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...
club Stockbridge F.C., which plays at The Recreation Ground.


Notable residents

*
Hicks Withers-Lancashire Hicks Withers-Lancashire (1829 – 31 January 1909), also known as Hicks Withers, was a British veterinary surgeon. He was born in Ham Green in Somerset to Samuel Withers, a veterinary surgeon, and Martha Lancashire. He graduated in Londo ...
was Lord of the Manor from a date in the 1890s until 1902, when it was sold to Mr R. P. Attenborough. *
Lillie Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isl ...
, mistress to
Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
lived at the property that is now NJ Stokes Garage.


Notes and references

Notes References


External links

{{authority control Towns in Hampshire Civil parishes in Hampshire Test Valley