Upper Clatford 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 ...
in
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.
The village is in the valley of the
River Anton
The River Anton is a chalk stream in Hampshire in south east England. It rises in Andover, Hampshire, Andover and flows southwards for approximately to meet the River Test near Chilbolton. The principal tributary of the Anton, the Pillhill Brook ...
, upstream from the point where it joins 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 ...
at the south.
Clatford is to the south from
Andover
Andover may refer to:
Places Australia
* Andover, Tasmania
Canada
* Andover Parish, New Brunswick
* Perth-Andover, New Brunswick
United Kingdom
* Andover, Hampshire, England
** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station
United States
* Ando ...
town centre, the most direct route the old railway line which is now a public footpath. Along this path is evidence of the old railway line although little is seen of the earlier canal that preceded the railway. The canal and later railway were important to the local economy, in particular for the transport of raw materials from Southampton via Andover to Upper Clatford for
Taskers of Andover
Taskers of Andover were an Andover, Hampshire based metal works and engineering company, which became better known in the latter half of the 20th century for their lorry trailers. After 170 years in operation, the company became first part of t ...
, whose premises were in nearby
Anna Valley
Anna Valley is part of the village and parish of Upper Clatford, Hampshire, United Kingdom. The settlement is effectively an outer suburb of Andover, and is located approximately south-west of the town centre.
The name 'Anna' derives from the ...
. Pig Iron was shipped from Southampton via the canal to Taskers Wharf, originally where the footpath now leaves Upper Clatford for Andover. The road south out of the village leads to the twin village of
Goodworth Clatford
Goodworth Clatford (formerly Goodworth and Lower Clatford which then joined) is a village located in Hampshire, England. It is south of the town of Andover in the valley of the River Anton. The neighbouring village to the north is Upper Clatford ...
(formerly Lower Clatford).
Clatford is an old English term meaning 'the ford where the burdock grows'. The village historically contained four manors: Norman Court, Sackville Court, Clatford Manor and Clatford Mills.
Stephen Hopkins, passenger on the ''
Mayflower
''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...
'' and one of the signatories of the Mayflower Compact, was born and baptized at Clatford.
[Robert Charles Anderson, New England Historical Genealogical Society (NEHGS) Pilgrim Family Sketch Stephen Hopkins ] Some years prior to his sailing on the ''Mayflower'' he was on the ''Sea Venture'', bound for Jamestown, Virginia, when it ran aground during a storm in Bermuda in 1609. In Bermuda he led an unsuccessful mutiny, was sentenced to death but managed to obtain a pardon. Thereafter he partook in the construction of two boats from remnants of the ''Sea Venture'' and sailed to Jamestown where he spent several years before returning to England, sometime between 1614 and 1616. In 1620 he joined the ''Mayflower'' on its voyage to the new world, together with his two children, Constance and Giles. His knowledge of the ways of the indigenous population and wilderness survival (acquired in Jamestown) proved very useful to the Plymouth Colony. Stephen Hopkins died in Plymouth Colony in 1644 ).
Significant buildings at Clatford include thatched cottages and houses including the local public house The Crook and Shears, and the local parish church of All Saints, which was first built probably during the reign of Henry I (1100-1135). It was rebuilt in the sixteenth century and transformed into an 'auditory church' in the seventeenth. The Church sits between two arms of the
Pillhill Brook
Pilhill Brook is a tributary of the River Anton in Hampshire, England. It is a chalk stream, known for its trout fishing.
Toponymy
The brook is believed to have been called the Ann, or Anna. The name ' is found in the Close Rolls in 1228.
Cou ...
; the village war memorial is within its grounds.
References
External links
Taskers of Andover - A History*
Villages in Hampshire
Civil parishes in Hampshire
{{Hampshire-geo-stub