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Warnford 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 the
City of Winchester The City of Winchester () is a local government district in Hampshire, England, with a city status. The district covers the ancient settlement of the city of Winchester itself, but also covers a large area of central Hampshire including Bis ...
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. The parish covers 1283 hectares (3170 acres). The population in 2019 was estimated at 220. The village lies on the A32 in the upper valley of the
River Meon The River Meon () is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at East Meon then flows in a generally southerly direction to empty into the Solent at Hill Head near Stubbington.Hampshire County Council (2006). Activities at ...
between
West Meon West Meon is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, with a population of 749 people at the 2011 census. Geography It is north-west of East Meon, on the headwaters of the River Meon. Its closest town is Petersfield which is to the e ...
and Exton. There is an infrequent bus service from
Bishop's 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 betwe ...
to
Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...
, currently run by Xelabus (route X17) on Wednesdays only. The village was by-passed by the former
Meon Valley Railway The Meon Valley Railway was a cross-country railway in Hampshire, England, that ran for 22 miles (36 km) between Alton and Fareham, closely following the course of the River Meon. At its northern (Alton) end, it joined with the Alton Line from ...
(now the "Meon Valley Trail" footpath and cycleway) which ran down the east of the valley. The George and Falcon pub and hotel, which is grade II listed and dates to the 16th century is located on the A32 near the centre of the village. The Church of Our Lady, located in Warnford Park to the south of the village, is Grade 1 listed. The village hall is located in Lippen Lane close to the centre of the village and was converted from a farm shop, having been earlier a pig farm laboratory. It was given to the village in 1998 by the owner of the Warnford Estate. The hall has a single room which can accommodate up to 100 people and is available for hire by the hour. Warnford Playground in Lippen Lane was given by the family of R.P. Chester in his memory in 1978 for the benefit of parishioners. It is managed by a charitable trust. It is open to the public, but there is very limited parking and no facilities such as toilets.


History

There is evidence in the form of barrows or burial mounds of occupation from early times. The barrow and associated Saxon boundary bank at Sheepbridge is registered as a Scheduled Monument. Both are referred to in a land charter dating from the time of King Aethelstan. The Domesday book records Warnford and also Upwarnford, which is believed to have covered the northern part of the parish. The Church of Our Lady is of Saxon origin but was rebuilt in the 12th century and contains relics of an earlier Saxon church. The ruins of the 13th century St. John's or King John's House, also Grade 1 listed, are behind the church. The church and St John's House are accessible via a public footpath from the A32. Warnford Park is itself Grade II listed as a park and garden, but is not open to the public except on Sundays in February when a "snowdrop walk" is opened up in aid of the church, with the permission of the landowner. The park was the site of the manor house, renamed "Belmont" in the 19th Century and demolished in the 1950s. It was requisitioned by the War Office in World War II and never reoccupied by the owners afterwards. The parish contains a considerable number of other listed buildings, including the farmhouse, well house and granary at Bere Farm, Abbey House (formerly the rectory), North Lodge and the adjacent gateway into Warnford Park, Papermill Cottage and Riversdown House. None of these is open to the public.


Air crash

On 4 April 1944 a
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, Airspeed Horsa I (LG999) was taking part in a training exercise out of
RAF Keevil Royal Air Force Station Keevil or more simply RAF Keevil is a former Royal Air Force station located between the villages of Keevil and Steeple Ashton, about east of the town of Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, England. The airfield was built on a ...
. The
glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...
was being towed by a
Short Stirling The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Stirling was designed during t ...
(LJ842) and during the training the Stirling struck trees. This resulted in the Airspeed Horsa I crashing in the park, killing the two pilots and all 24 paratroopers. To date, the crash remains the second deadliest involving a glider. The Stirling aircraft later crashed near
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 ...
, killing all six crew.


Geography

The parish is roughly triangular and includes the village itself and about a mile of the Meon Valley. The centre of the village in the more recent past was the crossroads by the George & Falcon, but the demolition of buildings for road widening, fast traffic on the A32 and closure of the village shops has shifted the focus to the main area of housing along River Lane and Lippen Lane. There are also houses in Hayden Lane and Wheely Down Road, with outlying farms and houses at Wheely Farm, Riversdown, Bere and Lower Peake. From the crossroads by the pub Hayden Lane climbs a spur of the downs, rising to
Old Winchester Hill {{Infobox SSSI , image= OldWinchesterHill.JPG , image_caption = , name= Old Winchester Hill , aos= Hampshire , interest=Biological , gridref={{gbmappingsmall, SU 642 208 , area= {{convert, 66.2, ha, acre, abbr=off , notifyda ...
and onwards to Clanfield. Just west of the village Wheely Down Road branches from the A32, heading up a side valley and then climbing onto the Hampshire Downs plateau on its way to
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 ...
. The
River Meon The River Meon () is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at East Meon then flows in a generally southerly direction to empty into the Solent at Hill Head near Stubbington.Hampshire County Council (2006). Activities at ...
flows through the village. In summer the section between West Meon and Warnford is often dry, but there are major springs at Moorhen Trout Fishery and just below it at Warnford Upper Pond, so the river through the village is always in water. There is on the ground evidence of an extensive system of channels fed from sluices in Warnford Upper Pond and higher up the valley at Sheepbridge which fed water to meadows on the west side of the valley. The river flows into the park and feeds a lake, originally the pond for a paper mill close to the A32 at the junction with Peake New Road. The land rises to an extensive area of chalk plateau to the north and west, extending from Bere Farm across Pinks Hill to the side valley that carries Wheely Down Road. There are beautiful views across the valley from the public footpaths which climb Pinks Hill. The Beacon Hill National Nature Reserve and
SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
is at the western end of the parish, a chalk hill some high flanked by numerous steep-sided
dry valley A dry valley may develop on many kinds of permeable rock, such as limestone and chalk, or sandy terrains that do not regularly sustain surface water flow. Such valleys do not hold surface water because it sinks into the permeable bedrock. There ...
s. Beacon Hill is accessible via the
Monarch's Way The Monarch's Way is a long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Shoreham, West Sus ...
long-distance footpath which crosses the valley in Warnford. To the south and east of the village Hayden Lane crosses the old railway line and climbs a spur of the chalk downs to the
Old Winchester Hill {{Infobox SSSI , image= OldWinchesterHill.JPG , image_caption = , name= Old Winchester Hill , aos= Hampshire , interest=Biological , gridref={{gbmappingsmall, SU 642 208 , area= {{convert, 66.2, ha, acre, abbr=off , notifyda ...
National Nature Reserve, which is just outside the eastern end of the parish . The
South Downs Way The South Downs Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway running along the South Downs in southern England. It is one of 16 National Trails in England and Wales. The trail runs for from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Susse ...
links these two nature reserves and shares short sections of the Monarch's Way either side of the parish. The route across the valley has been contentious and was the subject of
public inquiries In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
in 2004 and 2006. Although a footpath route via Beacon Hill Lane and Peake New Road was approved after the second inquiry, the inspector's decision was overturned in the High Court and this route has not been pursued further by Hampshire County Council. Ordnance Survey maps now show a southerly route past Beacon Hill via Exton, implemented as a temporary measure but now in place for the foreseeable future.


Business and Land Use

The primary land use in the parish is agriculture. Major landowners are Gawthorpe Estates Ltd (Warnford Estate); MJI Farming Ltd (Abbey House Estate) and F R Horn (Beaconsfield Farm). Small businesses in the parish include Huxley Golf Ltd (The Old Grain Store); Moorhen Trout Fishery (Alton Road); Larksfield Nursery (Hayden Lane); Earle Brothers Motorcycles (The Long Barn) and Charles Normandale (Wheely Down Forge). There are watercress beds owned by Vitacress Ltd at three places in the valley but two of these are currently out of use. Further information on the village is available on the Warnford village website.


References


External links


Victoria County History - WarnfordCountryside Agency - South Downs Way Public Inquiry 2004 Natural England - South Downs Way - Latest news on the route across the Meon Valley
{{authority control Villages in Hampshire Aviation accidents and incidents locations in England