West Worldham is a small village in the
East Hampshire
East Hampshire is a local government district in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Petersfield. Other towns are Alton and Bordon.
The district was originally to be known as the District Council of Petersfield. It comprised 42 sea ...
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. It is southeast of
Alton
Alton may refer to:
People
*Alton (given name)
*Alton (surname)
Places Australia
*Alton National Park, Queensland
* Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne
Canada
* Alton, Ontario
*Alton, Nova Scotia
New Zealand
* Alton, New Zealand, ...
.
Hartley Mauditt and
East Worldham
East Worldham is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is east of Alton; and south-west of Wyck. Hartley Mauditt and West Worldham are nearby, which, along with East Worldham, form the Parish of Worldham. The v ...
are nearby, which along with West Worldham form the Parish of Worldham. West Worldham contains some eighteen houses with a population of about 50;
about half the population of 1851, when it was 98.
Of note is the Manor Farm and cottage and the late 12th century St Nicholas Church, both Grade II listed buildings.
History
Archeological findings in the fields between West and East Worldham reveal that the area has been visited and inhabited since at least the
Palaeolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος '' lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone to ...
era.
An Iron Age hillfort, dated to around 100 BC, lay on the summit of King John's Hill, to the east of East Worldham.
The Romans built a road from
Chichester
Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...
to
Silchester that passed below the hill over what is now Green Street and Pookles Lane.
The village is believed to have been part of "Werildeham", 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 manus ...
.
At this time, Worldham
manor was held by Marshal Geoffrey de Venuz.
However, the first mention of West Worldham as a village is in a document dated October 1277.
In the late 12th century, Richard de Annecy granted the newly built church of St Nicholas of Worldeham to
Hamble Priory.
During its history, Worldham has been spelled in many different ways, including Verilham, Worldham and Werldham in the 14th century and Wardelham in the 16th century.
An early occupant was Thomas Paynil, who "died possessed of West Worlddham lands and tenements". During the reign of
Edward II, "John Paynel was seized in his demesne as of fee of certain tenements and lands afterwards called the manor of West Worldham and Matilda".
Godwin held Worldham during this period, and the land was assessed at 1
hide and 1
yardland
The virgate, yardland, or yard of land ( la, virgāta was an English unit of land. Primarily a measure of tax assessment rather than area, the virgate was usually (but not always) reckoned as hide and notionally (but seldom exactly) equal ...
.
In 1428, the village had "not ten domicilia tenantes".
During the medieval period, the area was a noted hunting ground, and the descendants of Geoffrey de Venuz established a private deer park and hunting lodge near here.
The
naturalist and
ornithologist Gilbert White
Gilbert White FRS (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a " parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his ''Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''.
Life
White was born on ...
immortalised the localities of the region, including West Worldham, in his ''
The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne
''The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne'', or just ''The Natural History of Selborne'' is a book by English parson-naturalist Gilbert White (1720–1793). It was first published in 1789 by his brother Benjamin. It has been continuou ...
'' (1789).
In 1846, Henry Moody, curator of the
Winchester Museum, wrote about West Worldham, "a perpetual curacy in the gift of
Winchester College
Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...
, worth according to the Parliamentary returns £38; but has since received two additional endowments of £200 from Queen Anne's Bounty, and £200 from the warden and fellows of Winchester College, who are the appropriators of the tythes, and patrons of the living."
In the next decade,
John Dutton, 2nd Baron Sherborne
John Baron Dutton, 2nd Baron Sherborne (24 January 1779 – 18 October 1862), was a British peer.
Background
Sherborne was the son of James Dutton, 1st Baron Sherborne, of Sherborne, Gloucestershire, by his wife Elizabeth Coke (1753–1824), ...
was lord of the manor
and his son,
James Dutton, 3rd Baron Sherborne
James Henry Legge Dutton, 3rd Baron Sherborne (30 May 1804 – 8 March 1883), was a British peer.
Background
Sherborne was the son of John Dutton, 2nd Baron Sherborne, of Sherborne, Gloucestershire, by his wife, Hon. Mary Bilson Legge (1780–1 ...
, was noted to be its owner in the 1870s.
In the late 1800s,
William Wickham, MP, was the
Guardian of West Worldham.
By the early 20th century, the parish of Worldham remained under ownership of Winchester College and the Dutton Estate.
In May 1944, a
Junkers Ju 188
The Junkers Ju 188 was a German ''Luftwaffe'' high-performance medium bomber built during World War II, the planned follow-up to the Ju 88 with better performance and payload. It was produced only in limited numbers, due both to the presence of i ...
was shot down by a
Mosquito
Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...
nearby and its debris was scattered across the village, including the church wall.
Later, the inhabitants had to be evacuated when a bomb fell into the field opposite Manor Farm, and had to be defused and removed by the
Royal Engineers.
In 1962, the Dutton Estate holdings were sold to seven tenant farmers who retained the land they farmed but sold the remaining woodlands and properties.
Geography
![Lane to West Worldham - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Lane_to_West_Worldham_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1369241.jpg)
West Worldham is located in the eastern central part of Hampshire, in the southeast of England, southeast of
Alton
Alton may refer to:
People
*Alton (given name)
*Alton (surname)
Places Australia
*Alton National Park, Queensland
* Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne
Canada
* Alton, Ontario
*Alton, Nova Scotia
New Zealand
* Alton, New Zealand, ...
and by road northwest of
Bordon
Bordon is a town in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It lies in the interior of the royal Woolmer Forest, about southeast of Alton. The town forms a part of the civil parish of Whitehill which is one of two contiguous villag ...
. In 1862, West Worldham reportedly had an area of 447 acres.
The landscape is dominated by farmland and several woods such as Hamble Pits Copse, Wild Duck Copse, Little Wood Copse, Warner's Wood and Pheasant Wood are in the vicinity.
There are also rich and dry meadows, as well as
greensand
Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and co ...
.
Beyond some
slopes
In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a line is a number that describes both the ''direction'' and the ''steepness'' of the line. Slope is often denoted by the letter ''m''; there is no clear answer to the question why the letter ''m'' is used ...
is the junction of
Oakhanger Stream with
River Wey
The River Wey is a main tributary of the River Thames in south east England. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey. Once combined the ...
,
while the extreme western end of the
Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...
is situated nearby.
Chloritic Marl, characterised as a narrow band at the base of the
Chalk Marl,
is seen in the lane leading from Alton to West Worldham, and also north-west of Selbourne.
Blanket Street connects the village to
Hartley Mauditt just to the southwest and
East Worldham
East Worldham is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is east of Alton; and south-west of Wyck. Hartley Mauditt and West Worldham are nearby, which, along with East Worldham, form the Parish of Worldham. The v ...
, a mile to the northeast.
At East Worldham this road meets the
B3004 road (Caker's Lane) near The Three Horseshoes.
The other road leads to the southwest beyond Little Wood Copse and joins the
B3006 road (Selbourne Road).
The nearest railway station is
Alton
Alton may refer to:
People
*Alton (given name)
*Alton (surname)
Places Australia
*Alton National Park, Queensland
* Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne
Canada
* Alton, Ontario
*Alton, Nova Scotia
New Zealand
* Alton, New Zealand, ...
, northwest of the village.
Economy
![Road from West Worldham to Hartley Mauditt - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Road_from_West_Worldham_to_Hartley_Mauditt_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1701961.jpg)
In 2001 West Worldham had a population of about 50 people, out of 336 people who lived in the Parish of Worldham.
Most houses in the area date to the pre-20th century; however in recent times numerous farm buildings have been converted to housing and for industrial purposes.
According to the parish website, there are now "two significant industrial developments within the parish".
The local economy is based around agriculture, particularly cattle farming.
Beef cattle, sheep, grain crops, and
hops are the main sources of income,
Farmers from West Worldham traded in
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
and
Alton
Alton may refer to:
People
*Alton (given name)
*Alton (surname)
Places Australia
*Alton National Park, Queensland
* Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne
Canada
* Alton, Ontario
*Alton, Nova Scotia
New Zealand
* Alton, New Zealand, ...
throughout its history.
Most inhabitants are either retired or commute to nearby towns to work. Worldham Golf Course is located just to the north of West Worldham. The
Jalsa Salana, an annual convention held at Oaklands Farm in East Worldham, attracts numerous people from surrounding areas.
Notable landmarks
Manor Farm House is a Grade II listed building and the farm and its cottages are the main feature in West Worldham. It was owned for some time by the Broce family.
Manor Farm is one of the UK's twenty-three Feather Down Farms.
Pullens Farmhouse is also a Grade II listed building, and although its inscription dates to 1652, it shows medieval characteristics.
Adjacent to the Manor Farm is St Nicholas Church, small church dated to the late 12th century, which forms one of eleven churches in the Northanger benefice.
It fell into ruin and lost its roof before it was restored in the late Victorian period in 1888.
It is a single-cell building, with 2 small lancets on the north side, and contains windows dated to the 15th and 16th century.
The two doorways date to the 13th century, and the timber-framed porch on the south side to the 15th century.
The interior is described as "plain, with a piscina in the east wall and 2 in the nave, an octagonal font, and 3 wall monuments of the late 18th century."
The church became a listed building on 31 July 1963.
References
External links
* ''Hampshire Treasures'' Volume 6 (East Hampshire) page
327 an
Stained Glass Windows at St. Nicholas, West Worldham, Hampshire
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Villages in Hampshire