Bishop's Sutton or Bishop's Sutton 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

east of the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

of Alresford in the

City of Winchester Winchester (), or the City of Winchester, is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Hampshire, England. The district is named after its main settlement of Winchester, which ...

district of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 419, increasing to 463 at the 2011 Census.

Geography

The parish of Bishop's Sutton, has irregular shape and is an area of with of that being water. The village, which is at the centre of the parish, lies on low-ground (250 ft above sea level) compared to the surrounding area; it is by the head-waters of the

River Alre The River Alre (also, occasionally, Arle) is a tributary of the River Itchen, Hampshire, River Itchen in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises in Bishop's Sutton and flows west for to meet the Itchen below New Alresford. The river is a c ...

. A long strip of land runs north-east between the parishes of

Bighton Bighton is a village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. According to the 2011 census it had a population of 341, compared with 319 in 2001. The village is about north-east of New Alresford. Notable resi ...

and

Ropley Ropley is a village and large civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It has an acreage of , situated east of New Alresford. It is served by a station on the Mid Hants Railway heritage line at Ropley Dean, just over ...

, rising to a height of along the downs to the north. South of the river the boundary extends to the high ground above Cheriton Wood and Bramdean Common. Historically,

Watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Eurasia. It is one of the oldest known leaf vegetabl ...

cultivation formed a significant occupation in the area, due to its

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

geology and the calciferous River Alre allowing it to grow in the beds of

Chalk stream Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water easily percolates through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, th ...

s. In 1865, the construction of the Mid Hants Railway, also known as the ''Watercress Line'', meant fresh watercress could be delivered to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and further afield. Today, agriculture is still a major employer in the parish with southern areas being

arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

for crops. The main road in the village is the B3047 named Bishop's Sutton Road this bears medium to low traffic into Alresford and has two side streets in the centre of the village, Church Lane and School Lane. The A31 bypasses the village to the south. The average commute to work for residents is . The villages is by or on (depending on which track was preferred) the

Pilgrims' Way A pilgrims' way or pilgrim way is a standard route that pilgrims take when they go on a pilgrimage in order to reach their destination – usually a holy site or place of worship. These sites may be towns or cities of special significance such a ...

between

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 N ...

and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

, which can still be walked via the

North Downs Way The North Downs Way National Trail is a long-distance path in South East England, opened in 1978. It runs from Farnham in Surrey to Dover in Kent, past Guildford, Dorking, Merstham, Otford and Rochester, through the Surrey Hills National Lan ...

History

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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, the Bishop's Sutton was recorded as Sudtone (which included

and

Bramdean Bramdean is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bramdean and Hinton Ampner, in the Winchester district, in the county of Hampshire, England. It is a linear settlement located along the busy A272 trunk road which was widened ...

), and the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Bishop's Sutton was known as the hundred of ''Esselei'', and comprised those places as well as

West Tisted West Tisted is a small village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is northwest of Petersfield, just off the A32 road. Etymology West Tisted is first recorded in around 932 CE as "ticces stede" . It derives from the Old ...

. Eselei, which was a small hundred, remained the hundred until the eighteenth century when the law was amended to make it part of the hundred of Bishop's Sutton. A

gazetteer A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or wikt:directory, directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas.Aurousseau, 61. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup, social statistics and physical features of a co ...

of 1868 links Bishop's Sutton with a former residence of the

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

which was then used as a

malthouse A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain foo ...

. However, in 1872 it is recorded that the Bishops once had a

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

in the village with the only alleged remains being its

kennel A kennel is a structure or shelter for dogs. Used in the plural, ''the kennels'', the term means any building, collection of buildings or a property in which dogs are housed, maintained, and (though not in all cases) bred. A kennel can be made o ...

. The 1871 population was 537 in 114 houses. The village has a number of historic buildings and many are

thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

, with it being part of a conservation area. The

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

Church of St Nicholas, built in the 12th century, is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It consists of a simple two-bay structure of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and chancel although additions were made to it through the

medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

and into the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. The village also has the grade II* 17th/18th Century brick-built ''Sutton Manor House'' which is on the sight of an earlier timber-framed construction. Its garden wall is also Grade II listed. There are also a number of grade II properties: Western Court Farmhouse, Old Ship Cottages, Newhouse Farmhouse, The Ship Inn

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, 1 and 2 Church Lane, Old Mill House, The Old Post Office, Tavy Cottage Yeoman's Cottage, Dairy Cottage, Grove Cottage and Bassett Farm Cottage and its

granary A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...

. Several of these entries show elements of

Tudor architecture The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture in England and Wales, during the Tudor period (1485–1603) and even beyond, and also the tentative introduction of Renaissance architecture to Britain. It fo ...

Amenities and community life

Much of the population is retired, and it won the ''Hampshire and Isle of Wight village of the year award'' in 2011 due to the wide range of events and activities organised to transcend the generations by the parish council. The village has a summer fete, an active

village hall A village hall is a public building in a rural or suburban community which functions as a community centre without a religious affiliation. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is a building which is owned by a local gover ...

with links to local businesses and a village green with a pond and meadow used for recreation.County News article
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References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Hampshire

Geography

History

Amenities and community life

See also

References

External links