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Alton lies to the north east of Winchester and is said to be one of the best homes for cripples in the whole of the country!. It has a dramatic tale to relate in regard to a gallant little host during the Civil War and was the birthplace of what is said to be England's greatest botanist John Goodyer
The porch to the church has a Tudor doorway with a splendid door that has two wrought irons parts of a Jacobean torch holder. Two Norman windows reach over the arches of the tower and inside can be found a tiny entrance leading to the vestry and font which is also Norman. This church is rare as it has two naves and two chancels one of each being 15th century and the other added at a later date. A medieval arcade separates the two and runs the complete length of the church. In the south chancel can be found a large canopied piscina, an aumbrey and a carving of a hand that holds a staff. The chancel was converted into a
War Memorial chapel with find sculptures, Christopher Walaston the groom of the Chamber and Master of the Goshawks to four former kings, is honoured by a small brass on a pillar and nearby can be found another brass of a lady and three daughters which is 16th century. Under the tower is an 18th century candelabra. On the pillars and doorways if one looks close enough, bullet marks can be found and on closer examination some of the these bullet holes still have the bullets in them! This was from the time of the English Civil War and a brass commemorating a Colonel Boles, this once stood in a Jacobean pulpit where the colonel died for his king. The town was held by Lord Crawford and a troop of horse with a small company of infantry under the command of the colonel. The two commanders sent fake messages to each other for amusement while General Waller, a parliamentarian, waited with 5,000 men at nearby Farnham. Lord Crawford is said to have invited Waller to exchange a "butt of wine for an ox" and on receiving the wine Crawford was said to have replied that he would bring the ox in person, but Waller said not to bother he would fetch it himself. During the night Waller advanced and came upon the Royalists from the rear, Crawford went to fetch help and left Colonel Boles to hold on with his infantry. But the enemy set fire to several of the thatched houses and under cover of the smoke attacked Boles and his men in the market place. It is said that an Alton man who was loyal to the royalists set his own house on fire so that the smoke would confuse the parliamentarians and it helped by allowing Boles to withdraw to the hillside below the church and fighting bravely from dawn to around midday they eventually wavered under heavy fire till they were forced to retreat further to the wall of the churchyard and eventually into the church, where they barricaded the door, where Boles told his men to fight to the death. The puritans used their canon to demolish the door and eventually out of the 80 Royalists who entered the church only 20 remained and surrendered, but the Colonel refused and he was forced back while still fighting with his sword and eventually was slain with the kings name on his lips. An inscription relates that the
memorial was set up to this marialist Richard Boles who worked wonders
at the Battle of Edgehill and served his last command at Alton where
he was set up on by five or six thousand rebels and that the battle of
Alton lasted for about seven hours. Alton will tell
you of that famous fight One of the Parliamentary soldiers described the battle: 'at the entry of the church, dreadful to see the enemy opening the doors, ready to receive you with their pikes and muskets, the horses slaine in the allies [aisles), of which the enemy made breast-works, the churchyard, as well as the church, being covered with dead and wounded'.
The church is large enough to accommodate a good battle, and this can be seen from inside as no alterations have been made to the size of it.. According to Bowles's memorial they 'fought six or seven Houers, and then the Rebell Breaking in upon him he slew with his Sword six or seven of them and then was Slayne himseife, with sixty of his men about him'. The town has a newer church dedicated to All Saints and a butchers errand boy is remembered here in that its lady chapel has been dedicated by the towns people in honour of this lad who grew up to be a vicar of the church. The pulpit and font were caved by the townspeople and there can be seen a lamp from Italy in the 18th century hanging in the sancturary Another modern church can be found on the Medstead road this was the church belonging to Alton Abbey founded by a group of monks in 1895 who walked all the way from South Wales to found an abbey in the county, as they were poor and had no money they spent the first night under trees but the next day built themselves huts and a tiny church to worship in. Work then began on the abbey church, flint was collected locally for the walls and a ship's carpenter was all there was to do the woodwork. A gatehouse was added and they eventually built themselves accommodation which gradually was enlarged due to the increase in their numbers. A house attached to the abbey is where 20 sailors live as it is their Order of St Paul to care for destitute seamen
Alton is also the home of two of the country's most famous botanists, John Goodyer who was born during the reign of Elizabeth Ist and William Curtis who was around during the second half of the 18th century. It was one of the Ostlers at the Crown Hotel that got Curtis interested in botany. Curtis was a doctor but he seemed to be more interested in botany than anything else and he was a godsend to the local farming institution due to his main interest being in grasses, but he also introduced new vegetables and wrote on nearly every species of vegetable in the country. It is said that during his day the country was beseiged by a plaque of moths and the farmers believed that the caterpillars would devastate their crops, but a bit of research by Curtis dispelled these ideas and put it down to one of the many epidemics of this type that occur every so often. Church Street has a row of old almshouses and the grammar school which was built by John Eggar in 1638 and is still in use today as a school for girls. Not far away stands the renowned Lord Treloar Hospital, which was named after the Cornishman who later became Lord Mayor of London. The hospital was built especially to treat wounded soldiers but it was abandoned by the War Office at the end of the Great War, and hearing about this Treloar asked if he could have it. This was referred to the Charity Commission who were astonished at the request, who said that as it was given to the nation for a set purpose it was not allowed to be used for any other purpose but a way was found and after an Act of Parliament was passed it was transferred to Sir William Treloar's patients. Below can be seen a Friends Meeting house, donated by Owen Smith from Headley Down. Quakers were common in the town and the date of 1672 can be seen on the brickwork of the war that surrounds the house.
DEATH IN THE CHURCH SWEET FANNY ADAMS
The Royal Navy in fact adopted her name for the tinned mutton which had been introduced at that time. And the mutton was so disliked that the phrase was used to mean anything that was worthless.
From Hampshire, rising up through underlying beds Sweet FA – the
true story of Fanny Adams
THE EXECUTION OF FREDERICK BAKER
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