| Baughurst |
| Lying to the northern border of Hampshire is
Baughurst whose name is derived from the Old English "wood of the
badger". Although he Domesday Book does not m mention Baughurst it
was more than likely included as part of Hurstbourne Priors and was held
by the Bishop of Winchester for the support of the monks of Winchester. In the fifteenth century it was part of the Prior and Convent Manor of Manydown and at the Dissolution it passed on to the Dean and Chapter of Winchester in 1541, and today there are many parts of the parish which are still in their control. The Parish also includes the tithings of Inhurst and Ham which are first mentioned in 1298, and were held by the Coudray family directly from the King and have remained so until the middle of the 16th century, and then sold to the Palmes family. They then passed to varioius other families and in 1837 they became part of the Duke of Wellington's estate. The current Duchess of Wellington was a Miss McConnell and her family lived in Health End House and donated the land to be used for the construction of the villages first village hall, The Scout den, and the War memorial to commemorate their son Major Merrick McConnel. The village has only a few things that can show its past history, a rather attractive font that has quatrefoils as its decoration and has been here for over 500 years. There has been a lot of restoration in the church over the years, the chancel scvreen is said to have been a gift of a former Lord Chancellor of England, Archbishop Warnham, who though rose to power quite quickly during the reign of Henry VII he lost all his influence with Cardinal Wolsey. During the 18th century John and Charles Wesley used to visit Baughurst and resided with George Whitfield who was at one time curate of Dummer and a personal friend of them both . The parish had four almshouses for the poor, and local industries included malting and brewing, clay digging and brick-making. A chalice which was used when Will Shakespeare was still a boy and a brass depicting a man from the 17th century who left money for the poor as long as "the world shall endure". The parish is in the hundred of Lower Evingar and lies about 8 miles to the northwest of Basingstoke and is a detached part of the hundred, lying on the border of Berkshire. The old Port Way to Silchester passes nearby and is here called Baughurst Street. The living is a rectory and the church an ancient Norman structure partly collapsed in 1845 and a new one erected on its site, with a tower surmounted by a spire 100feet high. There are chapels that belong to both the Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists. A national school room was built in 1843
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