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Lying a couple of mile
outside of Winchester is the pretty little village of Crawley from where
my mothers family originated. With its well kept thatched cottages and
One of the major contributions to the village gaining fame for its prettiness was Ernest Philippi who was a businessman that came from Glasgow to live in Crawley Court in 1901. It was his idea that a model village should be created here and he proceeded to buy up all the properties that he could. Some he just repaired and renovated while others he demolished and completely rebuilt. The main street through the village was laid out and he had his own gardeners look after this. There are no commercial businesses in the village except for the shop and pub and this is because of many covenants that were drawn up the nearest business is on just outside the village and was once the headquarters of ITN. St Mary's church was constructed in 1086 (see St Mary's Church History, below) and at this time the lord of the manor was the bishop. One of the rarities of the church is the wooden beams that form the nave arcade and is thought to have been added during the 15th century. The graveyard of the church is quite small, the main cemetery now being a few hundred yards up the road but in the old graveyard is what is know as Archdeacon Jacobs post, he was the incumbent from 1831 and served for 53 years, and on his way home one cold evening he got lost and decided that by erecting a post he would know if he passed this way again and he could hang a lamp form it. The post was once situated on the Andover Road but moved to the graveyard as a memorial to him. IMAGES OF CRAWLEY
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