The Living of Hurstbourne was in the gift of the Crown until the reign of Henry II (1152-89), when the King gave it for the endowment of a Prebend or Canonry of Salisbury. The Prebend appointed the vicars from 1252 to 1847. In 1847 the Prebend ceased to be endowed with the Rectory of Hurstbourne Tarrant. The Great Tithes went to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. In 1898 they handed them over to the Dean and Chapter of Winchester, who are the present Rectors. The patronage of the living passed in 1847 from the Prebendary to the Bishop of Salisbury, who handed it to the Bishop of Winchester, the present patron.

There was a church here in Saxon days, because we find in Domesday Book the name of the Vicar, Vitalis. The church was probably on the site of the present structure but no trace of it remains.

The present church was begun in the year 1180, just when the Norman style was changing into the Early Eng- lish. It is therefore "transitional" and has characteristics of both styles.

The South Doorway (late 12th Century) is a beautiful specimen of late Norman work, and is the oldest part of the Church. Carved in stone on either side of the architrave are the head of an Eagle on the left, and of a Lion on the right. These representations were taken from the account of Ezekiels vision. (Ezek. 1: 10). "The face of a lion on the right side . . . four had the face of an eagle."

Nave and South Aisle (c. 1200) These were built at the same time as the Doorway. Note the massive Norman pillars, with a pointed instead of a rounded Arch, showing that the Norman style is giving place to Early English.

The North Aisle (1220) This must have been built later than the South Aisle, because the pillars (called the Arcade) are less massive and imposing. The pillars throughout the Church are most impressive by reason of their size, simplicity and dignity.

The Clerestory was probably built in the 14th Century when the Church was enlarged and the Chancel added.

The original roof (1200) was lower than the present one and came immediately over the Arcade. The present roof (1450) is built in the perpendicular style and is very beautiful and contains the original woodwork. It has been treated for death watch beetle and a piece of affected wood can be seen in the porch. The roofs of the aisles are new wood.

The Tower and Belfry was heightened with a spire in 1897.

One of the massive oak pillars supporting the tower inside on the South was replaced in the middle of this century, and the belfry strengthened.

There are two painted beams (15th century) with gilded arcading used to re-inforce the wall frames of the Belfry. These presumably came from the old Rood Screen when it was removed.

The shingles were renewed in 1955 and a lightning conductor and new weathercock added in 1970.

The Bells
There are four bells:

Due to the state of the Bell Tower and the condition of the Bells at present they can only be chimed, not rung. The Vestry was originally a Chapel for a Chantry of a Guild. (There was also one where the pulpit now is.) where the rood screen was. The Vestry contains a piscina, with what might be a pilgrim's thumb cross above it.

The Font is 13th century and is on a pavement of 14th century encaustic tiles made of red clay, a pattern being stamped in by a wooden die on wet clay, then filled in with white clay, and a yellow glaze put over it before firing.

In the South aisle is a stone vessel which was possibly a previous font. This was found early in the 20th century in the old vicarage garden next to the church. The marks (on the rim) suggest that the fonts could be locked.

The Chancel was restored by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1850, and was practically rebuilt in 1890, reusing the 13th and 15th century windows. The East Window is 15th century but much restored. The glass is in memory of Henry Prosser (1934), a recent benefactor to the parish whose large tomb will be found at the top of the churchyard. The Reredos is Jacobean oak.

The Pulpit The wooden pulpit is Jacobean (17th Century). In the 19th Century the panels were cut into holes for decoration, but at the beginning of the 20th century they were replaced by new plain panels to restore them to their original appearance.

The Lectern was given as a memorial to R. E. C. Burder of Rookery Farm, Churchwarden of this Parish from 1913 to 1960. It was designed in the same style as the old Jacobean pulpit, and was made in 1964 by Messrs. Edwin Carter & Son of Winchester out of English oak obtained in Sussex.

The Screen The iron Gates were the work of a former resident in the village, Frank Wickes.

The Pews Many of these date about the year 1500, but since then have been altered and widened. The original hinges for doors may be seen. Note the baluster rails, and names of 'owners', e.g. Bunny and Child.

Until pews were introduced at the close of the 15th Century, the floors of the Churches were covered with straw. As this was only changed three times a year, the place used to swarm with vermin and rats. In the Churchwarden's accounts of that period there is generally a payment to the rat-catcher, who was indeed a regular village institution.

The Communion Rails were originally carved between 1604 and 1621, and are an exceptionally fine example of the craftsman's work of that day. The old original hasp for fastening the central gate is still there. The rails came from Derbyshire and were purchased from a descendant of a stonemason who carved one of the pedaments at Chatsworth House. Given in memory of Ewen Hay of Stoke Hill Farm, by Mrs. Hay and members of her family during 1969. They replaced 19th century brass rails. The original rails are reported to be those in front of the pews in the nave.

Reredos The reredos was constructed about 1912 from old carved oak panels found covered in plaster in two attached thatched cottages in Horseshoe Lane (now converted into one house known as Poores after one of the previous occupants). They replaced a Victorian superstructure on the Holy Table which is now used as a book stand for hymn and prayer books in the central aisle of the nave.

The West Door is an original 14th Century Door, studded with its original nails.

The South Door is old, but has 18th Century panels.

The Porch was erected in 1908 in place of a 17th Century Porch, and was built of the old bricks.

The Windows

a). Chancel The East Window is a 15th Century window, perpendicular style.The glass was inserted in 1935 to the memory of H. W.Prosser and is a good example of the style of the period. The other Chancel windows are Early English (13th Century) one of them has a 14th Century addition—cinquefoiled lights (Decorated style).

b). North Aisle

i). A 13th Century window with stained glass which is comparatively modern in memory of William and Sarah Child.

ii). A 13th Century window with stained glass in memory of Robert Child and Sarah Ann Child.
iii). A 14th Century "Decorated" window with flowing tracery. The stained glass, which represents the stem of
Jesse, was put in memory of the Mosdell family (formerly of Ibthorpe House) in 1882.
iv). Early English lancet.

c). South Aisle

i). This window was spoilt during restoration, when it was widened and a new arch inserted.

ii). A decorated window of the 14th Century. In 1919 the War Memorial window was inserted here.
iii). A Perpendicular Window put in about the year 1500.
iv). An early English Lancet Window.
d). West Wall is a very beautiul specimen of an early lancet (Early English) window, and dates from 1220—the earliest in the Church.

The Murals There are paintings on the North Wall, the large mural represents the legend of "The three living and the three dead." According to the fable three Kings out hunting in the forest met three skeletons who reminded them that they too must one day die. In 1266 Henry III gave the Manor of Husseburn (Ess-eborne in Domesday Book) to the Abbey of Tarrant in Dorset, as part of its endowment, hence the double name of the village. The Cistercian Abbey was destroyed, and is now a farm, but close by is the little Saxon Church of St. Mary's, Tarrant Crawford, which contains a larger, better preserved, and somewhat different mural depicting the Morality of the Three Living and the Three Dead. The past association between the two parishes makes it seem probable that they were executed by the same artist early in the 14th Century.

The second Mural represents the Seven Deadly Sins. Sloth is seen on a couch, the lettering was added much later. This Mural is too faint to be clearly seen. The Murals w'ere uncovered at the end of the last Century, and restored by Mrs. Eva Baker in 1964. The decorative pattern on the wall of the North Aisle, and its East Window also date back to the 14th Century.

At the time of the restoration of the Murals extensive exmination of the walls was made, but no further painting of any was discovered. A number of 18th century cartouches were painted on the walls, most of these have been erased.

The Church Plate consists of an 18th Century Silver Chalice, Paton and Flagon, the gift of D. A. Dewar, Esq., of Doles, and a plated Salver.

Mural Tablets and Tombs there are several Mural Tablets in the Church, in the Chancel are the tombs of John and Mary Shish who both died in 1773, and also that of Thomas Powlett who died in 1708. The Alder family memorial commemorates a son Captain Alder, who among other campaigns took part in the Crimea War, and the Congo Expedition for the suppression of the Slave Trade on the West Coast of Africa.

There are two brass commemorative plaques on the South Wall with the names of those who lost their lives in
the two World Wars.

The Royal Arms are of George III, dated after 1801 when the Arms of Hanover were placed on a small shield in the centre and the Fleur-de-Lys of France omitted.

The Commandment Boards were first ordered to be erected at the time of Elizabeth I.

The Thatch Hook to be found at the back of the church against the west wall is nearly 17ft. long. It was used before the days of fire engines not only to remove burning thatch, but could be harnessed to a horse and used to pull down whole buildings which were on fire.

Village History Many Romano-British remains, some now in Winchester Museum have been found in barrows and camps at Doles and Hurstbourne Common on the thickly wooded ridge to the south of the village.

During Anglo-Saxon times our village, known as Hisseburnas was already part of the Royal Demesne of the sons of Alfred the Great. In the Domesday Book, 1086, Essebourne (Hurstbourne) is mentioned as belonging to the Royal Manor of Edward the Confessor and "Vitalis the priest holds the Church."

At the Reformation, Edward VI granted the manor to William Paulet, the first Marquis of Winchester in return for the maintenance of Netley Fort on the Solent together with "one captain one gunner, one porter and six soldiers." The family held the manor until the 18th century. The Registers In 1538 during the reign of Henry VIII a law was passed to the effect that Parish Registers must be carefully kept by the Vicar of the Parish. Parishes were slow to respond, probably because no registers had been required before 1538. Our own register was begun in 1546, and has been beautifully kept, and written in a neat and clear hand, with very few gaps. The Vicars were as follows:—

Jane Austin was a frequent guest of the Lloyd family, then at Ibthorp Manor. Her brother James married Mary Lloyd at St. Peter's Church, as the Register shows, in January, 1797.

William Cobbett (1762-1835) was the frequent guest of Joseph Blount at Rookery Farm House. Much of 'Rural Rides' was written whilst staying there, since there are no less than 29 entries in the index thereto, under 'Uphusband': 'The village of Uphusband, the legal name of which is Hurstbourne Tarrant is, as the reader will recollect, a great favourite with me, not the less so certainly on account of the excellent free quarters that it affords.' (29th Sept. 1822). In the middle of the front wall of the garden is a brick incised 'W.C. 1825'. It was a mason's tradition to invite some notable personage to lay a brick and to pay a footing. A further hospitality by Joseph Blount gave tills wall the name of 'Wayfarer's Table' since in the hard times of the day, when a labourer's wage was six shillings a week, it was his custom to have plates of bread and bacon placed regularly on the flat top of this wall for the relief of the hungry. Blount died in 1863 and is buried in St. Peter's Churchyard. Tradition says he ordered that his tombstone there should be big enough and flat enough for the village children to play marbles upon it.

Anna Lee Merritt (d. 1930) lived for many years m a thatched cottage where now stands Hill House. Her most notable painting 'Love Locked Out' hangs in the Tate—painted in the studio still remaining in Hill Hous^ garden. Her autobiographic book 'A Hamlet in old Hampshire' gives an entertaining and affectionate picture of life in Hurstbourne at the turn of the century.

Hurstbourne Hill's steepness (max. 1-7) has been much reduced even within living memory : Mr. Arthur Cooper remembers that, seventy years ago, it was an achievement for a small boy to climb on to the top of the great stone by the roadside beyond the bridge and now barely showing above the ground. And the Rookery Cottages were then level with the road surface and not, as now, considerably below it. A famous trace-horse 'Tinker* was kept by Mr. Blount for the assistance up the hill of market wagons. This horse is immortalised locally in a tale of Mr. Blount which if not more than apocryphal was at least entertaining enough to have been repeated over the past 150 years : in a Parish meeting, Mr. Blount in irascible argument declared his intention of being buried, not in the non-Catholic churchyard, but 'under Sheepwash Bridge with old Tinker atop, so the devil can't find me!' which brought the reply that 'he was a great fool if he thought the devil didn't know the difference between a horse and an ass.'

It is unlikely that Hurstbourne Tarrant was a stage for coaches—these were normally about 15 miles apart, but the helterskelter nature of the road from Newbury for the Oxford-Sarum coach probably required a change of horses before attempting Hurstbourne Hill. Hence there were a very large number of Inns in the village, of which five still remained in 1900 : The Cooper's Arm's and Brewery (behind Garvery House), The King's Head, The Plough, The Five Alls and the George and Dragon. Of these only the last, but much 'restored', remains today.