Corhampton church built in 1020, is said to be one of the best preserved late Saxon churches in England, two of its features being the chancel arch and the sundial which is east of the south door. it is a small church but has always had a good congregation. The dedication is not know but most historians seem to think that it seems to be a depiction of St Swithun who appears on some of the frescoes inside.

Corhampton was recorded in the Domesday Survey as Quedementune and was recorded as being part of the possessions of Hugh de Port. The main Manor of Corhampton was in the hands of the Clare family during the 13th and 14th centuries, though several manors have been identified in the Parish, Cleverly, Preshaw and a sub manor.

In the 16th century the Lords of the Manor were the Staffords but before then Gilbert de Clare married Joan de Acres who was the daughter of the king, and when he died in 1295 his wife was secretly married to Ralph de Monthermer a mere squire. The king was so angry at this that he sent Ralph to prison at Bristol Castle but later he decided to free him and gave him the Manor of Corhampton until Gilbert who was in fact the rightful heir came of age.

In 1599 the Crown Lands in the manor were sold by Queen Elizabeth to Thomas Hanbruy and it stayed in his family until 1655.

The de Corhampton family held the sub-manor but this was then sold to Peter des Roches who was the Bishop of Winchester at the time and he granted the land to Titchfield Abbey which he himself  founded in 1232 and late it was dissolved in 1537 and the manor granted to Thomas Wriothesley whose heirs later handed it to the Collins.

Before the Norman Conquest Meonstoke was owned by Edward the Confessor and in the Domesday survey it was listed as part of the Ancient Demesne of the Crown. The manor was spit into three during the 13th century, Meonsoke Walerund which later became Meonstoke Perrers, Meonstoke Ferrand and Meonstoke Tour. These three sections were later purchased together by William of Wykeham and conveyed to the land of his new college at Winchester in the 14th century.

In 1900 when the Meon Valley Railway line was being built, evidence was discovered that a large battle between quarrelling Saxon farms took place in Meonstoke and further evidence showed that the area was settle by some Danes.

Saint Andrews church Meonstoke
The Bucks Head at Meonstoke
Wall painting in St Andrews Meonstoke		The interior of the church at Exton

DROXFORD
The Manor of Droxford or Drocensesforda as it was called was first granted to the Prior and Monks of St Swithun, Winchester, in 826 from King Egbert and a the time of the Domesday Survey it was among lands that were held by the bishop to support the monks of Winchester but this caused too many quarrels and in 1284, the monks decided to renounce all claim they ever had to the manor.

The manor remained with the bishops of Winchester until 1551 Bishop Poynet surrendered it to the crown and it went to the Earl of Wiltshire.

It was restored to the bishop in 1558 by Queen Mary and the bishopric kept the manor until the outbreak of the English Civil War. A purchaser called Francis Allen was found by the Long Parliament and on the Restoration the bishops again recovered it as part of their possessions. Droxford stayed as part of the lands of Winchester See till  the Bishops' Resignation Act of 1869 when it was then pased to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

The church is dedicated to St Mary and All Saints and is classed as a typical Hampshire village church and contains the work of many periods, the earliest in fact dating to the 12th century. From 1664 to 1691 the son-in-law of the celebrated Izaak Walton, Dr Hawkins held office here

An old postcard of Meonstoke church (kindly submitted by Roy Montgomery)

EXTON
Not far away is the tiny village of Exton and local people say that the 'people across the water' were once upon a time not talking to one another and each of the villages had its own route to Bishops Waltham!! The village shop or the White House, which housed its own bakery and oven,  closed in 1963 and there is more or less nothing there now except the pub, the church and private dwellings. The bridge into the village was built in 1805 and a wheelwrights stood where the Shoe Public House now stands, the old pub was a small building that stood in the garden opposite next to the river. And if one looks up stream from the garden a sluice gate can be seen though flooding still occurs, and once both Corhampton and Meonstoke could boast of having their own mills

There are many signs of early occupation within the boundaries of the parish and on the downs nearby is Old Winchester Hill, once an Iron Age hill-fort which had several entrances in its earthworks. Also there are a few Bronze Age barrows on the same hill and on the Preshaw Estate there are remains of Roman and early Saxon periods that have now been excavated and the Saxon and Medieaeval village of Lomer survices as a series of earthworks, this was deserted by the 15th century.

Another well know hill is Beacon Hill and as its name suggests was the site of beacons up until the end of the 16th century, when the threat of invasion was rife bonfires or beacons were lit on the high points and these were seen from great distances and then further beacons were lit to relay the warning across the  South caost and also inland to warn London and other major towns.

The original church at Exton was recorded in the Domesday Survey  but was replaced in the 13th century by a building that was later enlarged and restored somewhere between 1847 and 1892.

IMAGES OF EXTON

Cottages in Exton
Manor Farm		The River
Shoe Lane		The old village shop
The Shoe Inn , the original used to stand on the opposite side of the road		The sluice
Exton Church
In Memory of GENERAL COSMO GORDON, Youngest son of The Honble Alexander Gorder (Lord Rockvile) and Anne, Countess of Dumfries, who died at Exton Hampshire march 7th 1867. And of CAROLINE, his wife. who died at the same place, November 27th 1854. "All are yours and ye are Christ's and Christ is Gan??" Also the the Memory of COSMO GORDON, Son of the above, Who died in Scotland January 18th 1876, Buried at Exton January 26th 1876 "Thy will be done".

Exton was also famed for its Cheddar cheese which was made at Manor Farm and taken by cart to the nearby Fareham and also to  towns and villages much further out.

One of the employees at the farm was a Rose Davis who was born in Meonstoke in 1885. She left school at the age of twelve and worked  as a dairymaid until her retirement, but as regular as clockwork she attended the church and had a seat behind the rector in the choir stalls. It is said she did this for 70 years and in the winter wore a dark blue velvet hat and in the summer she wore a dark blue straw one.

The rear of the church at Corhampton		The porch with the giant Yew tree
The Post Office		The Church interior

HISTORY OF CORHAMPTON CHURCH

Betty Mundy's Bottom Looking NE along Wayfarer's Walk which in the middle distance turns left into the wood The dark valley middle right is called Betty Mundy's Bottom, but sadly, the origin of the name is obscure. Preshaw Down is on the horizon. Photo courtesey and copyright Peter Facey

BETTY MUNDY'S BOTTOM

St Andrews church Meonstoke