The Swing Riots

Plaque to Henry Cook swing rioter

The Swing Riots in Hampshire. The Swing Riots of 1830 were an uprising by agricultural workers in parts of Eastern and Southern England. It was a civil unrest that was a long time in the making, the stirrings of unrest began in the 1780’s and then during the Napoleonic Wars faded away somewhat. Fifty years…

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Medieval Shoes in Selborne

Medieval shoes

Medieval shoes never look very comfortable but they are brilliantly evocative of a time long past The Medieval shoe in discussion is the one with excessively long pointed toes. They are called ‘Poulaines’ meaning ‘shoes in the Polish fashion’ since they were thought to have been fashionable in Krakow in the 15th century. The Poulaine…

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Gilbert White Selborne

Gilbert White Selborne

Gilbert White of Selborne, the quiet naturalist, whose life was committed to the observance of all the natural history that surrounded his home in Hampshire.

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Knights Templars at Selborne

Knights Templar Headstone Selborne

The Knights Templar tombstones in St Mary’s church Selborne are the sole surviving artefacts of the Knights Templar preceptory established at Sotherington close to Selborne in Hampshire

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Sir Adam de Gurdon

Sir Adam de Gurdon, one time knight and land owner in Hampshire became a notorious highwayman after losing his estates because of his support for Simon de Montfort in the Second Barons War

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