HLB – Page 2 – Hampshire History

Nelson’s Last Walk

Nelson’s last walk on English took him through the streets of Portsmouth from his breakfast at the George Hotel to the awaiting barge and HMS Victory. People were moved to tears at the sight of their hero.

Whitchurch Silk Mill

Whitchurch Silk Mill in Hampshire is a wonderful reminder of a lost industrial past rooted deep in the Hampshire countryside. Its connections with the silk weavers of London reveal the extent and demand for fine silks.

Shepherd Lawes

Shepherd Lawes, buried in Martin Hampshire was the inspiration for the shepherd in W.H Hudson’s book, ‘A Shepherd’s Life’. Wriiten just before WWI it remembers the life and observations of a shepherd in the Wiltshire Hampshire Downs.

St Mary’s Church Tufton Hampshire

St Mary’s Church Tufton is a 12th century gem with just the hint that there might be earlier origins to some of the architecture. It has a large wall painting of St Christopher.

Mad Dick Norton

Mad Dick Norton was otherwise Richard Norton of Southwick estate, a landowner and politician whose eccentric behaviour resulted in a very unusual will and a substantial amount of controversy.

Hampshire Trade Tokens

Hampshire trade tokens were issued in the C17th and C18th when there was little small coinage to be had in Britain. Which places in Hampshire issued them and what did they look like?

East Wellow Church

The 13th century, East Wellow church, St Margaret’s of Antioch, is the final resting place of the great lady Florence Nightingale. Not only that it also is home to some wonderful 13th century wall paintings.

Royal Forest of Woolmer

The Royal Forest of Woolmer A little known area of Hampshire that was once a Medieval royal hunting forest. It lies near Liphook and the Sussex border and like all the hunting forests, would once have been a mainly open and treeless landscape. The open heath land would have been home to a herds of…

Medieval Shoes in Selborne

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…

An Alresford Toilet and the Cold War

What is the connection between New Alresford in Hampshire and the Cold War? Well it might surprise you to know that one of the most unremarkable buildings in Hampshire a toilet block in New Alresford has a vital connection to the Cold War.

St Michael and All Angels Knights Enham

The church of St Michael and All Angels Knights Enham, is a 12th century gem in Hampshire, 800 years worth of history to mull over. Situated in a lane alongside a farm, it’s easy to imagine souls of hundreds of years entering its doors.

Medieval Graffiti at Wield

Searching for Medieval graffiti in the church of St James in Wield Hampshire, a lovely little fellow emerged from the soft chalk stone of the chancel arch. Could this inscription have been done over 600 years ago?

Bird’s Eye View Titchfield Abbey

A birds eye view of Titchfield Abbey in Hampshire by Ian Gray Builders Ltd. A piece of Hampshire history from a different perspective.

Sequah the Portsmouth Quack Doctor

Sequah the quack doctor began his business in Portsmouth in 1887, it became an overnight sensation, a performance likened to a medical circus coming to town. A picture of it turning up in Basingstoke.

St Mary’s Church Upton Grey

Perched above the road on a hill slope is St Mary’s church Upton Grey At the bottom of the hill is the village pond and clustered around it are lovely cottages and houses, spanning all periods, twenty seven of them listed. Upton Grey is a beautiful village in north east Hampshire, with a history that…