OUR NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES

Visit Grateley Village via Google Maps

Visit Grateley Village Website

Grateley lies just to the South of the pre-historic hillfort of Quarley Hill. The Parish covers 1551 acres with 607 people living in 250 dwellings.

The village has two shops, two pubs, a church, a primary school, a railway station, a small business park, a golf driving range, and is surrounded by farmland with ancient footpaths and droveways ideal for those who appreciate the English countryside.

Grateley has its roots firmly in agriculture; as are most of the villages in Hampshire. Farming has been the main source of income for parishioners for the past 2000 years, now like many other rural locations the reliance upon farming as a livelihood is slowly dying out to the extent nowadays that less than 10% of the village population rely upon agriculture as an occupation.

Visit Stockbridge via Google Maps

Visit Stockbridge Website

Stockbridge means, literally, a bridge over the river.  The river is shallow and divides here with five streams threading their way through the marshy meadows and under the main road. There were settlements on Stockbridge Down from at least the second millennium BC; within a short distance are the impressive earthworks at Danebury, Meon Hill and Woolbury. Two ancient roads meet and cross at Stockbridge, one running east to west between Winchester and Old Sarum, later Salisbury, and the other running north and south along the valley of the Test. The prosperity of Stockbridge has always stemmed largely from the roads which pass through it. The banks of the River Test which flows through Stockbridge are the best for trout fishing in Southern England. 

The town's wide main street has interesting shops and the many country inns are full of old world charm, the town hall, built c. 1810, has its clock in a turret.  One mile south is one of the few houses in England to be built of chalk and it was built and designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.  There are plenty of walks over Stockbridge Down which is owned by the National Trust.  To find out more about Stockbridge visit their web site through the following link.

Visit Houghton/Bossington via Google Maps

Visit Houghton/Bossington Website

Houghton is a small village in Hampshire, situated alongside the River Test, the 'Queen of Chalk Streams', roughly half way between Winchester and Salisbury. It is a village full of character and charm place, deep in the country, well-preserved without being manicured.

The architecture is mainly Hampshire rural vernacular, with some timber-frame and thatch, as well as much brick and slate. There are many llisted buildings in the village which include All Saints Church; the Old Rectory; Bossington Mill; and Houghton Lodge.  The village is mostly strung out along the single road through the village, which broadly follows the course of the River Test north-south. Houghton is dominated by large agricultural estates at each end, the Houghton Lodge estate to the north and the Bossington estate to the south

Visit Wherwell via Google Maps

Visit Wherwell Website

At the heart of Wherwell lies the River Test , it is a pretty little village that still retains traces of a Saxon priory, some lovely old cottages and a church that even though it was rebuilt in Victorian times it still retains a lot of interest. The oldest treasure here being a Saxon cross.

Visit Chilbolton via Google Maps

Visit Chilbolton Website

In Chilbolton you will not only find the River Test flowing but remnants of a pre-historic trade and drove way called the Mark Way. The Mark Way started at the end of the Southampton waters. Here the water would have been low and easy for primitive boats to be loaded for their passage around the coast, this is where the River Test comes out, it is known that the Romans and the Vikings navigated the Test. The Mark Way was used up to Victorian times to move enormous herds of cattle and sheep across country.

Visit Broughton via Google Maps

Visit Broughton Website

Broughton lies in the heart of the Hampshire countryside midway between the medieval cities of Salisbury and  Winchester, and between the old market towns of Andover and Romsey.

The attractive village of Broughton lies in the centre of the parish, which is mainly agricultural; the Wallop Brook flows through the parish to join the River Test, and the stream runs parallel to the main street through the village.

Visit Goodworth Clatford via Google Maps

Visit Goodworth Clatford Website

The two Clatfords, Upper and Goodworth, are twin villages straddling the River Anton; although they share the same name (Clatford means 'the ford where the burdock grows'), the same school and same Rector, they are in most other respects quite different in character.

Goodworth, the smaller of the two Clatford, has also been known by the names of 'Lower' and 'Nether'.  The Anglo-Saxon derivation of Goodworth is believed to be 'Goda's enclosure', but little is know of Goda.