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More About A prosperous market town with its wealth historically founded in farming the fertile lands all around, Alton has a long and distinguished history. The town also retains the valley's last major brewery, an industry that was once virtually omnipresent throughout the Wey Valley. |
Wey WEY EXPENSIVE & WEY CHEAP WEY FIRST WEY TRAVELOGUE WEY VALLEY FOOD WEY POLITICAL "At the last general election the scores on the doors were; Conservative 24,273 votes 45.7 share down −1.9% / Lib-Dems 18,764 votes 35.3 share up +5.4% / Labour 8,519 votes 16.0 share down −3.6% / UKIP; 1,583 votes 3.0 share up +0.2% Majority 5,509 10.4 Turnout 53,139 66.9% +2.6 "I work that out as a -3.7% swing and the only thing to worry the Conservatives is that the Lib-Dems are increasing their vote at each election steadily- in the 2001 election they polled 15,060 votes which was itself 2% up on the '97 result." Blogger: Matt Dean, Southampton 26th November 2006 WEY NOSTALGIA "The journey actually begins in Alton where, before boarding one of the retro-coaches (what memories those slamming doors evoke!), you can watch the engine being topped up with water – an unenviable task, particularly on a cold winter’s day. "The whistle blows and you’re steaming towards a gradient of 1 in 60 just ahead of the first station Medstead & Four Marks (hands up all those who remember the rhyme about the little train that puffed “I think I can, I think I can…” all the way to the top of a steep incline?) where the stationmaster’s house is a separate structure rather than part of the platform buildings. Yet even here, there are reminders of the past, such as milk churns and olde world baggage carts. "I travelled back in time just two days before Christmas on a Santa Special which came complete with wine, mince pies and, of couse, Father Christmas. Even so, the star of the show was the train itself, pulled on this occasion by a 9F Class Number 92212. Pure magic." Source: Lizzie Guilfoyle indieLONDON 7th January 2007 WEY BEST WEY WET WEY SUCCESSFUL ALSO ON THIS PAGE AND ELSEWHERE |
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Saxon Beginnings
Alton is a thriving country market town in the county of Hampshire on the source of the North Branch of the River Wey. A Roman road ran from Chichester to Silchester and there is evidence that a Roman posting station existed near Alton where there was a ford across the River Wey. The town grew around a wealthy Saxon settlement, and from which had developed the most valuable recorded market in the Domesday Book. Accounts of the settlement’s name are variously stated as deriving from the Saxon word eawalton meaning ‘the place of beautiful springs’, or aewielltun meaning 'farmstead at the source of the river'. Saxon discoveries, including the famous Alton Buckle, are among the artifacts displayed in the Curtis Museum in the town. The buckle, used to fasten a belt, has a silver gilt body set with garnets and glass and shows signs of considerable contemporary use with ancient repairs in evidence. It was found in the grave of an Anglo-Saxon warrior alongside a sword, shield boss and spear heads.
The Danes having invaded England were in the process of plundering and terrorising the population when they reached Alton. The men of Hampshire formed a fighting force that stopped the Danes in their tracks with the loss of 81 men including the King's high-steward. Danish casualties were higher but the Danes won the battle. The Treaty of Alton was signed in 1101 between William the Conqueror's eldest son Robert Duke of Normandy, and his brother Henry 1st of England. After the death of William I, Robert ruled in Normandy and Rufus ruled in England. Rufus was killed in the New Forest and his brother Henry became king here - although some thought that Robert should have been King of England as the eldest son. In 1101, Robert of Normandy is said to have landed at Portsmouth and marched to Winchester. Henry had thought that Robert would land in Sussex and so had to rush back to Hampshire. When Robert reached Winchester, he found the Queen about to be confined and so he set out to meet Henry. "Near Alton, he came upon the the king and his army, who, he was told, were on the other side of a wooded down, ‘al bois de Altone’." (from ‘Roman de Rou’ by Maistre Wace) The brothers so concluded their treaty.
In 1373, an inquisition was taken as to what damage there might be to the King (Edward III) in William de Trenchant, a ‘Norman alien’, holding a certain wood called Kingeswode which Edward I (1272-1307) had given him, as well as other lands in Alton which he himself had acquired. One of the properties that he had ‘acquired himself’ was the present site of Currys and ex-Powerhouse - used as Truncheant’s manor house and then The White Hart Inn. William would have had a household with him and these would have probably all been Normans. They would have needed to have settled near him in order to perform their duties and so would have lived in the area and it could then have become known as ‘Normandy’ - in a similar way to ‘China Town’ - although the true origin of the name is unknown.
The 11th-Century Church of St Lawrence was the scene of the death of Royalist leader Colonel Bolle in the Civil War’s ‘Battle of Alton’ 1643 in which the Roundheads under Sir William Waller succeeded in capturing the town. Bullet holes are still clearly visible in the south door of the church.
Coaching inns in Alton benefited from its location on the trade route running between Winchester and London, and a six-horse stagecoach The Alton Machine ran a scheduled service through the town en-route for London and Southampton.
Alton is twinned with Pertius in Occitania southern France. Alresford, near Alton, has Roman ponds in the old village. New Alresford was founded in 1200 and was one of the top ten producing wool towns in England. Sources: Alton Abbey (GR: SU676377) is a Benedictine Monastery in the Church of England located in Beech just outside Alton. The Abbey has had close links with mariners since its foundation in 1895, and provides practical support for the Seamen’s Friendly Society through temporary accommodation and financial aid for merchant seafarers that have fallen on hard times. The Times newspaper recently described Alton Abbey as 'the best-kept secret in the Church of England’. The Abbey, situated at the top of Kings Hill, was built by the monks through their own labour under the guidance of the renowned ecclesiastical architect Sir Charles Nicholson (1867 - 1949). The Abbey was constructed with 23 guest rooms and a guest house and cottages to cater for the merchant seamen that Fr. Charles Plomer Hopkins had cared for since the late 1880s. A plot of land had been purchased at Kingswood Copse with the monks taking up residence in tents and wattle huts. The first monastery building was constructed from corrugated iron, with this and the wattle huts not being demolished until the 1980s. Father Hopkins, who in 1884 was River Port Chaplain of Rangoon, Burma, worked among merchant seamen in foreign ports and was a key figure in settling the crippling seamen's strike of 1911-12. He was invested with an OBE by King George V in 1920. After Father Hopkins' death in 1922 the community developed a greater emphasis on monastic activity and the Seamen's Friendly Society took over practical support for the mariners associated with the Abbey. The Times (February 1995) described Alton Abbey as 'the best-kept secret in the Church of England’ saying that 'The Abbey is that rare combination of Anglican and Catholic that seems to work' and highlighted the building as having parts that "are recognised as masterpieces of 1930s Architecture". The Abbey offers outsiders organised retreats utilising the guest accommodation. Beech Village The Parish of Beech is two miles away from Alton and has a linear layout confined to a valley serviced by a minor road with the Benedictine Monastery at Alton Abbey at one end. The parish is in a rural setting with a broad mix of woodland and farmland. The village (GR: SU690385) originally served as a centre for agricultural workers but as farming practices have changed in the area the 600 villagers have little to do with agriculture today. The original settlement can be documented to the 12th century but the modern development is largely down to the selling off by a local farmer of parcels of land for housing in the 1890s. Many of these houses were constructed in a colonial style of wood and corrugated iron, although these were largely replaced in the 1960s by more modern constructions. The parish church was built in 1902 with the nearby village hall constructed in 1932.
Centre of Industry Like many of the major towns along the Wey Valley, Alton built up much of its wealth from farming, cloth manufacture and brewing. Unlike the other towns along the Wey Valley Alton is still an influential brewing town and today Coors Brewers produces Carling, Grolsch and Worthington in the town. Various other industries were centred on the town including a paper mill and not surprisingly given the importance of brewing in the town, hop growing. There is historical evidence of there being a market at Alton since ancient times and helped to establish the town as a significant centre for trade.
There is no existing charter for Alton Market. It was recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) and therefore was likely to have been functioning in Anglo-Saxon times. Although there has been debate amongst historians over the location of the market it is very likely that it was always held within what is now Alton and was one of the most valuable markets listed in the Domesday Survey. Market Day originally fell on a Saturday but in 1813 the monthly cattle market was changed to a Tuesday and in early 1840 the weekly market had shifted to the same day. However this change of day caused the Church School a great deal of difficulty being located in the adjacent Town Hall and subject to the distraction of a great deal of noise. The school had to relocate to St Lawrence's a little further away. Sources:
In 1320 King Edward II presented the town with a Charter giving rights to hold an annual fair, a major event in those days. The grant, which was made to the Lord of Westbrook Manor, Edmund Woodstock who was the king's brother and Duke of Kent, was for the 9-day fair Westbrook Fair starting on the vigil (eve) of Whitsuntide. Another fair, for which there is no record of a charter but may have preceded Westbrook, was held in the Manor of Eastbrook in the area around Crown Close. When it became built upon in the 19th century the location of the fair shifted to various sites that had been shared by the Westbrook Fair which included the Market Place, various meadows and the Butts. Eastbrook Fair was originally held on St Lawrence's Day (1) with its origins suggesting that it could have been a patronal festival. Once the country became non-Roman Catholic this particular religious connection appears to have ceased. By the mid-1700s the date of the Eastbrook Fair had been changed to Michaelmas (2) to better suit the farming community as the earlier date had resulted in disruptions at harvest time. Some accounts of the 18th century fair survive and provide an interesting picture of how the fair must have looked at the time. As well as the usual melee of travellers and local people with their stalls there was an established cheese fair. Typical items on sale included lace, gloves, books, gingerbread, sugar plums, soap and knives. Also mentioned in the accounts were bodices and toys. By the late 1800s the fair appears to have been the place to sell horses, sheep and hops, the latter for which the Wey Valley was renowned at the time. (1) The Roman Catholic feast of St Lawrence is kept on the 10th August. Lawrence was a 3rd-century archdeacon of Rome at a time when Christianity was outlawed. He was put to death by the Romans by being 'cooked to death on a gridiron' in 258. (2) Michaelmas is the Christian feast of St Michael the Archangel celebrated on the 29th September and dates back to the 5th-century. Sources: There are good examples of Georgian buildings in the High Street, and a well preserved Tudor cottage exists at 1 Amery Street (GR: SU715393), claimed to once having been the home of the poet Edmund Spenser (1552 – 1599), although the historical facts supporting this claim are currently being disputed (Jane Hurst. Alton Papers 11 2007). Spenser was a contemporary of William Shakespeare and in some minds is considered to be the greatest English poet of his time. ‘The Faerie Queen’ is one of his better known works. He is buried in Westminster Abbey close to the grave of Chaucer.
Other notables who lived in the town include William Curtis (1746 - 1799). The Alton born influential botanist served his apprenticeship as an apothecary before devoting the rest of his life to the study of British plants. His lavishly illustrated magazine The Flower Garden Displayed launched in 1787 continues today as Kew Magazine. Curtis was also the Praefectus Horti at the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1771 to 1777 and published a pioneering work that studied all aspects of urban plant life in the six-volumed Flora Londinensis (1777 - 1798). The plant genus Curtisia is named after him and currently has but one sole species, the Curtisia dentata or Cape Lancewood, an evergreen tree native to southern Africa. Cardinal John Newman (1801-1890) was an English Catholic who lived for a short time in Alton after his father took over the Baverstock Brewery. Newman went on to become the first rector of the Catholic University of Ireland, and who made a profound impact on the thinking of the church at the time. He had an unhappy childhood it would seem as his father frequently struggled financially which probably placed severe stresses on the family.
The young John often preferred to stay at his boarding school rather than come home, as this letter written to his mother in 1834 serves to illustrate.
In 1874, he also wrote the following.
(12.210107) The nearby village of Selborne and The Wakes was the home of the Reverend Gilbert White (1720-1793), who consolidated much of his considerable knowledge of the local wildlife into his ‘Natural History of Selborne’
The Wakes is also associated with Captain Lawrence Oates (1880 - 1912) who as an explorer on Scott's perilous expedition to the South Pole uttered the immortal words before leaving the party to face his death:
Today the house is owned by the Oates Memorial Trust and there is a museum devoted to the Antarctic explorer. Sources: Jane Austen The Georgian novelist Jane Austen (1775 – 1817) lived in Chawton just outside Alton from 1809 until her death, and it is here that she wrote or revised her six novels, none of which had been published prior to her settling here. Her novels included Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park and Sense & Sensibility.
Austen’s charming red-brick 17th century Chawton House (GR: SU708375) is open to the public and many original documents, personal belongings and her donkey cart are preserved there. It was here that she lived with her widowed mother and sister Cassandra, writing on the small round table in the drawing room. An oak tree planted as a sapling by Austen stands next to the house, thatched cottages line the approach road and a large pond lay nearby. The walled garden designed between 1818 and 1822 by Edward Austen Knight, the author's brother, is today still planted with the varieties he favoured including vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers. A prolific letter writer Austen left many clues as to the ups and downs of life at Chawton. The following are extracts from letters written in 1809.
Much of Austen's fresh food came from the now defunct nearby Wood Barn Farm.
Austen, on falling seriously ill with Addison’s disease at the age of 41 at Chawton, moved into lodgings in Winchester close to her doctor, and it was there that she died. Austen is buried at Winchester Cathedral.
The Curtis Museum The Curtis Museum in the High Street started life as a series of small temporary exhibitions established by local people who wanted to provide an education into the history, nature and art of the town. In 1854 the librarian of the Alton Mechanics and Apprentices Library, one John Gale, organised the Exhibition of Works of Art and Industry and of Natural Objects which generated such a high level of interest that the proceeds from this one event alone enabled the Mechanics Institute to purchase a house in Market Street. This was converted by the members into a Reading Room and Library on the ground floor, with space set aside on the first floor for a museum to house permanent displays. Early displays were focused on local geology but also included the skulls of mammals and birds as well as examples of taxidermy. At one time there was also on display bones of a Dodo (3) and an Egyptian mummy. Dr. William Curtis (1803 - 1881) presented his collection of natural history, geological and other specimens to the museum.
The Mechanics Institute as an educational society for the people of Alton had been Curtis' vision. It had achieved that status to such great popularity that the Institute was able to raise enough money by subscription which, combined with the sale of the house in Market Street, enabled a new building to be constructed which is still the museum today. A year after the new museum opened in 1880, Curtis died and it was renamed in his memory. This Curtis is often confused by name with the botanist of the previous century. Dr Curtis was the son of Jane Austen's (see above) doctor and was related to William Curtis the botanist having descended from one of his brothers.(13.210107) Since 1945 Hampshire County Council has been responsibility for the museum which explores the history of the local area. (3) The Mauritius Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a three-foot (1m) tall flightless bird which became extinct largely due to human activity in the 17th century. Sources:
In 1907 Sir William Purdie Treloar, the Lord Mayor of London, founded Treloar's to provide education for young people with physical disabilities. The college provides specialist facilities as well as therapy and medical care to help pupils achieve their full academic potential and help build their confidence and independence. The facilities include a building housing purpose-built flats with aids to assist the severely disabled youngsters in learning how to live independently. Former pupils include the actress Julia Fernandez, the playwright and actress Robyn Hunt, and the celebrated mouth and foot artist Tom Yendell. The college recently (2007) went public over their ground-breaking 'sexuality policy' for their physically disabled teenagers over 16. The policy was designed to counter one of society's most enduring taboos, that of disability and sex. Their policy, which is officially summarised in a three-page document, has not only dramatically changed the ethos of the college but has also hugely influenced the attitudes of other institutions who are now also looking to follow their lead. The college believes that their young adults have the right to experience emotional and physical relationships, a belief that is caught on film in a documentary being screened (October 2007) by Channel 5 as part of the channel's Extraordinary People series. The film follows the story of a Treloar's student, 19-year-old Stuart Wickison who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and who speaks candidly about his emotions over personal relationships. The Watercress Line, operated by volunteers, runs through the Wey Valley with heritage steam trains over a ten mile route from Alresford to Alton, with stops at four stations en-route. The Mid-Hants Railway was opened in 1865 by the Alresford & Winchester Railway Company connecting to Southampton, Guildford and London. The section of line in operation was closed by British Railways in 1973. The Watercress Line volunteers between 1977 and 1985 succeeded in reopening the line which included having to re-lay large stretches of track which had been lifted by British Rail after closure. Engine and goods sheds, warehouses, signal boxes and signaling, and footbridges as well as original station buildings have been preserved. Various locomotives, including steam engines, and rolling stock are regularly run along the line providing trips for the public. The 30th anniversary of the line re-opening falls in April 2007 for which special celebrations are planned by Mid-Hants Railway. Few people today who have heard the phrase ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’ (often wrongly vulgarised to Sweet FA) are likely to know that its origins were based around a horrific murder, let alone that this murder occurred in Alton in the Wey Valley. On Saturday 24th August 1867 an 8 year old Hampshire girl Fanny Adams (1859 - 1867) was playing with two other children in Flood Meadow only 400 yards (365 metres) away from her home in Tan House Lane. Her mother, Harriet Adams, had no reason to suspect that the children were in any danger, and certainly not from a passing solicitor’s clerk who worked locally. What drove the 29 year old Frederick Baker to murder little Fanny was never publicised, however the extreme violence Baker used paralysed the whole country to such an extent that their utter disbelief was immortalised forever in the phrase, ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’. The victim had been decapitated and brutally mutilated, with her body parts scattered over a wide area. Grotesquely the phrase was popularised by sailors in the Royal Navy who on being presented with the newly introduced tinned meat said that the tins contained the remains of ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’. Baker was arrested within hours still in his bloodstained clothing having coldly written in his diary: ‘killed a young girl.’ The trial was held at Winchester Assizes in December of that year, with the jury taking a mere 15 minutes to deliver their unanimous guilty verdict. In front of a crowd of 5,000 angry spectators Baker was hanged outside the county prison in Winchester, the last public hanging to be held at Winchester.
Fanny Adams was buried in the churchyard at Alton cemetery in Old Odiham Road.
Several of the town’s public houses display replicas of the public execution notices. These include The Crown and Eight Bells. Not far from Alton, and close to the River Wey, is the Alice Holt Forest (GR: SU810420) . Famous for its oak trees and home to the spectacular Purple Emperor butterfly, the forest is open to the public. MORE ON ALICE HOLT FOREST
The only press commercially producing cider in the Wey Valley is Mr Whitehead's Cider Company in Selborne just outside Alton. Established in 2003 by Angus Whitehead, who had been producing fruit-based drinks as a hobby since the age of fifteen, Mr Whitehead's has gone on to win awards and establish a rapidly growing network of outlets for its products. The company, which uses traditional production methods, pressed 60 tonnes of apples to produce its first output of 50,000 litres of cider which went on sale in the spring of 2004. The pressing process takes place from late August through to Christmas and on into January. The majority of apples and pears Mr Whitehead's use are grown on the south-east facing Hampshire Downs of the neighbouring Blackmoor Farm Estate in Selborne. Currently producing over 350,000 pints of cider Mr Whitehead's are targeting a one million pint output by 2010. Their first award was for Best Cider at the 2004 Huddersfield Beer Festival. The company was awarded the Bronze Medal in the 2006 CAMRA National Cider and Perry competition for their Perry Midnight Special and was named Hampshire Drinks Producer of the Year by Hampshire Life Magazine in the same year. They were also chosen by Michelin Star Indian chef Atul Kochhar as his preferred supplier of cider for his dessert creations in the BBC's Great British Menu series. In 2008 Mr Whitehead's announced that they were to join forces with the Hogs Back Brewery near Farnham (MORE HERE) in order to consolidate their sales and distribution efforts. Hog's Back will be taking on Mr Whitehead's product range which complements their own. MORE ABOUT ALTON ALONG THE WEY NAVIGATE THE RIVER PROPER BY MAP EXPLORE THE NAVIGATIONS BY OUR INTERACTIVE MAP © Wey River 2005 - 2008 |
