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| Lying about four miles north of Romsey and about
a mile to the east of King's Somborne is the parish of Ashley which
covers around 742 hectares but has a population of around 40! It is here
that the old Roman Road from Winchester to Old Sarum crosses the
Southern part of the parish while to the North lies a large oblong
earthworks. The eastern boundary of the parish is part of the Forestry
commissions plantation in Sparsholt Parish. The village itself is in the North East corner of the parish and is surrounded by large arable fields on rolling chalk uplands. There are some very attractive cottages that date back to the 15th century and St Mary's, the parish church is of Norman foundations. Although the church is now redundant it has been restored with aid from the Redundant Churches Fund, and contains many interesting mediaeval features. A 500 year old head greets the visitor on opening the inside door!
On the outside wall can be found two mass dials and there are two small windows to the chancel with a four feet wide chancel arch, which are about 800 years old, on both sides of the arch a large peephole can be seen. A Memorial to Abraham Weeks a lover of mankind and two more show two different Thomas Hobbs, the father being a doctor and the son, who drowned in the River Rhine in Germany during the reign of Queen Anne, at the age of 17 years The window that depicts a picture of a saint holding a book is about 600 years old. The font is Norman and the stoup inside the door is from around the 13th century. One unusual thing is that the chancel inclines to the altar and there are several 18th century traces still in evidence. THE HISTORY OF ST MARY's CHURCH
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