Blink and you drive past it! I was told when I asked directions for Curdridge one day but it is a fairly large village with a lot of modern building that has been going on over the years. St Peters is the parish church and stands proudly just in front of the old school with its own personal bell tower. The church was consecrated in 1888 by the then Bishop of Winchester the Rt Revd E.H.Browne and the wardens were Paymaster in Chief Sir J.S.Moore Royal Navy and Mr E.H, Liddell whos father was the Very Revd Dr Henry C Liddell who was the Dean of Christ Church in Oxford and also held the post of Chaplain to Queen Victoria. One of Mr Liddell's five sisters is also a well know figure as she was Alice the girl who was Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through The Looking  Glass, in the stories by Lewis Carroll By the railway station in nearby Botley can be found a drinking fountain that comes from the Victorian era and it has the following inscription upon it....  "This Stone is Erected to Perpetuate a Most Cruel Murder Committed on the Body of Thomas Webb a Poor Inhabitant of Swanmore on the llth of February 1800 by John Diggins a Private Soldier In the Talbot Fencibles Whose remains are Gibbeted on the adjoining Common'.

But there are a couple of mistakes in this inscription as Talbot should have been Tarber and Diggins was Diggon, Fencibles was a shortened version of Defensibles and these were the volunteer soldiers who had been formed and paid for by the wealthy men of the area and The Fencibles here was a regiment that was formed in Tarbert County Kerry Ireland.

But alas the monument has a couple of errors! 'Talbot' should be 'Tarbert' and 'Diggins' should be 'Diggon'.  Fencibles (was short for Defensibles) and these were volunteer soldiers that had been raised and paid for by wealthy men or local bodies. The Fencibles mentioned was a  regiment was formed in Tarbert, county Kerry, Ireland.

The Porch		The gargoyles that surround the top of the tower
The Village School		The School bell
The village war memorial which stands at the front of St Peter's church was dedicated in October 1920 and 29 years later memorial tablets to those who gave their lives in the Second World War were added.

Thomas Webb has in fact been described in the Hampshire Chronicle as a 'poor old travelling man' who had been ambushed by three soldiers who not only robbed him of a few shillings, but also stabbed him then tossed his body in a ditch to die.

But though badly wounded and bloodsoaked he crawled to a nearby house where Mr Daniel Barfoot lived and it was he who tended him and called for a doctor.

Sadly the doctor arrived too late as Webb died a few minutes later, but he did manage to describe his attackers in detail and this then led to the arrest  and the charge of murder being given to two soldiers from the barracks that were then at Botley. But two of then were set free through lack of evidence but the third man called Diggon was found guilty and sentenced to death. Several others were also arrested and charged with various crimes that include both burglary and theft by not one of them used violence but they were also sentence to hang, later though some of them were reprieved and served prison sentences instead. Diggon was in fact hung on 10th March one month after he had committed the crime and his body was then carried to Curdridge Common where it was hung in chains on the gibbet.

Also recorded for that same date were several other men who were charged with various crimes including theft and burglary and even no violence was used by them they were also sentenced to be hung, though a lot of them were later reprieved.

Diggon was executed on 10th March a month after the offence was committed and his body was then transported to Curdridge Common where it was hung in chains on the gibbet.

HISTORY OF ST PETERS CHURCH