East Tytherley
Lying not far from Romsey is one of Hampshire's smallest villages East Tytherley, and its old English name suggests that it was once a 'little place with water and pasturage'. The village was much loved by Queen Philippa and her husband Edward III bestowed it to her in 1335, and during the time of the Black Death she brought here court here for safety, but two of her courtiers were already infected and very soon over three quarters of the villages became infected and died.


St Peters Church


The dead were buried in shrouds that were mad by Flemish weaver that Philippa had granted sanctuary to as they were persecuted in their own country. Later the queen made a temporary court here and today Queenwood and Queen's Croft are a reminder of those past times when plague was rife in the country.

At the end of the English Civil War the lords of the manor were the Rolles family and they remained there until the 1800s adding a bit of history to the village and Sarah Rolle granted a charitable school in 1736 and it is is still going strong today.


Another view of St Peters with a helmet with a raised fist that can be found on the wall inside

Built in 1250 the church of St Peter was never changed until a bell tower and a porch were added in 1863 and the first incumbent who actually lived here was a shoemaker from nearby Broughton and he took office in 1803.

The west end of the church has a small gallery where a small orchestra consisting of local people played. I say orchestra as this was unlike any orchestra of today as it consisted of a clarinet, bassoon, flute, bass viola and a bugle!

As with all villages there is certain to be an oddity or an eccentric and East Tytherley is no exception, in this case it was General Jonathon Yates who was the uncle of Sir Robert Peel (the founder of the police force) who leased the manor house and though he was supposedly of a low morality he was a much like man in the area. And it is said that he laid turf in one of the rooms in the manor for cock fighting. He lived to a ripe old age and it is said that it was Brandy that finally put him to rest.

The village pub, The Star Inn is the centrepoint of the village and it is here that many battles are planned and won, albeit they are local cricket and skittle matches as the village is a happy close knit community with a sense of competition!

It was here that the electric telegraph was invented and as a reminder of those far off pioneering days there is Telegraph Hill and Telegraph house which was purchased as part of the estate by a Sir William Fothergill Cooke in 1849. Though Cooke is said to have made the first transmission at Treeton near Rotherham Yorkshire.