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St Katherine of All Saints Church |
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"Quitting Whitchurch, I went off
to the left out of the Winchester-road, got out upon the high-lands,
took an 'observation,' as the sailors call it, and off I rode, in a
straight line, over hedge and ditch, towards the rising ground
between Stratton Park and Micheldever-Wood; but, before I reached
this point, I found some wet meadows and some running water in my
way in a little valley running up from the turnpike road to a little
place called West Stratton. I, therefore, turned to my left, went
along by Stratton Park pales down East Stratton-street, and then on
towards the Grange Park. Stratton Park is the seat of Sir THOMAS
BARING, who has here several thousand of acres of land; who has the
living of Micheldever, to which, I think, Northington and
Swallowfield are joined. Above all, he has Micheldever Wood, which,
they say, contains a thousand acres, and which is one of the finest
oak-woods in England. This large and very beautiful estate must have
belonged to the Church at the time of Henry the Eighth's
'reformation'. It was, I believe, given by him to the family of
Russell; and, it was, by them, sold to Sir Francis Baring about
twenty years ago. ... A little girl, of whom I asked my way down
into East Stratton, and who was dressed in a camlet gown, white
apron and plaid cloak (it was Sunday), and who had a book in her
hand, told me that Lady Baring gave her the clothes, and had her
taught to read and to sing hymns and spiritual songs................
...............As I came through the Strattons I saw not less than a
dozen girls clad in this same way. It is impossible not to believe
that this is done with a good motive; but, is possible to not to
believe that it is productive of good. It must create hypocrites,
and hypocrisy is the great sin of the age. Society is in a queer
state when the rich think, that they must educate the poor in order
to insure their own safety: for this, at bottom, is the great motive
now at work in pushing on the education scheme, though in this
particular case, perhaps, there may be a little enthusiasm at work.
When persons are glutted with riches; when they have their fill of
them; when are surfeited of all earthly pursuits, they are very apt
to begin to think about the next world; and, the moment they begin
to think of that, they begin to look over the account that they
shall have to present. Hence the far greater part of what are called
'charities.' But, it is the business of governments to take care
that there shall be very little of this glutting with riches, and
very little need of 'charities.'"
From William Cobbett's Hampshire 1830 |
| Lying east
of Micheldever, on ground which rises from a height of 296ft
above the ordnance datum in the south to nearly 400 in the
north, is the 1,997 acres of land that make up te village of
East Stratton.The main Winchester to London road follows most
of the way via the old Roman road and enters the parish north
of Micheldever Wood not far from one of the entrances to
Stratton Park, the seat of Lord Northbrook. It then continues
north towards Popham and runs for about two miles along the
western border of the Park forming the western boundary of the
parish. Stratton Park is the main feature of the parish and
has a long stretch of woodland where Embley and Biddles Wood
lead on to Rownest and College Woods outside the northern
boundary of East Stratton.
The modern church stands north
opposite East Stratton farm and here can be found some
picturesque thatched cottages on the junctionof the road, the
south branch leading to the Plough Inn and thence on towards
northington.The north branch sweeps sharply down past more
cottages behind brick walls to a low metal fence and gate
leading across the park to Stratton House.
(pictured left are Thatchers at work on
one of the cottages during the 1930s)
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| Annexed to
Micheldever vicarage is the parsonage house but the
modern day incumbent resides at Micheldever. At the lower end
of the village and just inside the park is the village school,
built in 1850, and to the east of the stone cross which marks
the site of the original church.
Stratton House is a modern
building with a stone portico and dates back to the time of
Sir Francis Baring who purchased the estate in 1801. One part
of a wing though is older and is said to be from the latter
part of the 17th century and to have been the home of the ill
fated William Lord Russell.
The house has a great
collection of pictures though some of the best are now kept at
Lord Northbrook's London home. Two large paintings by Vandyck
of Queen Henrietta Maria with the dwarf Sir Jeffrey Hudson,
and of the earl of Newbury are among the best.
East Stratton was granted along
with West Stratton to the New Minster around 900, the lands
were held of the abbey ins small parcels. the grange or
manor-house was leased with the desmesne lands from time to
time, the lessees in 1539 being Robert Clerke and his two sons
William and Walter. When Hyde Abbey was surrendered the manor
was seized by the crown and sold to Edmund Clerke and his wife
Margaret in 1544, he was one of the clerks of the Privy
Seal and then two years later it was bought by Sir Thomas
Wriothesley the Earl of Southampton. The last Earl of
Southampton made Stratton Park one of his main seats and Lord
Russell his son in law demolished part of the hamlet and added
it to his deer park.
St Katherine of All Saints
church was begun in 1873 as a replacement for the old church
that had stood in the park and removed by the Earl of
Northbrook and Francis Baring. It is in a 15th century style
and was designed by T.G. Jackson in chalk with a flint face,
there is a tower on the north which also has a spire. The
registers were incorporated with those of Micheldever from
1540 down to 1813.
The church has recently been
restored and has stained glass windows that show the
Evangelists
A large brick and flint barn
that belongs to a nearby farm and the village church is a
dominant feature of the crossroads in the village and to the
south there are a few two storey thatched houses and an
18th century pub, not far from the latter is what remains of
the village well.
The pub, The Plough is one of a
few examples of an unchanged village pub, even though it has
had a skittles alley and car park added. Near the crossroads
in Baileys End are some half-timbered cottages and further on
a cross in a field shows there the original church used to be
(1308) and the village school which was built in the 19th
century is now boarded up.
A few columns remain in a
water-meadow marking the position of what was once Palladian
Stratton Manor.
The remains of an Ice House can be found
at Stratton Park.
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| The Northbrook Arms |
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The Northbrook Coat
of Arms |
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| Main street in the
village |
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The tower and spire
of the church |
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| A quiet
corner at the crossroads |
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The old
post office |
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| The
Church porch |
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The door
showing the two heads |
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The two heads that stand guard at the
door |
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