The church of St Swithun

The name Headbourne is said to apply to the head waters of a stream which flows south to Hyde Abbey in Winchester, but the 10th century name 'Hideburninga' was in use long before the building of the Abbey in AD1110.

The Manor of Headbourne Worthy which is also known as Worthy Mortimer was said to have been given to St Swithun's Priory by King Egbert during the 9th century and the land is again mentioned in a 10th century charter of Edward the Elder as being a marker of the boundary of property belonging to St Swithun's.

When Edward the Confessor was on the throne it was sold again and at the time of the Domesday Survey it was in the hands of Ralph Mortimer and it stayed in his family up till the 15th century. The Duke of York succeeded to the estate in 1424 and this then passed to Elizabeth, Queen of Henry Vii and then on to Henry VIII and Jane Seymour.

The manor was again bought in the 17th century by Sir Thomas Clerke who also held Worthy Pauncefoot. This small Manor was held by Earl Godwin from Edward the Confessor but when the Domesday Survey was conducted it was in the hands of Bernard Pauncefoot, and his descendents held the estate until for over 400 years. The manor was again sold in 1562 to William Bethell and they held it until 1594 when it was sold to Thomas Clerk who then acquired the Manor of Headbourne Worthy a few years after

One of the villages best known residents was a cow that strayed onto the railway tracks and ran into the side of a railway carriage as the train was passing Winchester junction in January 1956. The cow belonged to a Mr J Bragg of the village, and the beast was dragged into Winchester before the train could be stopped and the animal detached and dealt with before the train carried on.