St Catherine's church is also listed in William of Wykeham's register of the 14th century Littleton got its name from 'Littletone' which was recorded for the first time in 1171 when the revenues from the church were paid to the Guest master at St  Swithun's Priory in aid of hospitality for pilgrims.

The Middle Ages saw the main source of prosperity in sheep farming the yearly receipts for wool reaching £15 13s 1d. Many people perished in this century due to the Black Death and a lot of rents were unpaid in 1364 The Manor of Littleton passed to the Dean and Charter of Winchester Cathedral at the Dissolution of the Monasteries and by the 1960s most of the parish near its boundary with the City was built up considerably with new housing formed to form the estate of Harestock.

St Catherine's (rebuilt in 1884-5),stands on a small knoll beside the road,  and  St Catherine was the Martyr of Alexandria who was a popular saint in the Middle ages.

The church at Littleton

The church was known as  the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, originally St. Katherine and today the church of St. Catherine, Littleton, and the story of the Catherine Wheel is well known.

There is a rather odd tombstone by the door of the church and this is to the Temperance, who was the wife of Richard Fiffield of Head Borinwoorthy, which is Headbourne Worthy.

The grave of Temperence, wife of Richard Fiffild

Monks Rest, Littleton

Outside an adjoining the churchyard is Monks Rest which was built c1500 and was originally a type of house called a hall which was open to the roof but has had many alterations done to it. These hall houses were traditionally attached to the church to be used as a rest house for sick months from St Swithun's Priory in Winchester and in 1871 an extension was added for it to be used as a Church of England school that eventually closed in 1909 but reopened again from 1918 to 1921 then a while later it actually became the village school. Two bronze age barrows can be found nearby in the recreation ground and the disc barrow has a diameter of almost 200feet and is recorded as one of the largest of its type in England. Another relic of the past is a Sarsen stone that was discovered somewhere in the chalklands and these were used in the construction of stone circles and burial places in prehistoric times and were referred to as grey wethers from the fact that from a distance they look like sheep grazing. The local pub The Running Horse was an 18th century alehouse and its appearance has changed very little over the years. It is said that it may have originally been called The Runner and was a private house, whether this was done in honour of the village having a connection with thoroughbred horses (there is a stud here today) we are not sure. But the first public house was on a different site and dted 1716 when an alehouse licence was granted. The Tithe Commutation Award of 1839 says the next licensee was George Grace and also  the very first time the name Running Horse is mentioned. A local historian, the Rev Tanner, who lived in the village in the 1920s relates that"

ST CATHERINE'S CHURCH
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