I did not know what to expect when I arrived as I had not been there since I was a child but was pleasantly surprised. This village is like a chocolate box picture, gone is the roar of heavy traffic, the only noise is the singing of birds or the gentle lowing of cattle in nearby fields or maybe the occasional car passing through.

What a lot of people who come here do not realise is that when you are at Micheldever station you are also level with the cross on the dome of St Paul's cathedral in London!

The village in the 9th century was known as Mychedefer but as time passed it went to Micheldeura in the 12th and Mucheldever from the 13th to 15th centuries though nobody seems to know when and where Micheldever was used, the name is derived from Dever which means watery and refers to the little River Dever which rises in Stratton Park to join up with the Test at Wherwell, (its true name though is North Brook), and the Michel comes from Much so it was Much Water. There used to be a mill at Weston Colley which was recorded in the Domesday Book and is the oldest mill in Hampshire, it had machinery made of wood which was recently removed and it is now a private house with the stream running underneath,  and there was also a fishery here in 904AD

This little village has progressed rapidly from just being a junction of two old tracks one from Stockbridge  to Alton and the other from Overton to Winchester.

The main road through Micheldever

There is evidence that the village was settled in prehistoric times and the Romans were also her and in Micheldever Wood there is the foundations of a Roman Villa and coins were found here from around 380AD.

Micheldever is as I described it above a chocolate box village with its lovely well preserved thatched timbered framed white cottages that line the roads and the best of these are Bluebell Cottage, The Old Cottage, Perry's Acre and the Old Post office below. All modern developments have been kept to one end of the village so it does not detract from the view.

The old Post Office opposite St Mary's church, Micheldever

Even though the Victorian and modern houses remain in the background as much as possible there is one that does not follow that rule and it has been standing derelict for years with its old bow-windowed shop front and an advertisement for Wills Wild Woodbines!

St Mary's church Micheldever

The church is dedicated to St Mary and is one of the oddest churches in the county, for when the restoration took place from 1808-9 a brick octagonal nave was constructed and this can look a bit weird when first seen but it seems to grow on you and the beauty of it can be seen and appreciated, as can the architectural quality. The man responsible for this was George Dance junior who had previously done a similar design at St Bartholomew the Less in London and he being an unorthodox architect was never afraid to try some new and radical.

Two carved monuments dedicated to the Baring family in St Mary's Church

Inside the church can be found three monuments all to the Baring family and by the same sculptor, Flaxman and these date from 1801 up to 1813. Sir Francis Baring was the founder of the famous Baring Bank and he is buried underneath the chancel. In an unmarked grave is a man with a strange tale, Henry Cook was hanged in 1830 at the tender age of 19 and he is said to have knocked the hat off of a Justice of the Peace. The trouble was he knocked it off with a sledgehammer  in the middle of a local riot, hence he was charged with attempted murder! That Justice was William Baring the son of Sir Francis and he himself was later charged with beating a prisoner in handcuffs in 1830 with a stick and for this brutal attack paid damages totalling £50

MICHELDEVER STATION
The station lies nearly 2½ miles north of the village and was constructed in 1840, it was the only station on that 19 mile stretch of line between Winchester and Basingstoke. There has hardly been any changes to the building since it was built and it was known as Andover Road station till 1856 as Andover did not get its own station until later. The building has a tall chimney and also a verandah that was designed by Sir William Tite who did the designs for Winchester Station, Southampton Terminus and Gosport.

It was in 1840 that the line from London (Waterloo) to Southampton was opened and it was a great success for thousands joined in the celebrations and the Hurstbourne Brass Band attended using the flat roof of the station colonnade as a bandstand! Whenever a train passed through the station a local artillery unit fire a salute. The Hampshire Chronicle reported that 500 or so invited guests attended a cold lunch and that an unlimited supply of wine and champagne was on hand and the railway workers had an ox roasted on a spit with strong beer.

Today the M3 motorway from London to Southampton cuts through Micheldever wood and the care an maintenance of this wood has been by the Forestry Commission since 1927. Remains have been found of an ancient settlement which is said to be Bronze Age and Roman settlements were also here

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN
THE MICHELDEVER MARTYRS

IMAGES OF MICHELDEVER

St Mary's Church with the flag of St George flying		The interior of St Mary's showing the new nave
Half timbered white cottages line the roads in Micheldever
More half timbered white cottages in Micheldever
An old funeral bier in the entrance to St Mary's Church		The 'Half Moon and Spread Eagle' formerly the Dever Arms
The village school		Rook Lane
Rook Lane looking up from the main road		The font in St Mary's Church
Cottages in the village
Cottages in the village, the ones on the right are Bramley Cottage and the others are named after flowers