| Old Alresford | ||||||||||||||||||||
| A couple of miles outside of
New Alresford
and to the north on the B3046 lies Old Alresford and excavations have
revealed there was once an earlier settlement here before the discovery
of a Roman Villa near Pinglestone Farm. The original village though was completed destroyed by fire in 1160 and Bishop de Lucy decided to re-create the village. The causeway which is known by the locals as the Great Weir and said to be the greatest medieval construction in England as it still serves its purpose as a road an dam, forms the Alresford Pond which was used to drain New Alresford.
When coming to the village from the New Alresford direction the first thing you see is the domineering tower of St Mary the Virgin standing like a sentinel to the righ of the road. The church was rebuilt during 1753 on what was originally the site of a Saxon church. Inside this red bricked building is a beautiful memorial to Jane who was the first Lady Rodney and who died while in childbirth and behind the church are more Rodney memorial stones. The church is more noted for the wife of one of its rectors, George Summers who eventually became Sufragan Bishop of Guildford's wife Mary is known as being the founder of the Mothers Union in 1875 and this has steadily grown into a world wide organisation. It is said that she held her first meetings here in the old rectory.
Nearby is the village of Abbotstone which has remains of a deserted village, that came about by being badly hit by the Black Death in 1349 - 1350. It slowly declined and in a the 18th century a lot of agriculture workers left to start a new life in the towns. Old Alresford is also known for its watercress and this has brought some employment to the area and you can easily get stuck behind a huge juggernaut negotiating the narrow lanes on its way to the watercress beds. The lovely village green is also common land but before 1967 the village centre was an extremely muddy place which was full of weeds and nettles. The land was bought by the village and teams of volunteers built a drainage system to help pipe water into the brook after which it was covered with soil and grass sown and now a village faire is held on the first Saturday in June and on November 5th a huge bonfire and firework display is held History of St
Mary the Virgin Church IMAGES OF OLD ALRESFORD
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