| Sparsholt & Lainston | ||||||||||||
Sparsholt and Lainston lies a couple of miles outside of Winchester and the Parish is in Buddlesgate Hundred and was a part of the Manor of Chilcomb, grante to the church at Winchester in 908AD by King Edward the Elder. Stigand who was the Bishop of Winchester between 1050 and 1060 signed a charter that sold part of the land at Sparsholt to private owners. This charter had been witnessed by monks from Old Minster and also Alfwin, Abbot of New Minster and his monks. Sparsholt pronounced “Spar - sholt” (not “Spars - holt”), the name derives from two old English words: Spar - a straight timber for making spears, roof timbers, etc. Holt - an area of managed woodland. Thus, rural industry, reflected in the local name, continues to be taught and promoted in its modern forms by Sparsholt College (which was established in 1899) today. Sparsholt though was not mentioned by name in the Domesday Survey of 1086 but it was included in the Manor of Chilcomb which later became the Manor of Barton and Buddlesgate. Like a lot of parishes, Sparsholt was a collection of one or more manors that were within the boundary. A dispute arose during the 13th century between two families and so the land was split into different holdings. The de Caritate family held the lands that were known as the Manor of Lainston, and the other family took the name of Sparsholt and held the Manors of Westley and Fromond's Court. In 1342 Lainston Manor was held by the de Wintons but Richard de Winton was in debt in 1383 and was sent to prison and died shortly after, thence the manor passed to the Skilling family and it remained with them until 1613 when it was sold to the Dawley family. Anthony Dawley was High Sheriff of Hampshire in 1707, and he in 1711, sold the manor to Sir Philip Meadows. The Sparsholt family granted a parcel of land to Stephen Fromond in 1258 and this part of the Manor of Sparsholt became known as Fromond's Court. The land eventually passed to the Skillings who combined it with their Manor of Lainston. The Coldrey family were granted the Manor of Westley in the 13th or 14th century and this ultimately passed to the Skilling family of Lainston
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