A chart dated 1205 confirmed the grant of the land to the Prior and Convent of St Swithun and it stayed with them until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It was granted to the Dean and Chapter of Winchester by Henry VIII in 1541, and the maintenance of six theology students at both Oxford and Cambridge was ordered. It was in 1544 that the king changed this and the manor was then granted to Thomas Wriothesley the Earl of Southampton and in whose family it remained until 1677.

The manors of Hall Park, Coombe and Woodlands were also in the West Meon parish and held by the Wriothesley family. Punsholt Manor was first recorded in 1341 and this was held by Walter de Ticheborne and later combined with the manor of  West Tisted and followed the same descent. Punsholt Farm in the north of the parish was the site of the manor.

Leading up to  the Battle of Cheriton on 19 March 1644 the parish endured several skirmishes.

The villages of West Meon is at the bottom of a green valley and it has some pretty little cottages, its flint church was rebuilt during the  Victorian era and the only thing from the old church today is the Jacobean altar table.

Cottages at West Meon

This is a large village that sits on the banks of the River Aire or Meon and is eight miles to the west of Petersfield in the Droxford union and county court district of Meon Stoke Hundred and in 1871 there were around 931 people living here. and included the hamlet of Woodlands which lies two miles north of the village, The executors of John Dunn Esq., were the lords of the manor but the land belonged to various free and copyholders among whom were Viscount Gale and the Carter, Hicks, Woods, Lewis and Nicholson families.

The rectory is a large and handsome mansion built by Mrs Touchett in 1827.

The church is dedicated to St John the Evangelist and was built on the side of the ancient church between 1843-1846 in Early English style.

The Primitive Methodist Chapel was built in 1872 but is now closed and the Schools with a schoolhouse was built in 1852-3 most of the money was contributed by Mrs Touchett. There was a Coal and Shoe Club which was managed by the rector and al large lending library, Post and Money Order Office and Savings bank was at Mr John Bridgen's. Two Blacksmiths were here John Burrows and Felix Bono and a tailor William Beagley and Mrs Jane Bridgen, milliner and dressmaker.

George Brown a local farmer also ran the Three Horseshoes public house on the old road to Alton which is now a family home while James Forder was the victualler at the White House also now a private residence, Mrs Eliza Baily was victualler at The George Inn which is also no longer in the village,

In the churchyard there is the name of a man whose memory will live on in London, he is Thomas Lord and was the founder and owner of the original Lord's Cricket Ground which despite changes in the building of houses, cutting of canals and making of railways still kept its founders name and is the home of the Marylebone Cricket Club the main authority of the national game of cricket. Thomas Lord came to West Meon in 1830 to enjoy the last days of his life as a farmer. (photograph kindly donated by Alan Earwaker)

Westbury House stands partially hidden by trees on the road to East meon and also the ruins of a tiny chapel that was built during the fourteenth century by Robert le Ewer, who was lord of the manor at that time. It is now a school for boys and his grave is said to be in front of the small chapel but it is unmarked. The house was built in the 20th century but a house with the same name is recorded in the Domesday Book. There is a windows from mediaeval times with a figure of a knight in relief carved upon it.

A view of West Meon village looking towards the war memorial

St John the Evangelist Church, West Meon		Another view of St Johns church (kindly donated by Alan Earwaker)

A SPY STORY

The Russian spy Donald McLean who worked for the Foreign Office and was helped by the other spy Guy Burgess to escape to Russia in 1951 both escaped via Southampton and re-appeared in Russia. Burgess though found it hard to live in Russia and once tried to return to visit Britain.

When Burgess died in 1963 his mother requested that his ashes be returned to the UK for burial and they were brought back by Guy Burgess's brother after he attended the cremation in Moscow in an earthenware container decorated in Russian script .

The ashes were then buried in the family plot in West Meon churchyard during the hours of darkness on Saturday 5th October 1963 as it was feared there would be a confrontation with reporters and local people. But now his name has been added to the cross on the grave and it can be found to the north of the tower and about threequarters of the way up the embankment.. The front of the cross is inscribed: "Malcolm Kingford de Money Burgess died 1924"  and this relates to his father and "Guy Francis De Money Burgess d. 30 August 1963"

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST

The view from St John the Evangelist Church
The West Meon Hut

THE WEST MEON GHOST

Not only is the village the centre of spy stories but also a ghost story as well. There are mischievous spirits that seem to haunt certain houses especially where there are children but the strange tale that unfolded in 1770 where an elderly gentleman lived in West Meon Poor House revealed many years before the then tenant Sir Ralph Stewklkey, had asked for new floorboards to be removed from the dining room, he then hid a small bundle in the gap and the boards nailed back down.
When the house was demolished it was noted that a small skull was found under the floor of one of the room, Only the fact was recorded and no investigations took place, had their been a murder? And was the Manor house haunted?