About six miles to the
west of Alton is the scattered village divided into Upper and Lower
Wield. There are some lovely thatched cottages and the fact that it is
away from any main road and set in the midst of a lot of woodland
makes this one of the most pleasant and attractive areas in the
district.
There is a lovely Norman
church and on its interior walls it has traces of old paintings, there
is a carved Norman doorway which has a runes dial over it, and arcade
font and a chalice from the 16th century.
The church of St James, has
some splendid alabaster monument that shows the fighures of Sir William
Wallop, who was the High Sheriff of Hampshire and Mayor of Southampton a
total of three times. Beside him is his third wife, he is dressed in
armour from the Tudor era while his wife is in a simple dress with lace
cuffs on the sleeve.
Upper Wield is what is
called a 'green' village which means it has a village green with his
houses laid out formally around it, while Lower Wield is a 'street'
village with the houses strung mainly along a single road.
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The memorial to the Wallops
is not only a beautiful piece of alabaster carving but the inscription
'is a remarkable piece of snobbery' that eulogises Henry's brother and
seems to forget who it is to until the very end. This long epitaph draws
a picture of his uncle Sir John Wallop, who died in 1617, and who
had a good relationship with Henry VIII and went abroad as an ambassador
and was said to be a Naval Admiral and a captain of a thousand
mercenaries that fought the French.
There is also an rather
lovely carved memorial to a mother who died in childbirth in the same
year.Just outside the churchyard can be found the small post office
which has a good show of seasonal flowers growing all through the year.
Left:
The memorial to
Henry Wallop and his wife
Right: The interior of St
James at Upper Wield
showing one of the interior wall paintings
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IMAGES OF WIELD
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Lower
Wield village approach
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Thatched cottage at Lower Wield
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Norman Church of
St James Upper Wield
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Thatched and half
timbered cottages
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Another inside
view of the church at Upper Wield
looking towards the rear, note the gallery along
the back wall
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