| Woodlands (Kingsclere) |
| The parish of Ashford
Hill with Headley has its roots in the ancient
parish of Kingsclere (originally known in medieval
times as Clere, later Clere Regis) and was the
northern part of this parish. Domesday Book mentions 11
tithings of Kingsclere one of which was Clere Woodcott
and in 12th Century the area was known as
'Woodlands in Kingsclere' and in the last century
simply as Woodlands. It is a largely rural area with little industry although it has a long history of forestry and woodland crafts with much of the woodland being coppiced. There has been little of the large scale building and infrastructure development which have changed completely the neighbouring parishes of Berkshire and Hampshire. In 1841 the separate
parish of Kingsclere Woodlands was formed in its own
right. That name survived until 1987 when with no
boundary changes it became Ashford Hill with
Headley. The same name is used for both the local
government (within Basingstoke and Deane) and
ecclesiastical purposes the parish consists of what
is now Wheathold Green, Fair Oak, Ashford Hill,
Plastow Green, Goose Hill, Mill Green, Headley Common,
Axmansford, Haughurst Hill, Little Aldershot and
parts of Wolverton Common. The northern boundary with
Berkshire follows the river Enborne. After 1850 the
parish church of St. Paul and the parish school served
the whole area until Headley gained its own church
(St. Peter) in 1868 and school in 1873. Methodism
gained a strong foothold in the area from about
1830 and by the end of the 19th Century there were four
chapels in the area. There have been Baptists in
Headley since the early 1800s. In 1908 the whole
area was threatened by proposals to flood the Enborne
Valley up to the 300' contour to provide water for
London. This scheme was abandoned but revived in
1948. The plan generated considerable opposition in the
country as a whole and local opposition had a
strong support in Aneurin Bevan who lived just
outside the parish. In the end geological surveys
suggested the underlying strata was unsuitable and
the scheme was dropped, for the time being at least. The 'top ten' surnames in
1851 and 1861 were Smith, Seward, Foster, Webb,
North, Harmsworth, Butler, Rabbits and Hutchins with
John, William, James and George being the most
common male first names and Sarah, Elizabeth, Ann
and Mary the most common female names. The population
peaked around 1861 at about 1400 people. In 1861
there were 40 farmers employing around 300 men and
boys. There was a miller, a malster and a tanner.
Building provided jobs for around 30 men with
brickworks at Holdrup Hill providing the materials and
carpenters Thatchers and a housepainter to do the work. 4
blacksmiths, various carters, grooms etc. provided
transportation and the 6 shoemakers would have been
kept busy. The parish had only two schoolteachers, one
clergyman but five lawyers!! The woodland nature of the
area is characterised by a number of wood dealers,
woodmen and sawyers. Specialist related trades were lath
cleaver, bark scraper, rod stripper, rake maker and
clock case maker.
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