Yateley is the largest parish in Hart District and it reaches north from the A30 trunk road to the River Blackwater which makes up the Hampshire border with Berkshire. This rapidly growing township, which includes the area of Darby Green and Frogmore and also most of Blackbush Airport, is also one of Hampshire's newest towns as in 1891 Yately had a population of around 1,200 and this has grown to around 20,000.  The parish church is dedicated to St Peter and was built in the 13th century, in 1979 there was a serious fire which caused a lot of damage but the tower survived and this is classed as one of the best timber framed towers in the country, There is also a rare lych gate here as it pivots in the centre, this is called a tapsell gate in Sussex. DIARY OF THE FIRE Click on History then Fire At the time of the Civil War there was a lot of activity in this area and a number of infamous characters are linked to the town. These include Guy Fawkes, Parson Darby and Captain Blood. An 18th century fishpond known as Wyndahams Pool can be accessed from Cricket Hill Lane and another is Stroud's Pond which is just off the A30
The Dog and Partridge public house

St Peter's Church		The pivoting lych gate

Taken from the booklet St Peter's Church and Yateley, Hampshire 1979 - 1981
by Sydney Loader

This part of the Blackwater valley seems to have been inhabited from the earliest times. Stone Age men have thoughtfully left axe- heads, arrow-heads and pottery in evidence.

In geological terms it is interesting to discover that we were once on the shore of a tropical sea which covered much of southern England and reached well over the continent. Under the gravel deposited by the melting ice rushing down the then mighty Blackwater we find shells, sharks’ teeth and the mandibles of Sting Ray.

The oldest name we have is of the river Blackwater, Dudda’s Brook in Saxon times, derived from the Celtic Dhu dwr, the dark brook.

The name Yateley is thought to have come from Yat or Yet, a gate, referring to the old road (the A.30) entering the county, and Ley, a clearing in the forest where the cattle grazed — so, a settled community in a well-watered valley.
In recorded history Yateley was part of the Manor of Crondall, owned by King Alfred and left in his will to his nephew Ethelm in 885. In 940 the Manor of Crondall belonged to the Old Monastery at Winchester.

The parish boundaries, as set out in King Edgar’s charter of 975, included Hawley, Minley and Cove, reaching out to Laffan’s Plain at Farnborough.
In the Domesday Book we find that there were 14 farms, a mill, and a church. Most of these farms can still be traced. The Saxon Lord of the Manor of Yateley would have lived on the site of Yateley Manor School. As with so many places only a little is recorded of life in medieval days: A Customary held to sort out the tithes; a dispute with the priest; a Rose rent for New Mill at Eversley; a hue and cry after a murderer; the establishment of Blackwater Fair probably about 1368, when Eversley had their charter; of Eva de Eastmill at Darby Green, who sold weak beer and was fined!

Among the largest landowners was Richard Allen, of the Manor House, who also owned the ‘water mill and pond adjoining it’ which remained part of the property until the death of Captain George Mason in 1887.

There was much coming and going during the Civil War. In 1644 General Wailer marched across the Flats with a large army to besiege Basing House and in 1645 the Life Guards were stationed at Blackwater.

An important family, the Wyndhams came to live in Hall Place. They belonged to a famous Jacobite Dorset family. Also, Lord Monteagle owned Monteagle House, tradition holding that he found it advisable to retire here after giving warning of the Gunpowder Plot!

Another character was Col. Blood who made an attempt to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London in 1671. He lived at Minley Warren.
As the number of coaches on the London Road increased, and with better communications, came richer residents. Yateley Hall acquired a new Queen Front towards the park with a ‘ha-ha’ (a type of ditch) to prevent the cattle straying into the garden. Barclay House, and other grand houses like Yateley Lodge and The Birches were built, and some others now alas destroyed.

The Yateley Friendly Society was formed in 1819 (one of the earliest) to care for the sick besides the considerable assistance already being given by the parish.
Hawley, Minley and Cove were always the outer tithing and in the second quarter of the 19th century became separate parishes.

There are references to there having been a village school from the 17th century, and our school on the Green, now the Village Hall, was built in 1865.

YATELEY - ST PETER'S