Romsey & District u3a May 2022 Newsletter

News from around the groups ARCHITECTURE AND LOCAL HISTORY GROUP In February Tony Askew, group member and speaker, took us on an architectural and local-history tour of Alresford, Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight and the New Forest. In a talk crammed with fascinating facts and enthralling stories, Tony took us on a lovely journey round our part of Hampshire.

Because the group knew something about each of the towns, we were able to interact, comment and share together. Group participation like this this creates and develops friendships. Something so important as we grow older.

Our March talk was given by Barry Shurlock, the well-known journalist who writes for the Hampshire Chronicle and the Romsey Advertiser. His title was Stories from the Hampshire Archives.

Drawing on Hampshire’s rich history, Barry’s stories included public servants, politicians, educationists, social reformers and those linked to the arts.

The National Census, held every 10 years, had its roots in Hampshire after a Population Bill was passed. John Rickman from Christchurch (then in Hampshire), public servant and statistician, was appointed to the task. The Government wished to know the potential number of fighting men available to the country!

Hampshire can lay claim to no fewer than six Chancellors of the Exchequer, including the current Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, through their education at Winchester College. The College was founded in 1382 by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester. Its current head, Dr Tim Hands, who is state educated, is keen to bring the college closer to the local community.

In the 1840’s, the social reformer Robert Owen set up a commune near Broughton. It failed but led to the opening of a progressive public school in Quaker ownership with an emphasis on science; somewhat ahead of its time, perhaps. The school was destroyed by fire in 1902 and the site abandoned.

Another social reformer was Sir Arthur Helps who, after a career as a high-ranking civil servant, bought the Vernon Estate at Bishops Waltham. Having found a rich clay seam on the estate, in 1862 he set up a brickworks and pottery business that brought employment to the locals. He went bankrupt in 1867 but the brickworks survived into the 1950s. Very few of the fine pots made there are still around, but a few are held by the Hampshire Cultural Trust and the Bishops Waltham Museum.

Dylan Thomas, the Welsh poet, lived for a short time at Blashford village near Ringwood, just after his marriage to Caitlin. Their son Edouard Thomas is buried at nearby Ellingham Church.

The tomb of the unfortunate Alice Lisle can also be found in Ellingham Churchyard. Dame Alice, of Moyles Court near Ringwood, was beheaded in Winchester in 1685 after being found guilty of giving refuge to two dissenters who had supported the Monmouth Rebellion.

Barry concluded with a reference to Jane Austen, who was a frequent visitor to Manydown Park, at Wootton St Lawrence near Basingstoke, owned by the Bigg-Wither family. Harris Bigg-Wither proposed to Jane in 1802. She accepted, but revoked her acceptance the next day. Her only love was probably Tom Lefroy, the nephew of nearby neighbours at Steventon. His family did not approve of the relationship and sent Tom away.

Barry also gave helpful hints about researching and writing stories.

Our first visit for 2022 was on 4th April to the historic village of Hursley, where resident and u3a member Antonia Stickland, gave us a talk about the history of the church.

We learned that there had been at least three churches on the site before the present church. John Keble (one of the founders of the Tractarians or Oxford Movement) was vicar there from 1835 to his death in 1866. He considered that the previous church, a brick-built Georgian church built in 1752, was too Cromwellian and Puritanical for his taste. He therefore built the existing church in 1847/48, mostly at his own expense from the profits of his book The Christian Year. He retained the existing 14th century tower, with some changes, although he only refaced the walls of the body of the church with stone. He redesigned the interior of the church so that the focus was on the altar at the East end, rather than on the pulpit as in the previous church, and replaced the old box pews with moveable pews with sloping book boards like prayer desks.

6