Welcome to Alresford Historical & Literary Society


The Society was formed in 1966 to bring together members of the local community and encourage interest in the History, Literature and Archaeology of Alresford and the surrounding areas. It has been instrumental in recording the area’s history and events as evidenced by the publication of the original twenty-two original Alresford Displayed booklets. Many of our members have played a pivotal role in the ongoing social and commercial life of our attractive town.
The Alresford Historical and Literary Society holds its monthly meetings in the Methodist Church, Jacklyns Lane, Alresford SO24 9JJ, where a balanced programme of talks and presentations takes place in a friendly atmosphere. Meetings are normally held on the third Wednesday of the month, and it is not necessary to be a member to attend – visitors are welcome at the door for just £3.
Selected topics give an insight into the influence that the political, social and industrial heritage has had on our Community and Hampshire. To stimulate the literary interests of the members, lectures are chosen to illustrate the work of authors and artistic personalities.We also organise occasional group visits to interesting places, continue to produce new publications and sponsor memorials.

Annual membership (January 1st - December 31st) is only £10

If you would like to join the society, know more about us or to send us a message, please e-mail secretary@alresfordhistandlit.co.uk


                                             Honorary president       Peter Pooley CMG


Our Committee 2023-2024:

                                                       Chairman                                Glenn Gilbertson
                                                       Secretary                                Mike Dickens
                                                       Treasurer                                 Vic Prior
                                                       Membership Secretary              Charles Ackroyd
                                                       Members                                 Colin Sott-Morton
                                                                                                     Fiona Scott-Morton
                                                                                                     Andrea Sutton
                                                                                                     Nancy Webb



AHLS Programme 2024


DATE                                               TITLE                                             SPEAKER

Wednesday 17 Jan 24        Sun Hill Cemetery                                          Maisie Marshall


Wednesday 21 Feb 24        Charlotte M Yonge: Rediscovered

                                       Bestseller and Hampshire Activist.                   Alys Blakeway


Wednesday 20 Mar 24       The Porthole Murder                                       Paul Stickler


TUESDAY     2 Apr 24         Stratfield Saye Outing (All day)


Wednesday 17 Apr 24        Rose, Crown & Castle – Hampshire &

                                       The IOW’s Citizen Soldiers                               Patrick Crowley


Wednesday 15 May 24       Lord Louis Mountbatten                                   Adrian Smith


Wednesday 19 Jun 24        Americans in Alresford                                     Glenn Gilbertson


Wednesday 17 July 24     “Fishermania" - The Celebrated Kitty Fisher

                                      - Superstar of 1760s London                              Bob France


THURSDAY   1 Aug 24       Strawberry Hill Outing (All day)


Wednesday 18 Sep 24       Ralph Dutton of Hinton Ampner                         John Holden


Wednesday  16 Oct 24      Writing out of the recent past – how, why

                                       and when to set a novel with reference to

                                       social, political and cultural contexts.                  Jude Hayland


FRIDAY        25 Oct 24      Annual Dinner


Wednesday  20 Nov 24     The Austen Sisters                                             Rowan Suart


Wednesday  18 Dec 24      No meeting

 


 

Society Publications


 

Sold Out :

Out of print, but possibly available at Laurence Oxley Bookshop www.laurenceoxley.co.uk:

The Story of Alresford

pp. 112

By

Arthur Stowell

Tales of Old Alresford

pp. 48

By

Arthur Stowell

Alresford Displayed


The predecessor of Alresford Articles, Alresford Displayed was a publication produced by local people for local people. Issue No. 1 was published in 1976 and the last issue was No. 22 in 1997. All the contributions were the Copyright of the authors, which is acknowledged. As we understand it these articles were given freely by the authors and I have assumed, therefore, that there would be no objection to them being reproduced, for no financial gain, on this web site. If, however, any person who owns the copyright has an objection to them being reproduced here we would be pleased if they will contact us.

The articles are reproduced complete with the 'typos' and spelling mistakes of the originals and we can take no responsibility for the accuracy of the content. Just press the hyperlink and enjoy the pdf file.


No. 1 1976
1. On finding the Liberty of Alresford                   Freda Kelsall
2. Ten years before the Railway                          Digby Grist
3. Inns of Alresford                                            Isabel Sanderson
4. World farming leans on Alresford                     Brian Gush

No. 2 1977
5. Jubilee comes to Alresford                              Freda Kelsall
6. Blacksmiths of the District - Past and Present   Donald Soley
7. HMS Alresford 1919 - 1947                             John Adams
8. Our Watercress Industry                                 Edward Roberts
A Tribute to Isabel Sanderson
The Visitors                                                       Ursula Oxley
Lost Cobble Stones                                            Ursula Oxley
Fiesta for Ducks                                                Ursula Oxley
By the Weir Field                                               Ursula Oxley


No. 3 1978

9. Alresford's Famous Cricketers                         John Arlott
10. Broad Street Pleasure Fair                            Working Party
11. Two Centuries of going to school                   Working Party
12. Fishing on the Arle                                       Jack Orr

No. 4 1979
13. Our Antique Soke                                         Patrick O'Donovan
14. 1552 Survey Explained                                 Working Party
15. Travellers through Alresford                          John Adams
16. Last 30 years of Perin's Grammer School       Sidney Pullinger

No. 5 1980
17. Alresford Pigs - Hampshire Hogs                   Neville Wade
18. Alresford's Railway                                       John Adams
19. Lost Inns of Alresford                                   Digby Grist
20. Perin's Resurgent                                         Sidney Pullinger


No. 6 1981
21. Alresford's Hurdle House                              Raymond Elliot
22. Export Industries of Alresford                       Jack Orr
23. Bricquebec - Alresford's French Connection   Graham Brown
24. Old Alresford Church                                   Vincent Pemberton
25. Alresford 100 years ago                               Digby Grist


No. 7 1982
26. Alresford's Golf Club - Part 1                        Robert Hedges
27. Paths around Alresford.                               Sidney Pullinger
28. Medicine in Alresford.                                  Peter Lyndon-Skeggs
29. National Childrens Home, Old Alresford.        Vincent Pemberton


No 8. 1983
30. William Henry Hunt, Architect.                      Raymond Elliot
31. Alresford House, Old Alresford.                     Vincent Pemberton
32. Alresford Golf Club - Part 2                           Robert Hedges
33. Vagrancy in Alresford.                                  John Adams

No. 9 1984
34. Old Alresford Place.                                      Vincent Pemberton
35. The Alresford Show.                                     Robert Hedges
36. Alresford 'Town Hall'                                     Raymond Elliot
37. Birds in the Parish of Alresford                      Jackie Carpenter

No. 10 1985
38. Rodney's Railways                                        Peter Hogarth
39. Old Alresford Pond - A Re-assessment.           Edward Roberts
40. Robert Boyes - Master of Perins School.          Raymond Elliot
41. Alresford's Post - Part 1.                                Reg Sanders
And Now We Are Ten

No.11 1986
42. Alresford at Domesday                                  Raymond Elliot
43. Historical Abbotstone                                    Isabel Sanderson
44. Alresford's Post - Part 2                                 Reg Sanders
45. Old Alresford Cricket Club                              Peggy McKerracher


No. 12 1987
46. Haunting of Hinton Ampner                           Digby Grist
47. Battle of Cheriton                                         Peter Hoggarth
48. St. John the Baptist Church - New Alresford    Raymond Elliot
49. Requiem for a Village School                          J. Adams & J. Underwood
50. Tichborne Down Anglo Saxons                       Reg Sanders


No. 13 1988
51. Godsfield Chapel                                          Peter Hoggarth
52. Sir Frank Benson                                         Ann Pennington
53. The 47th US Infantry in Alresford                  H.C. & F.M. Kent
54. Scouting in Alresford                                    Margaret Gould
A Tribute to Isabel Sanderson
The Visitors                                                       Ursula Oxley
Lost Cobble Stones                                            Ursula Oxley
Fiesta for Ducks                                                Ursula Oxley
By the Weir Field                                               Ursula Oxley

No. 14 1989
55. Alresford Rifle Volunteers 1859-1908             John Reid
56. Non-Conformity in Alresford                          John Adams
57. Parliamentary Representation in the 12th Century  Robin Grieves Cook
58. New Alresford Town Plan 1964                       Sidney Pullinger
An Ordinary Alresford Man                                  Rosalind Wade


No. 15 1990
59. The Bailiff and Burgesses of New Alresford.     John Adams
60. Veterinary Surgeons in Alresford.                   David Thornton
61. The Water Mills of Alresford.                          Raymond Elliot
62. 200 years of Banking in Alresford.                  Richard Mills
63. Connections between Alresford and Wield       Elizabeth Gibson
Tribute to Lieut.Col. D.A.Grist, OBE
Ode to Alresford                                                 Jane Newble-de Graaf


No 16. 1991
65. Thomas Charles Hankin                                 Alex Hankin
66. The Importance of Abbotstone.                      Raymond Elliot
67. The Tichborne Claimant                                 Lesley Drew
68. Langtons Farm                                              Pamela Conway
69. Napoleonic Prisoners of War                           Peter Hoggarth


No. 17 1992
70. George Bridges Rodney                                 John Adams
71. Mary Sumner                                               Lesley Drew
72. Introduction to Hampshire Drove Roads         Eleanor Kingston
73. The Alresford Chantry                                   Raymond Elliot
74. The Seige at Borough Farm                           Working Party
Alresford Historical and Literary Society- 25 years on  John Adams


No. 18 1993
75. Eddolls in Alresford                                       Lesley Drew
76. Rotary Club of Alresford                                Michael Clark
77. John Arlott OBE MA                                      John Adams
78. The Old Manse in East Street                        Meg & John Read
79.The Eel House at Alresford                             Raymond Elliot
80. The Rodney Family and Wield                        Elizabeth Gibson


No. 19 1994
81. New Alresford Parish Council                         Alex Hankin
82. The Grange Road N.F.S. Huts                        Sidney Pullinger
83. The Hospital of St. Mary Magdalen                Raymond Elliot
84. Ropley in the Age of Smuggling                    Peter Hogarth
85. New Alresford Town Trustees                        Peggy McKerracher
86. Whose Pew?                                                Peggy McKerracher


No. 20 1995
87. "On" Licenses                                              John Adams
88. History of Alresford Bowling Club                  Lesley Drew
89. New Alresford United Charities Trust             John Adams
90. Wealth in Alresford in the 1890s                   J & B Griffiths
91. R.A.F.A. Alresford & District Branch               Bert Jarrett
92. New Alresford Parish Council - Part II            Alex Hankin


No. 21 1996
93. Introducing the Avington Branch                   Angela Smith
94. Conservation Areas                                      Arthur Stowell
95. The Admiralty Telegraph System in the Alresford Area - Part 1 - The Shutters  John Adams
96. New Alresford Parish Council Part III             Alex Hankin
97. The Most Learned and Reverend Doctor Peter Heylyn - Part I    Peggy McKerracher
98. Bell Founding in New Alresford                      Elizabeth Johnson
The French Telegraphe!


No. 22 1997
99. The Most Learned and Reverend Doctor Peter Heylyn - Part II  Peggy McKerracher
100. Alresford Remembered                               Freda Kelsall
101. The Admiralty Telegraph System in the Alresford Area - Part II - The Semaphores  John Adams
102. William Cobbett and Alresford                     Kenneth S. Masters
103. Fulling in Alresford                                     John Adams
Gates at Arlebury Park




Alresford Articles

An eclectic mix about, or written by people in, the district.

 A.A.1 £5               A.A.2 £5             A.A.3 Sold Out     A.A.4 £5             A.A.5 £5             A.A.6 £5            A.A.7 £5

                                                       To purchase e-mail glenn.gilbertson@hotmail.com

Volume 1 Contents

1 Welcome
2 Two Diamond Jubilees                                       Glenn Gilbertson
3 Shock Result at the First Parish Council Election   Brian Rothwell
4 A Bad Day in Abbotstone                                    Glenn Gilbertson
5 Alresford Rugby Football Club                              Hugh Ogus
6 The Origin of the Name of Alresford                     Peter Abraham   


Volume 2 Contents

1. The Old Pinglestone Road                                   Brian Rothwell 
2. The Bombing of Alresford                                   Glenn Gilbertson 
3. A Current Assessment of NATT                            Robin Atkins
4 Tichborne & Titchy - Their Original Meaning           Peter Abraham 
(addendum) More about the TichborneC laimant       Glenn Gilbertson
5. Thomas Carlyle at The Grange                             Brian Tippett
6 The Date of the Broad Street Fair                          Brian Rothwell 
7. The Bells of St John’s                                         Nick Denbow with Elizabeth Johnson
8. 1953 Coronation Celebrations in Alresford            Glenn Gilbertson 
9. Poetry Corner                                                    Chidiock Tichborne


Volume 3 Contents                                               All articles by Brian Rothwell
1.The Perins of the Weir House, 1549-1923
2.The Beauworth Hoar.d, 1833
3.Neville Chamberlain in Old Alresford? 1938
4.War Memorial Garden, 1944 to date
5.The Lost Bridge, 1960’s to date
6.Bibliography & Sources.


Volume 4 Contents  

1. The British Army, HQ in Alresford, ‘Utterly Beaten’       Glenn Gilbertson 
2. The Stratton Bates Legacy                                         Brian Rothwell 

3. Our Hinton Ampner 1940-44                                      Trisha Ferris 
4. The Shrave                                                               Peter Abraham 
5. George Wither’s Window & Alresford’s Wondrous Pond  Brian Tippett 
6. Delivering the Newspapers in 1950’s Alresford             Nick Denbow 
7. The Tenants of Borough Farm                                     Isabel Sanderson 
8. Dr Harold Hodgson                                                    Brian Rothwell 
9. Poetry Corner

Volume 5 Contents

1.‘Mr Alresford’ , Alfred Henry White                       Brian Rothwell
2.The George & Red Lion Inns                                Brian Rothwell & Glenn Gilbertson
3.A.E. Wade: an Artist in Alresford                          Nick Denbow 
4.The Stiff Upper Lipby                                          Glenn Gilbertson 
5.Winston Churchill or Winnie the Pooh?                  Glenn Gilbertson
6.The Cold War in New Alresford                             Robert Fowler
7.Hudson’s Summer in the Itchen Valley                  Brian Tippett
8.The English Language in Hampshire                     Christopher Mulvey
9.The District Nurse & the Ropley Cofee Rooms        Nick Denbow & Una Yeates 
10.Sheep Fairs                                                       Brian Rothwell 
11.Another Great War Casualty Born in Alresford      Glenn Gilbertson
12.Two Gallipoli Campaign Poems                            Glenn Gilbertson
13.A Surprising Gallipoli Campaign Poet                   Glenn Gilbertson
14.Kipling’s Lost Son - John Kipling 1897-1915         Brian Tippett
15.Poetry Corner- Conflicting Opinions                     Heather Cairns 


Volume 6 Contents

1.John Adamsby                                                     Brian Rothwell
2.1966 & All Thatby                                                Brian Rothwell
3.1966 Highlights & Personal Memories                    Glenn Gilbertson
4.Memories 1966 in Alresford                                  Roy Torbett
5.A Murder at Upton House                                     Len Ruffell
6.The Murder of Caroline Sophia Colborne                John Avery & Glenn Gilbertson
7.A life in Alresford: George Watson                         Nick Denbow
8.Alresford Names Revisited                                    Carl Dore
9.Watch & Clock-makers in Alresford                        Nick Denbow
10.Arlebury & Its Inhabitants                                   Peter Mercer
11.Congregationalism in Edwardian Alresford 1901914 Roger Ottewill
12.Poetry(?) Corner


Volume 7 Contents

1.Laurence & Ursula Oxley                                       Anthony Oxley
2.The Old Cricketers Inn                                          Paul Dix
3.Wartime in Alresford                                             Peter Turner
4.Grand Western Entranceway                                  Brian Rothwell
5.Excerpts from 1947 & 1967 Alresford Guidebooks    ed. Glenn Gilbertson
6.Old Alresford Cricket Club Closes                           Brian Rothwell
7.Philip Osment, Artist                                             Barrie Lees
8.The Marks of the Last Burgesses                            Brian Rothwell
9.Culley View                                                          Glenn Gilbertson
10.Poetry Corner                                                     Edward Thomas

2022 EXTRA!

Alas, we have not had the capacity to produce a new volume of Alresford Articles this year. However, this time-sensitive item was received from Elizabeth Johnson, Alresford's Bell Captain; we hope that you will enjoy reading it here and that it will add to our town's history.



Interesting Alresford

As an alternative to publishing a new edition of Alresford Articles, we shall be presenting a series of interesting contributions. The first is an illustrated transcript of our President' Peter Pooley's  fascinating presentation Unremarked Ancient Curiosities in Alresford.

We have been passed a copy of AHLS Members' Contributions 18 March 1970, and here present the cover, programme and contents pages. Many of the items found their way in to Alresford Displayed (see above), but Miss Pring's story tells of a very different Alresford within living memory (a riding instructor, she was an early stalwart of our society) and Lawrence Oxley's item includes details of the refurbishment of the Alresford French Prisoners, headstones. Click on the titles to open the links.


Members Contibutions 1970 Cover, Information & Contents


A Day Out With Maidstone Charm


The Work in Alresford of Napoleonic Prisoners of War



Pilots' Memorials


The Society has commissioned a memorial on Folly Hill, Itchen Stoke to three Spitfire pilots killed in a collision over Abbotstone on 22nd July 1944, and we are grateful for contributions from Mark Baring & the Grange Estate, Itchen Stoke & Ovington Parish Council, Winchester City Council, Hampshire County Council, Award Resin Ltd, Bob Ellis, Ray Hillyer & family and Stan Upton.

Use the buttons to learn the story or watch videos of a commemoration service on 22nd July 2019 and a dedication ceremony on 9th September 2021, both of which contain an eye-witness account.


We have also, in association with The Alresford Society & Alresford town Council, commissioned a memorial to Captain Robert Cogswell, USAAF, who bravely piloted his burning bomber away from our town.