Medstead
Coordinates: 51°07′46″N 1°03′56″W / 51.12948°N 1.06548°W
Medstead is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 4.3 miles (6.9 km) west-southwest of Alton. The village has a population of around 2,000 and adjoins the village of Four Marks. The road between Medstead and Beech, Hampshire runs over King's Hill (218 m), one of the county's high points. The village also has its own restored railway station on the Watercress Line, services from which connect with the nearest national rail station 4.3 miles (6.9 km) to the northeast, at Alton.
At one time, Medstead came under the large civil parish of Bentworth until its decline in the mid-19th century. Although today, Medstead's parish borders the parish of Bentworth.[1]
History
The origins of the parish of Medstead can be traced back to the Saxon period and the granting of the Liberty of Alresford which covered the present-day ecclesiastical parishes of New Alresford, Old Alresford and Medstead. In the Liberty of Alresford, St. Mary the Virgin had been established as the mother church at Old Alresford with chapelries of St. John the Baptist at New Alresford and St. Andrew at Medstead. Except for brief periods most of this land remained in the hands of the Bishop of Winchester, as Chief Lord of the Liberty of Alresford, and St. Andrew's remained a chapel of St. Mary the Virgin, served by a Curate appointed by the Rector of Old Alresford, until 1850.[2]
In 1850 the Liberty was transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the living of Old Alresford was divided into three parishes: Medstead, New Alresford and Old Alresford. Consequently, Medstead became an independent ecclesiastical parish with its own incumbent.[3] In 1945 the churches of Medstead and Wield became a united benefice, and in 2003 the churches of St. Mary's Bentworth, St. Mary's Lasham, St. Andrew's Medstead and St. Peter & St. Paul Shalden became the united benefice of Bentworth, Lasham, Medstead and Shalden.[4]
Notable residents
- General Sir Lewis Halliday, Victoria Cross recipient, was born in Medstead
References
Further reading
- A Guide to St. Andrew's Church, Medstead (available in church)
- Chris Tew A History of St. Andrew's Church (2005)
- Gordon Timmins Medstead, a Village History (2003)
- Domesday Book, Hampshire edited by Julian Munby (1982)
- Lorents Rathbone A Chronicle of Medstead (1966)
- Nellie Moody A Short History of Medstead(1932)
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Medstead, Hampshire. |
- Google Maps: Medstead
- Hampshire Treasures Volume 6 (East Hampshire) pages 223, 225, and 226
- Medstead Parish Council website
- Medstead Village website - medstead.org
- St. Andrew's Parish Church, Medstead - website also includes more details on Medstead and its history
- Stained Glass Windows at St. Andrew, Medstead, Hampshire
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