Crondall is a village and large
civil parishIn England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and in some places the lowest tier of local government, below districts and counties. A civil parish can alternatively be known as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council; and in a limited number of...
in the north east of
HampshireHampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and is all that remains of the
old HundredA hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...
of Crondall referred to in the
Domesday BookThe Domesday Book is the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William I of England, or William the Conqueror...
of 1086. Various earlier spellings have in common the use of a "u" instead of the "o" and the village is still properly pronounced "Crundel" although some recent incomers prefer to pronounce the "o". The map of Hampshire in the 1722 edition of
William CamdenWilliam Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, and officer of arms. He wrote the first topographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
's
Britannia or Geographical Description of Britain and Ireland shows symbols for habitation in
FarnboroughNot to be confused with Farnborough, Berkshire or Farnborough, KentFarnborough is a town in northeast Hampshire, England, and part of the district of Rushmoor. Farnborough was founded in Saxon times and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.The name is formed from Ferneberga which means 'fern...
,
CoveCove is an ancient village forming the western part of Farnborough in the county of Hampshire in the south-east of England, located 33 miles south west of London...
,
EwshotEwshot is a village in Hampshire, England. It lies in the north east of the county, close to the Surrey border.Ewshot consists of Ewshot Village proper, a later development known as Ewshot Heights plus the outlying hamlets of Beacon Hill, Warren, Doras Green and a newer estate of large houses...
,
AldershotAldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about 60 km southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
, and
CrookhamChurch Crookham is a suburb and former village on the southern edge of the town of Fleet, in northeast Hampshire, England, located 39 miles south west of London...
in the Crundhal (Crondall) hundred.
Crondall is a village and large
civil parishIn England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and in some places the lowest tier of local government, below districts and counties. A civil parish can alternatively be known as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council; and in a limited number of...
in the north east of
HampshireHampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and is all that remains of the
old HundredA hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...
of Crondall referred to in the
Domesday BookThe Domesday Book is the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William I of England, or William the Conqueror...
of 1086. Various earlier spellings have in common the use of a "u" instead of the "o" and the village is still properly pronounced "Crundel" although some recent incomers prefer to pronounce the "o". The map of Hampshire in the 1722 edition of
William CamdenWilliam Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, and officer of arms. He wrote the first topographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
's
Britannia or Geographical Description of Britain and Ireland shows symbols for habitation in
FarnboroughNot to be confused with Farnborough, Berkshire or Farnborough, KentFarnborough is a town in northeast Hampshire, England, and part of the district of Rushmoor. Farnborough was founded in Saxon times and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.The name is formed from Ferneberga which means 'fern...
,
CoveCove is an ancient village forming the western part of Farnborough in the county of Hampshire in the south-east of England, located 33 miles south west of London...
,
EwshotEwshot is a village in Hampshire, England. It lies in the north east of the county, close to the Surrey border.Ewshot consists of Ewshot Village proper, a later development known as Ewshot Heights plus the outlying hamlets of Beacon Hill, Warren, Doras Green and a newer estate of large houses...
,
AldershotAldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about 60 km southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
, and
CrookhamChurch Crookham is a suburb and former village on the southern edge of the town of Fleet, in northeast Hampshire, England, located 39 miles south west of London...
in the Crundhal (Crondall) hundred. .
Pre-Norman
An Old English crundel was a chalk-pit or quarry, and the word has survived in the name of Crondall. The remains of one quarry can still be seen as a large depression on the golf course.
Crondall's southern boundary is the
North DownsThe North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch for 120 miles from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...
along which ran the prehistoric
Harrow WayThe North Downs Way is a long-distance path in southern England. It runs from Farnham to Dover, past Godalming, Guildford, Dorking, Merstham, Otford and Rochester, along the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Kent Downs AONB....
, thought to be the oldest road in Britain which ran from the Cornish tin mines to
DoverDover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; west of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
in
KentKent , originally Cantia, is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the River Thames estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent...
. There is some evidence for Neolithic settlements since there is an Iron Age earthworks at Caesar's Camp. Remains of
RomanRoman Britain was those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and about 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia...
and
NormanThe Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
settlements have been found close beside the Harrow Way near Barley Pound. Evidence for Roman occupation can be found in the fields as broken tiles and artifacts. In 1817 an intact Roman
mosaic pavementMosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
was found by a ploughman, and is commemorated by a tapestry in the parish church. Coins from the third century were found in 1869.
More coins, the "Crondall Hoard" of one hundred and one coins, two jewelled ornaments, and a chain were found in 1828. Many of these date to the fifth century and ninety seven of these coins are now in the possession of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford.
King Alfred the Great bequeathed the Hundred of Crondall to his nephew Eltham in 885. In 975 it was handed over by
King EdgarEdgar I the Peaceful , also called the Peaceable, was a king of England . Edgar was the younger son of Edmund I of England.-Accession:...
to the monks at Winchester; and remained in their hands until 1539. At this time
Henry VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy...
dissolved the monasteries and within two years Crondall was controlled by the new
DeanA dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...
and Chapter of
Winchester CathedralWinchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe. It is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun and is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and...
. Crondall remained in their hands until 1861, when it was taken over by the
Ecclesiastical CommissionersEcclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title is Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Church of England, and they made extensive changes in how...
http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/DRO_ECG/ECCLESIASTICAL_COMMISSIONERS.html.
The Manors
The Hundred of Crondall was divided into '
ManorsManorialism or Seigneurialism or Feudal Society was the organizing principle of rural economy and society widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe...
', Itchell, Ewshot, Crokeham, Well, Feldmead, Dippenhall, Farnborough and Aldershot. These Manors are all mentioned in the records of
Winchester CathedralWinchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe. It is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun and is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and...
. All the land within the Hundred was administered by the Lords of the Manor at Crondall on behalf of the monks of St Swithen and later on behalf of Winchester Cathedral.
Itchell Manor's (house demolished 1954) gardens were laid out by
Capability BrownLancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...
. A greenhouse, built 1840, is still in use and a Tudor Gateway also remains. The Old Itchell Manor House had the reputation of being haunted when members of the Lefroy family were in residence. The apparition took the form of a phantom coach racing away from the manor and down nearby Hyde Lane.
Civil War
All Saints’ church in Crondall, Hampshire, was a minor parliamentary outpost for much of the war, guarding the western approaches to Farnham
Tithe map
The Hundred of Crondall
Tithe MapThe term Tithe map is usually applied to a map of an English or Welsh parish or township, prepared following the Tithe Commutation Act 1836. This act allowed tithes to be paid in cash rather than goods. The map and its accompanying schedule gave the names of all owners and occupiers of land in the...
was dated 1846 and it is housed in the Hampshire County Archive at Winchester.
Industry
Crondall has for centuries been rich farming land. A great variety of soils appear in the area because it lies on the edge of the
London BasinThe London Basin is an elongated, roughly triangular sedimentary basin approximately long which underlies London and a large area of south east England, south eastern East Anglia and the adjacent North Sea...
including
chalkThe Chalk Formation of Southern England is a system of chalk downland in the south of England. The formation is perhaps best known for Salisbury Plain, the location of Stonehenge, the Isle of Wight and the twin ridgeways of the North Downs and South Downs....
,
clayThe London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for the fossils it contains. The fossils from the Lower Eocene indicate a moderately warm climate, the flora being tropical or subtropical...
and heavy fertile
loamLoam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration , considered ideal for gardening and agricultural uses...
. There are many natural
springsA spring is any natural occurrence where water flows on to the surface of the earth from below the surface, and is thus where the aquifer surface meets the ground surface.- Formation :...
in the area that were used as
watercressWatercresses are fast-growing, aquatic or semi-aquatic, perennial plants native from Europe to central Asia, and one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by human beings. It is an invasive species in the Great Lakes region where it was first sighted in 1847...
beds and for growing osier trees for
basket weavingA basket is a container which is traditionally constructed from stiff fibres, often made of willow. . The top is either left open or the basket may be fitted with a lid....
. Some of the baskets were used as balloon baskets and airship gondolas used by
S.F. CodySamuel Franklin Cowdery was an early pioneer of manned flight, most famous for his work on the large kites known as Cody War-Kites that were used in World War I as a smaller alternative to balloons for artillery spotting. He was also the first man to conduct a powered flight in Britain, on 16...
in his early aviation experiments at Farnborough. The area was also renowned for
HopsHops are the female flower clusters, commonly called cones or strobiles, of the hop plant . The hop is part of the family Cannabaceae, which also includes the genus Cannabis . They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, though hops are also used for various purposes in other...
that were grown here for two hundred years until the last war. For many years Crondall had a brickworks that supplied
tileA tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, and walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops...
s and
brickA brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using mortar.-History:The oldest shaped bricks found date back to 7,500 B.C. They have been found in Çayönü, in the upper Tigris region, and in south east Anatolia close to Diyarbakir. Other more recent findings,...
to the local towns.
Barley Pound, Motte and Bailey
Barley Pound a large ring-motte with two to three baileys and it is one of the best examples in
HampshireHampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
of a ring and bailey fortress. The site may be Lidelea Castle Pound, the castle of the bishops of Winchester, that was sieged in 1147 causing it to be abandoned in favour of
Farnham CastleFarnham Castle is a castle in Farnham, Surrey, England .First built in 1138 by Henri de Blois, grandson of William the Conqueror, Bishop of Winchester, the castle was to become the home of the Bishops of Winchester for over 800 years. The original building was demolished by Henry II in 1155 after...
.
All Saints, Norman Church
The 12th Century Norman parish church, All Saints, Crondall has been called 'The Cathedral of North Hampshire'. It replaced a
SaxonAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
church on the same site and the
Saxon fontA baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:The fonts of many Christian denominations are intended for baptisms using a non-immersion method, such as aspersion or affusion. The simplest of these fonts has...
remains from that period. The east end of the nave dates to 1170. Among notable interior features are the dogtooth mouldings of the chancel arch and the imposing arcades and foliate capitals of the Nave. To date All Saints has undergone two major restorations, the first in 1847 by the architect
Benjamin FerreyBenjamin Ferrey, F.S.A., FRIBA was a Gothic Revival architect.-Family:Benjamin Ferrey was the youngest son of Benjamin Ferrey Snr, a draper who became Mayor of Christchurch. He was educated at Wimborne Grammar School....
and the second in 1871 under the guidance of Sir
George Gilbert ScottSir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses....
. In 1995 the "National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies" (NADFAS) declared All Saints to be one of the finest examples of architecture of its style in the country. The All saints church is also said to be haunted.
Residential buildings
Throughout Crondall there are many well-preserved old houses and cottages. The Plume of Feathers pub is a fine example of Tudor architecture and was a resting stop on the turnpike to
PortsmouthPortsmouth is a city located in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is the United Kingdom's only island city and is located on Portsea Island. The City of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Football Club are both nicknamed Pompey...
.
Notable visitors
A fine panoramic view of this beautiful part of
HampshireHampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
may be gained from Queens View looking from East to West across Crondall. It takes its name from the fact that
Queen VictoriaVictoria was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death...
admired this view whilst inspecting the garrisoned troops at nearby
AldershotAldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about 60 km southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
"Home of the British Army".
Oliver CromwellOliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland.He was one of the commanders of the New Model Army which defeated the royalists in...
is reputed to have stayed in the Plume of Feathers in October 1645, when the siege of
Basing HouseBasing House, Hampshire, was a major English Tudor palace and castle that once rivalled Hampton Court Palace in its size and opulence. Today only its foundations and earthworks remain...
was in progress.
Statistics
As of 2005, Crondall consists of some or all of the following areas, Bentley, Bucks Horn Oak, Crondall, Ewshot, Mill Lane, Batt's Corner, Charleshill, Churt, Dippenhall, Frensham, Millbridge, Rowledge, Rushmoor, Seale, Spreakley, The Sands, Tilford, Tongham.
-
-
-
- according to the 2001 census 3463 people live in Crondall
- There are about 1478 dwellings in the ward.
- Covers 10.7 square miles (27.7 km²).
External links