Freefolk is a village in Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, England

England

England 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, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It lies to the west and almost directly alongside the village of Laverstoke

Laverstoke

Laverstoke is a village in the north of Hampshire, England. It forms a parish with the nearby village of Freefolk.Businesses include Laverstoke Park Farm-Literature:...

; the two villages are separated by the River Test

River Test

The River Test is a river in Hampshire, England. The river has a total length of 40 miles and it flows through downland from its source near Ashe, 10 km to the west of Basingstoke , to the sea at the head of Southampton Water...

.

It is about 1.5 miles (2 km) east of Whitchurch

Whitchurch, Hampshire

Whitchurch is a town in Hampshire, England. It is on the River Test, from Newbury, Berkshire, from Winchester, miles from Andover and miles from Basingstoke. Much of the town is a Conservation Area. Because of the amount of wildlife in and near the river, parts of the town are designated as...

 and 1 miles (2 km) west of Overton

Overton, Hampshire

Overton is a village and parish in Hampshire, England located west of the town of Basingstoke, and east of Andover and Whitchurch. The village of Quidhampton lies to the north of the village. The River Test rises 1 km to the east near the hamlet of Ashe....

 on the B3400 road between Basingstoke

Basingstoke

Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...

 and Andover

Andover, Hampshire

Andover is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is on the River Anton some 18.5 miles west of the town of Basingstoke, 18.5 miles north-west of the city of Winchester and 25 miles north of the city of Southampton...

.

In the village is an inn named the "Watership Down", known locally as "the jerry". Built in 1840, it was previously called the Freefolk Arms but was renamed in honour of local author Richard Adams and his book Watership Down

Watership Down

Watership Down is a classic heroic fantasy novel, written by English author Richard Adams, about a small group of rabbits. Although the animals in the story live in their natural environment, they are anthropomorphised, possessing their own culture, language , proverbs, poetry, and mythology...

, which took its name from the down

Watership Down, Hampshire

Watership Down is a hill, or down, at Ecchinswell in the civil parish of Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green in the English county of Hampshire. It rises fairly steeply on its northern flank , but to the south the slope is much gentler . .The Down is best known as the setting for Richard...

 about 5 miles (8 km) to the north of the village.

Freefolk is also home to Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants, a family run Nursery

Nursery (horticulture)

A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to usable size. They include retail nurseries which sell to the general public, wholesale nurseries which sell only to businesses such as other nurseries and to commercial gardeners, and private nurseries which supply the needs of...

 whose displays have won ten gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show

Chelsea Flower Show

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the Great Spring Show, is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural Society in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in Chelsea, London...

 in recent years.

Governance

The village is part of the civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 of Laverstoke

Laverstoke

Laverstoke is a village in the north of Hampshire, England. It forms a parish with the nearby village of Freefolk.Businesses include Laverstoke Park Farm-Literature:...

 and is part of the Overton, Laverstoke and Steventon ward

Wards of the United Kingdom

A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...

 of Basingstoke and Deane borough council

Basingstoke and Deane

Basingstoke and Deane is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England. Its primary settlement is Basingstoke. Other settlements include Bramley, Tadley, Kingsclere, Overton, Oakley, Whitchurch and the hamlet of Deane, some from Basingstoke....

. The borough council is a Non-metropolitan district

Non-metropolitan district

Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...

 of Hampshire County Council

Hampshire County Council

Hampshire County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Hampshire in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are district councils, and town and parish councils...

.