Odiham
Encyclopedia
Odiham is a historic village and large civil parish
in the Hart
district of Hampshire
, England
. It is twinned with Sourdeval
in the Manche
Department of France. The current population is 4,406. The parish contains an acreage of 7,354 acres with 50 acres of land covered with water. The nearest railway station is at Hook, on the London and South Western Railway
. The village had its own Hundred in the nintenth century, named The Hundred of Odiham
.
RAF Odiham
aerodrome
lies to the south of the village.
(1086), where it appears with its current spelling, although the spellings Odiam and Wudiham have sometimes been used since.
King John
decided in 1204 to build Odiham Castle
and it was built during the years 1207 to 1214 at a cost of over £1000. He already had some ninety strongholds all over the country, and he may have chosen Odiham because it is halfway between Windsor
and Winchester
. In 1216 the French Dauphin Louis VIII
besieged King John in the castle for two weeks.
King Henry III
, son of King John, gave the castle to his sister Eleanor in 1236, so when she married Simon de Montfort
in 1238 the castle became the de Montfort family home. However, Simon was killed in the Battle of Evesham
in 1265 when he led the rebellious baron
s to fight against the king; Eleanor was sent into exile.
During the fourteenth century the castle played a role in several significant events, including a sitting of Parliament
, and the imprisonment of King David II of Scotland
in the castle for eleven years. However, by the fifteenth century its only use was as a hunting lodge.
The castle was described in 1605 as a ruin, which it remains to this day.
The Pest house
was built c. 1622 and subsequently housed local people and travellers suffering from the plague and other infectious diseases. Many such “isolation hospitals” were built in that period but the Odiham Pest House is one of only five examples surviving. It was restored by the Odiham Society in 1981 to form a mini Heritage Centre.
Pest is the old word for plague and like other Pest Houses built in England, it was subsequently used to house local inhabitants or travellers suffering from the plague, smallpox
and other infectious diseases.
as a 'society for the encouraging of Agricultural and Industry in their town and neighbourhood'. Influenced by key members like Thomas Burgess and Granville Penn, the Society also resolved to reform farriery and animal care by establishing a school to teach veterinary science in England. This was to result in a far-reaching outcome: the foundation of the Royal Veterinary Society and the birth of the veterinary profession in Britain.
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...
in the Hart
Hart (district)
Hart is a local government district in Hampshire, England, named after the River Hart. Its council is based in Fleet. It was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the urban district of Fleet, and the Hartley Wintney Rural District.Hart District is one of the...
district of 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 is twinned with Sourdeval
Sourdeval
Sourdeval is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.-Heraldry:-See also:*Communes of the Manche department...
in the Manche
Manche
Manche is a French department in Normandy named after La Manche , which is the French name for the English Channel.- History :Manche is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
Department of France. The current population is 4,406. The parish contains an acreage of 7,354 acres with 50 acres of land covered with water. The nearest railway station is at Hook, on the London and South Western Railway
London and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...
. The village had its own Hundred in the nintenth century, named The Hundred of Odiham
The Hundred of Odiham
The Hundred of Odiham was a Hundred of Great Britain situated in the ceremonial county of Hampshire. The Hundred of Odiham contained the parishes of; Bentworth, Dogmersfield, Elvetham, Greywell, Hartley Wintney, Lasham, Liss, Odiham, Rotherwick, Shalden, Sherfield on Loddon, Weston Patrick, and...
.
RAF Odiham
RAF Odiham
RAF Odiham is a Royal Air Force station situated a little to the south of the historic small village of Odiham in Hampshire, England. It is the home of the Royal Air Force's heavy lift helicopter, the Chinook HC2, HC2A and HC3...
aerodrome
Aerodrome
An aerodrome, airdrome or airfield is a term for any location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve cargo, passengers or neither...
lies to the south of the village.
History
The first written record of Odiham's existence is in the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
(1086), where it appears with its current spelling, although the spellings Odiam and Wudiham have sometimes been used since.
Odiham Castle
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
decided in 1204 to build Odiham Castle
Odiham Castle
Odiham Castle is a ruined castle situated near Odiham in Hampshire, United Kingdom. It is one of only three fortresses built by King John during his reign....
and it was built during the years 1207 to 1214 at a cost of over £1000. He already had some ninety strongholds all over the country, and he may have chosen Odiham because it is halfway between Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
and Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
. In 1216 the French Dauphin Louis VIII
Louis VIII of France
Louis VIII the Lion reigned as King of France from 1223 to 1226. He was a member of the House of Capet. Louis VIII was born in Paris, France, the son of Philip II Augustus and Isabelle of Hainaut. He was also Count of Artois, inheriting the county from his mother, from 1190–1226...
besieged King John in the castle for two weeks.
King Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
, son of King John, gave the castle to his sister Eleanor in 1236, so when she married Simon de Montfort
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester , sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from other Simon de Montforts, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. He led the barons' rebellion against King Henry III of England during the Second Barons' War of 1263-4, and...
in 1238 the castle became the de Montfort family home. However, Simon was killed in the Battle of Evesham
Battle of Evesham
The Battle of Evesham was one of the two main battles of 13th century England's Second Barons' War. It marked the defeat of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and the rebellious barons by Prince Edward – later King Edward I – who led the forces of his father, King Henry III...
in 1265 when he led the rebellious baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
s to fight against the king; Eleanor was sent into exile.
During the fourteenth century the castle played a role in several significant events, including a sitting of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, and the imprisonment of King David II of Scotland
David II of Scotland
David II was King of Scots from 7 June 1329 until his death.-Early life:...
in the castle for eleven years. However, by the fifteenth century its only use was as a hunting lodge.
The castle was described in 1605 as a ruin, which it remains to this day.
Odiham Pest House
Pest house
In the past, a pest house or pesthouse was a hospital or hostel used for persons afflicted with communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera, or smallpox...
was built c. 1622 and subsequently housed local people and travellers suffering from the plague and other infectious diseases. Many such “isolation hospitals” were built in that period but the Odiham Pest House is one of only five examples surviving. It was restored by the Odiham Society in 1981 to form a mini Heritage Centre.
Pest is the old word for plague and like other Pest Houses built in England, it was subsequently used to house local inhabitants or travellers suffering from the plague, smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
and other infectious diseases.
Thomas Cox
Thomas Cox wrote in 1738:- Odiam or Odiham, a small Market-Town, where was formerly a strong Castle and a Royal Palace. The Castle was straitly besieged, Anno 1216, the 18th of King John, by Lewis the Dauphin of France, and the Barons Army, for fifteen Days together, being maintained by thirteen Men only in it for all that Time. King Henry III gave it with Killingworth Castle, to Simon Earl of Leicester, who repaired them both, and then resigned them into the King's Hands.
- David II of ScotlandDavid II of ScotlandDavid II was King of Scots from 7 June 1329 until his death.-Early life:...
was kept prisoner here in Edward III of EnglandEdward III of EnglandEdward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
's Days.
- This Place is famous for giving Birth to Mr. William Lily, who wrote the Grammar; which, with some Alterations, is commanded by Act of ParliamentAct of ParliamentAn Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
in King Henry VIIIHenry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
's Reign, to be taught in all Schools. He died master of St. Paul's School, London, Anno 1522.
Odiham Agricultural Society
On 16 May 1783, a group drawn from 'Gentlemen of Rank, fortune and Ingenuity' plus some 'intelligent farmers' met in The George Inn, Odiham to inaugurate the Odiham Agricultural SocietyOdiham Agricultural Society
-HISTORY:On 16 May, 1783, the Odiham Agricultural Society was inaugurated[1,2] as a 'society for the encouraging of Agricultural and Industry in their town and neighbourhood'...
as a 'society for the encouraging of Agricultural and Industry in their town and neighbourhood'. Influenced by key members like Thomas Burgess and Granville Penn, the Society also resolved to reform farriery and animal care by establishing a school to teach veterinary science in England. This was to result in a far-reaching outcome: the foundation of the Royal Veterinary Society and the birth of the veterinary profession in Britain.
Education
For a list of local schools see the list of Hampshire schools.- Robert May's School, Odiham, Hants
- Puddleducks Montessori Nursery School. Local Montessori nursery school, located in North Warnborough, Odiham.
See also
- HMS OdihamHMS OdihamHMS Odiham was one of 93 ships of the of inshore minesweepers.Their names were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was named after Odiham in Hampshire.-References:*Blackman, R.V.B. ed. Jane's Fighting Ships...
, a Ham class minesweeperHam class minesweeperThe Ham class was a class of inshore minesweepers , known as the Type 1, of the British Royal Navy. The class was designed to operate in the shallow water of rivers and estuaries. It took its name from the fact that all the ship names were British place names ending in -"ham"... - The Basingstoke CanalBasingstoke CanalThe Basingstoke Canal is a British Canal, completed in 1794, built to connect Basingstoke with the River Thames at Weybridge via the Wey Navigation....
, which runs past Odiham.
Further reading
- Derek Spruce The Church in the Bury: A Thousand Years of All Saints, Odiham Odiham Parochial Church Council (3 Nov 2001) ISBN 0954144406 ISBN 978-0954144401
External links
- Odiham Parish Council
- Odiham Community
- Hampshire Treasures Volume 3 (Hart and Rushmoor) pages 123, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, and 148,
- All Saints' Parish Church, Odiham
- Stained Glass Windows at All Saints, Odiham, Hampshire
- Odiham & Greywell Cricket Club