Titchfield
Encyclopedia
Titchfield is a village
in southern Hampshire
, by the River Meon
. The village has a history stretching back to the 6th century. During the medieval period, the village operated a small port and market. Near to the village are the ruins of Titchfield Abbey
, a place with strong associations with Shakespeare, through his patron, the Earl of Southampton
.
, whilst to the south are Stubbington
, Hill Head
and the Solent
. Westwards lie Titchfield Common, Locks Heath
, Warsash
, the River Hamble
and Southampton
beyond. Titchfield forms part of the borough of Fareham
, having been added to the Fareham urban district in 1932.
Several miles to the south of the village, at the mouth of the River Meon and on the shores of the Solent
, is Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve, where there is a small harbour that dries out at low tide. Inland is a Nature Reserve which is an important breeding and visiting ground for many species of birds and wildfowl (and is open to visitors at certain periods).
Near to the village and the haven lies the Titchfield Canal
. It is believed that this is the second oldest canal in England, completed in 1611 (Exeter was the first). It lies close to Titchfield Haven, concealed by a bridge with the remains of a sea-lock at the south end. A footpath
follows the canal to Titchfield village. It was used for trade purposes and also for flooding the water meadows on each side. The Earl of Southampton ordered the river to be sealed off from the sea by a wall which was an unpopular move with the villagers as it ultimately ended Titchfield's role as a port
.
The first people mentioned as inhabiting the area were a Jutish
tribe, the Meonwara The tribe were part of the Jutes originating from Denmark who founded the village during the 6th century. The story regarding the village name may not be true. However it is said that the a large field near the settlement belonged to a man with the name Ticca. With the passing of time Ticca's fields became the village of Titchfield.
St Peter’s Church, Titchfield, was established in about 680 making it one of the oldest used churches in England. Though only a few parts of the original structure survive, the church contains a mixture of building styles, since it was expanded and redeveloped to include additional space.
The Domesday Book
in 1086 mentions "Ticefelle": with a mill, a market and farms. It was a successful community, though tiny by today’s standards with a population of 160. The Doomesday book entry for Titchfield states "The King holds TICEFELLE. It is a berewick, and belongs to MENESTOCHES. King Edward held it. There are 2 hides; but they have not paid geld. (There) is land for 15 ploughs. In (the) demesne (there are) but 2 oxen (animalia), and (there are) 16 villeins and 13 borders with 9 ploughs. There are 4 serfs, and a mill worth 20 shillings. The market and toll (are worth) 40 shillings."
Titchfield has long been a centre for business; with the village once having a small port. There were also tanneries (some of the buildings still exist), a market, a fair, brewers, craftsmen, traders and other business people. It is recorded that Henry V
before Agincourt
and Charles I
before his imprisonment at Carisbrooke
rested in the town.
A Market Hall was built in Titchfield Square by the 3rd Earl of Southampton in the early 17th century This was moved behind the Queen’s Head Public House in 1810. In 1801 Titchfield had a population of almost 3,000. In 1865 a gas company provided gaslight
to the village and in 1894 Titchfield was given a parish council.
In 1970, with the market hall in a derelict state, it was bought by the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum
. The entire hall was dismantled and moved to Singleton where it now stands proudly restored in the centre of a new (old) village.
Premonstratensian
canons founded Titchfield Abbey
in 1222. Henry VIII
dissolved the abbey
in the 16th century, giving the property to a favoured politician, Thomas Wriothesley
who turned it into "Place House" and took the title Earl of Southampton
. Wriothesley's heirs, including the Duke of Portland and the Duke of Beaufort
lived at Place House until 1742 at which point the estate was sold the Delmé family. They lived there for another forty years until, in 1781, a decision was made to abandon the mansion.
Much of the buildings were deliberately demolished to create a romantic ruin. When this happened local people took stone from the abbey for their homes; evidence can be seen in walls and foundations of older houses in Titchfield village. Much, though, is inside the buildings; in The Bugle Hotel in Titchfield, for example, one can see a big fireplace that was salvaged from the ruins. The remains of Tichfield Abbey and Place House are now administered by the English Heritage
.
. The office is the national centre for population
, regional and demographic statistics
. It is one of three national statistical centres run by the Office for National Statistics.
The Titchfield Carnival
took place in October every year from 1880 to 2006, organised by the Titchfield Bonfire Boys Society. By 2006 it was the largest village carnival in Hampshire. However, in 2007, due to the lack of funding and increasing costs, the carnival did not take place. The Titchfield Carnival
returned in 2008, it took place on Sunday 26 November 2008. Entertainment also takes place within the ruins of the Abbey. On yearly occasions plays are performed in the Abbey: for example Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare has been performed. At the 2001 census, the population of the village was estimated at 7000.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in southern 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...
, by the River Meon
River Meon
The River Meon is a river that flows through an area of Hampshire in southern England known as the Meon Valley, it flows generally southwards from the South Downs to the Solent. For most of its route it is a chalk stream, with a length of 21 miles .The River Meon rises approximately...
. The village has a history stretching back to the 6th century. During the medieval period, the village operated a small port and market. Near to the village are the ruins of Titchfield Abbey
Titchfield Abbey
Titchfield Abbey is a medieval abbey and later country house, located in the village of Titchfield near Fareham in Hampshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1222 for Premonstratensian canons, an austere order of priests...
, a place with strong associations with Shakespeare, through his patron, the Earl of Southampton
Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
Henry Wriothesley , 3rd Earl of Southampton , was the second son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, and his wife Mary Browne, Countess of Southampton, daughter of the 1st Viscount Montagu...
.
Geography
To the east of Titchfield lies the town of FarehamFareham
The market town of Fareham lies in the south east of Hampshire, England, between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, roughly in the centre of the South Hampshire conurbation.It gives its name to the borough comprising the town and the surrounding area...
, whilst to the south are Stubbington
Stubbington
Stubbington is a large Hampshire village which is located between Southampton and Portsmouth on the south coast of England. It is within the borough of Fareham but is part of the parliamentary constituency of Gosport.-History:...
, Hill Head
Hill Head
Hill Head is a residential area on the coast of the Solent. It is located south of Stubbington, west of Lee-on-the-Solent and south east of Titchfield, in the borough of Fareham, Hampshire. Hill Head is in the Gosport parliamentary constituency. Hill Head has a shingle beach with fishing, sailing,...
and the Solent
Solent
The Solent is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England.The Solent is a major shipping route for passengers, freight and military vessels. It is an important recreational area for water sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually...
. Westwards lie Titchfield Common, Locks Heath
Locks Heath
Locks Heath is a western residential suburb of Fareham, in the south of Hampshire, England. It lies to the southeast of Sarisbury east of Warsash, to the west of Titchfield, and to the south of Park Gate and Swanwick...
, Warsash
Warsash
Warsash is a village in southern Hampshire, England, situated at the mouth of the River Hamble, west of the area known as Locks Heath. Boating plays an important part in the village's economy, and the village has a sailing club...
, the River Hamble
River Hamble
The River Hamble is a river in Hampshire, England. It rises near Bishop's Waltham and flows for some 7.5 miles through Botley, Bursledon and Swanwick before entering Southampton Water near Hamble-le-Rice and Warsash....
and Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
beyond. Titchfield forms part of the borough of Fareham
Fareham (borough)
Fareham is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Fareham. Other places within the Borough include Portchester, Stubbington, Hill Head, Titchfield, Warsash, Locks Heath, Sarisbury and half of Whiteley...
, having been added to the Fareham urban district in 1932.
Several miles to the south of the village, at the mouth of the River Meon and on the shores of the Solent
Solent
The Solent is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England.The Solent is a major shipping route for passengers, freight and military vessels. It is an important recreational area for water sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually...
, is Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve, where there is a small harbour that dries out at low tide. Inland is a Nature Reserve which is an important breeding and visiting ground for many species of birds and wildfowl (and is open to visitors at certain periods).
Near to the village and the haven lies the Titchfield Canal
Titchfield Canal
The Titchfield Canal is a canal in Hampshire, England, UK, and Britain's second-oldest man-made waterway. It was built following the decision by the Third Earl of Southampton to build a dike across the entrance to the River Meon, cutting it off from the Solent...
. It is believed that this is the second oldest canal in England, completed in 1611 (Exeter was the first). It lies close to Titchfield Haven, concealed by a bridge with the remains of a sea-lock at the south end. A footpath
Trail
A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...
follows the canal to Titchfield village. It was used for trade purposes and also for flooding the water meadows on each side. The Earl of Southampton ordered the river to be sealed off from the sea by a wall which was an unpopular move with the villagers as it ultimately ended Titchfield's role as a port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
.
History
Jutes
The Jutes, Iuti, or Iutæ were a Germanic people who, according to Bede, were one of the three most powerful Germanic peoples of their time, the other two being the Saxons and the Angles...
tribe, the Meonwara The tribe were part of the Jutes originating from Denmark who founded the village during the 6th century. The story regarding the village name may not be true. However it is said that the a large field near the settlement belonged to a man with the name Ticca. With the passing of time Ticca's fields became the village of Titchfield.
St Peter’s Church, Titchfield, was established in about 680 making it one of the oldest used churches in England. Though only a few parts of the original structure survive, the church contains a mixture of building styles, since it was expanded and redeveloped to include additional space.
The Domesday Book
Domesday 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...
in 1086 mentions "Ticefelle": with a mill, a market and farms. It was a successful community, though tiny by today’s standards with a population of 160. The Doomesday book entry for Titchfield states "The King holds TICEFELLE. It is a berewick, and belongs to MENESTOCHES. King Edward held it. There are 2 hides; but they have not paid geld. (There) is land for 15 ploughs. In (the) demesne (there are) but 2 oxen (animalia), and (there are) 16 villeins and 13 borders with 9 ploughs. There are 4 serfs, and a mill worth 20 shillings. The market and toll (are worth) 40 shillings."
Titchfield has long been a centre for business; with the village once having a small port. There were also tanneries (some of the buildings still exist), a market, a fair, brewers, craftsmen, traders and other business people. It is recorded that Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
before Agincourt
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
and Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
before his imprisonment at Carisbrooke
Carisbrooke Castle
Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke, near Newport, Isle of Wight, England. Charles I was imprisoned at the castle in the months prior to his trial.-Early history:...
rested in the town.
A Market Hall was built in Titchfield Square by the 3rd Earl of Southampton in the early 17th century This was moved behind the Queen’s Head Public House in 1810. In 1801 Titchfield had a population of almost 3,000. In 1865 a gas company provided gaslight
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
to the village and in 1894 Titchfield was given a parish council.
In 1970, with the market hall in a derelict state, it was bought by the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum
Weald and Downland Open Air Museum
The Weald and Downland Open Air Museum is an open air museum at in Singleton, Sussex, England. The museum covers , with nearly 50 historic buildings dating from the thirteenth to nineteenth centuries, along with gardens, farm animals, walks and a lake....
. The entire hall was dismantled and moved to Singleton where it now stands proudly restored in the centre of a new (old) village.
Titchfield Abbey
Premonstratensian
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...
canons founded Titchfield Abbey
Titchfield Abbey
Titchfield Abbey is a medieval abbey and later country house, located in the village of Titchfield near Fareham in Hampshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1222 for Premonstratensian canons, an austere order of priests...
in 1222. Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry 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...
dissolved the abbey
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
in the 16th century, giving the property to a favoured politician, Thomas Wriothesley
Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton
Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, KG , known as The Lord Wriothesley between 1544 and 1547, was a politician of the Tudor period born in London to William Wrythe and Agnes Drayton....
who turned it into "Place House" and took the title Earl of Southampton
Earl of Southampton
Earl of Southampton was a title that was created three times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1537 in favour of the courtier William Fitzwilliam. He was childless and the title became extinct on his death in 1542. The second creation came in 1547 in favour of the politician...
. Wriothesley's heirs, including the Duke of Portland and the Duke of Beaufort
Duke of Beaufort
Duke of Beaufort is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, illegitimate son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, a Lancastrian leader in the Wars of the...
lived at Place House until 1742 at which point the estate was sold the Delmé family. They lived there for another forty years until, in 1781, a decision was made to abandon the mansion.
Much of the buildings were deliberately demolished to create a romantic ruin. When this happened local people took stone from the abbey for their homes; evidence can be seen in walls and foundations of older houses in Titchfield village. Much, though, is inside the buildings; in The Bugle Hotel in Titchfield, for example, one can see a big fireplace that was salvaged from the ruins. The remains of Tichfield Abbey and Place House are now administered by the English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
.
The village today
Just outside Titchfield is one of the offices of the Office for National StatisticsOffice for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
. The office is the national centre for population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
, regional and demographic statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
. It is one of three national statistical centres run by the Office for National Statistics.
The Titchfield Carnival
Titchfield Carnival
Titchfield Carnival is an annual event that has been held in Titchfield, Hampshire, England, every year since 1880 onwards, except during World War I and World War II and 2007. It is organised each year by the Titchfield Bonfire Boys Society, and features a parade through the village, a funfair, a...
took place in October every year from 1880 to 2006, organised by the Titchfield Bonfire Boys Society. By 2006 it was the largest village carnival in Hampshire. However, in 2007, due to the lack of funding and increasing costs, the carnival did not take place. The Titchfield Carnival
Titchfield Carnival
Titchfield Carnival is an annual event that has been held in Titchfield, Hampshire, England, every year since 1880 onwards, except during World War I and World War II and 2007. It is organised each year by the Titchfield Bonfire Boys Society, and features a parade through the village, a funfair, a...
returned in 2008, it took place on Sunday 26 November 2008. Entertainment also takes place within the ruins of the Abbey. On yearly occasions plays are performed in the Abbey: for example Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare has been performed. At the 2001 census, the population of the village was estimated at 7000.