Highclere
| Highclere | |
| Hampshire | |
|---|---|
 St Michael and All Angels, Highclere | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU438608 |
| Location: | 51°20’42"N, 1°22’19"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Newbury |
| Postcode: | RG20 |
| Dialling code: | 01635 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Basingstoke and Deane |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North West Hampshire |
Highclere is a village in the very north of Hampshire, within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The village is found near the Berkshire border. It is most famous for being the location of Highclere Castle, a noted Victorian house owned by the Earls of Carnarvon: Highclere Castle has been seen frequently on screen as the setting for numerous films and television series, including Downton Abbey.
Parish church
The parish church of St Michael and All Angels sits between Highclere Castle and the main part of the village. This 'new' church (1870s) replaced a much older church sited adjacent to Highclere Castle, and parish records go back to pre-Norman times.
The church parish is part of the North West Hampshire Benefice (with Ashmansworth, Crux Easton, East Woodhay and Woolton Hill).
About the village
There is a pub, the Red House, a flourishing village hall and a private junior prep school, Thorngrove.
"Highclere Holly" (Ilex altaclerensis) was first identified here and still flourishes in local woodlands.
Legends
A peculiar legend in the village is the old belief that a 'grampus' once lived in a yew tree in the churchyard of the Highclere Estate Chapel.[1] As 'grampus' usually means a killer whale, it conjures a most peculiar vision of a giant, invisible cetacean in a tree terrifying villagers with its unearthly moans. The superstition was ended when the vicar performed an exercism and "banished the grampus to the Red Sea for a thousand years".
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Highclere) |