Froyle
| Froyle | |
| Hampshire | |
|---|---|
 St Mary's Church, Upper Froyle | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU759435 |
| Location: | 51°11’9"N, -0°54’54"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Alton |
| Postcode: | GU34 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | East Hampshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
East Hampshire |
Froyle is a village in Hampshire, three and a half miles north-east of Alton, in the east of the county off the A31 trunk road, three miles from the Surrey border. It is divided into two separated hamlets:
- Upper Froyle, to the south, centred around the church and manor house, and
- Lower Froyle, to the north, which grew up around the farms.[1]
The nearest village of any size, and the railway station, is Bentley, two miles east of Froyle. The 2011 census recorded a parish population of 644.
The St Swithun's Way long-distance path runs by the village and through Upper Froyle.
Parish church
The parish church is in Upper Froyle, beside the manor house, Froyle Park. It bears according to its own signboard a most un-Anglican dedication: 'The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary' (a doctrine rejected by the Church of England), though officially it is known as St Mary's. The longer description appears to be from the influence of a past lord of the manor, Sir Hubert Miller, who endowed the church with excessive vestments and other remembrances of his time spent in Italy.[2][3]
History
Froyle is at the edge of the Hampshire Downs above the Pilgrims' Way long-distance walking route that has been devised Winchester and Canterbury.
There was a Church at "Froli" (mentioned in the Domesday Book) in 1086. and there are traces of habitation on the surrounding downs going back to the Iron Age.
The village is known by some who live there as the 'village of the saints' because of the 19 statues of saints in niches on the front walls of houses and other buildings in Upper Froyle. They were bought by Sir Hubert Miller in the early 20th century from Italy.
Further reading
- 'Froyle, 100 Years of Memories' ISBN 0-9545460-1-6
- Booth, Annette and Jupe, Nora: 'A Village School' ISBN 0-9545460-0-8
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Froyle) |
References
- ↑ "Froyle, 100 Years of Memories" Booth, Annette http://www.froyle.com/pdf/100_100.pdf Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ↑ Sir Hubert Miller: Froyle Vestments Group
- ↑ Obituary of Sir Hubert Miller: Froyle.com