Church Crookham
| Church Crookham | |
| Hampshire | |
|---|---|
 The Wyvern, Church Crookham | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU810523 |
| Location: | 51°15’50"N, -0°50’24"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 11,165 (2020 est.) |
| Post town: | Fleet |
| Postcode: | GU52 |
| Dialling code: | 01252 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Hart |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North East Hampshire |
| Website: | churchcrookham.org.uk |
Church Crookham is a large suburban village in the very east of Hampshire, contiguous with the town of Fleet, in the north-east of the county. Formerly a separate village, it has been engulfed to become one of Fleet's southern suburbs.
History
Crookham (in many of the earliest records, Crokeham) can be found recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, though Church Crookham itself, including Crookham Village (its western part in traditional terms), was a mere hamlet until the first and only Anglican church was built in 1840, Christ Church, which gives this village is named.[1] Until the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII, much of the land hereabouts was church-owned.
In the 13th to 14th centuries, the De Burgh family held notable lands in Crookham under the Prior and Convent of St Swithun Winchester.[2] During this time, one of the family saw a confirmation (re-grant) and was bailiff of the priory, in 1257. One of his grandsons passed all the lands of his mother in the "hamlets" of "Crookham" and "Velmeads" to another such grandson.
The parent sprawling parish of Crondall (in the Crondall Hundred) was mostly rural at this time, with the 1831 edition of Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England, which used the census returns to assess that Crookham had 623 inhabitants and not even mentioning the (at the time) much smaller Fleet. Other than Crondall tithing, this parish in 1800 consisted of four other tithings, Crookham (otherwise Church Crookham), Ewshot, Swanthorpe, and portions of Dippenhall (partly in Surrey, in that county's Farnham Hundred).[2]
Crookham was made its own church parish in 1842; Fleet was (before in this parish) in 1863.[2] The Basingstoke Canal has served as the effective division between Fleet and Church Crookham since it was dug.
Forestry was significant in eastern Crookham with several 'old copse enclosures' and areas of 'woodland'.[2] A few of the neediest poor were housed in almshouses, by request of Isabelle Cottrell of Bath.[2]
The Second World War
Church Crookham lies on GHQ Line – the most important of a number of fortified stop lines constructed as a part of British anti-invasion preparations of Second World War – and was at one of the most heavily fortified sections of that line.[3]
About the village
Motorists entering Fleet from the south and west are met with signs welcoming them to Church Crookham, whereas those entering the town from the north and east are welcomed to Fleet instead.
The Basingstoke Canal bounds the north-east and briefly the north-west of Church Crookham. Across this are modern outer neighbourhoods of Fleet.
The poet John Keble was a regular visitor to Church Crookham's Christ Church.
From 1938 to 2000, the Army Queen Elizabeth Barracks was quite central in the parish.[4] It has since been replaced by housing (Crookham Park) and landscaping from 2012.
Tweseldown race course
Tweseldown Racecourse is a point-to-point horse racing track. This racing track was used for the eventing steeplechase in the 1948 London Olympics.
Filming location
Church Crookham has hosted scenes for several films. These include the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day, which used woodland and flat ground between the village and Aldershot to represent the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea.
Church Crookham was also one of several towns and villages (others including nearby Aldershot, Farnham, and Chobham) that served as filming locations for the 2006 film Children of Men.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Church Crookham) |
References
- ↑ Church Crookham.co.uk. "Church Crookham: A pleasant village in Hampshire, England". http://www.church-crookham.co.uk/.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 A History of the County of Hampshire - Volume 4 pp 5-14: Parishes: Crondall (Victoria County History)
- ↑ Foot, 2006, p335-341
- ↑ "ASU Building, QE Barracks, Church Crookham". Oxford Archaeology. p. 3. https://library.thehumanjourney.net/3277/1/A2014-30_Report.pdf.
- Foot, William (2006). Beaches, fields, streets, and hills ... the anti-invasion landscapes of England, 1940. Council for British Archaeology. ISBN 1-902771-53-2.