Medstead
| Medstead | |
| Hampshire | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU654371 |
| Location: | 51°7’46"N, 1°3’56"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Alton |
| Postcode: | GU34 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | East Hampshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
East Hampshire |
Medstead is a village in Hampshire, 4 miles west-southwest of Alton. The village has a population of around 2,000 and adjoins the village of Four Marks. At over 700 feet above sea level, they are some of the highest villages in Hampshire.
The village also has its own restored railway station, Medstead and Four Marks, on the Watercress Line, services from which connect with the nearest national rail station 4.3 miles to the northeast, at Alton.
At one time, Medstead came under the large civil parish of Bentworth until its decline in the mid-19th century.
History
The origins of the ecclesistical parish of Medstead can be traced back to the Saxon period and the granting of the Liberty of Alresford which covered the present-day ecclesistical parishes of New Alresford, Old Alresford and Medstead. The Domesday Book of 1086 confirms the establishment of the Liberty's Mother Church, St. Mary the Virgin, Old Alresford. In the Liberty of Alresford, St. Mary the Virgin had been established as the Mother Church at Old Alresford with chapelries of St. John the Baptist at New Alresford and St. Andrew at Medstead.
Except for brief periods most of this land remained in the hands of the Bishop Of Winchester, as Chief Lord of the Liberty of Alresford, and St. Andrew's remained a chapel of St. Mary the Virgin, served by a Curate appointed by the Rector of Old Alresford, until 1850.[1]
In 1850 the Liberty was transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the living of Old Alresford was divided into three parishes: Medstead, New Alresford and Old Alresford. Consequently, Medstead became an independent ecclesiatical parish with its own incumbent.[2]
In 1945 the churches of Medstead and Wield became a united benefice, and in 2003 the churches of St. Mary's Bentworth, St. Mary's Lasham, St. Andrew's Medstead and St. Peter & St. Paul Shalden became the united benefice of Bentworth, Lasham, Medstead and Shalden.[3]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Medstead) |
- Medstead Village website
- Hampshire Treasures Volume 6 (East Hampshire) pages:
- St. Andrew's Parish Church, Medstead
- Stained Glass Windows at St. Andrew, Medstead
- Medstead Parish Council
References
Books
- A Guide to St. Andrew's Church, Medstead (available in church)
- Chris Tew A History of St. Andrew's Church (2005)
- Gordon Timmins Medstead, a Village History (2003)
- Domesday Book, Hampshire edited by Julian Munby (1982)
- Lorents Rathbone A Chronicle of Medstead (1966)
- Nellie Moody A Short History of Medstead(1932)