Weyhill
| Weyhill | |
| Hampshire | |
|---|---|
 Weyhill Church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU317466 |
| Location: | 51°13’5"N, 1°32’47"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 794 (2011) |
| Post town: | Andover |
| Postcode: | SP11 |
| Dialling code: | 01264 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Test Valley |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North West Hampshire |
Weyhill is a village in the north-west Hampshire. It stands just north of the tearing hurry of the A303 dual carriageway and , two and a half miles west of Andover town centre. The A342 Andover to Devizes road runs through the town.
The village is famous for having a mediæval fair and then later a livestock fair, with up to 100,000 sheep a day being auctioned.[1][2][3]
The fair owed its existence to Weyhill being positioned on a major route across the country, now echoes by the A303, on the course of a Roman and on eight ancient trackways, including the Harrow Way.
Church
The Church of St Michael and all the Angels dates back in part to the Norman period, with a 16th-century nave. It is on the site of an earlier Saxon church. It is a Grade II* listed building[4]
History
The fair has been held on the site since the 11th century, with the first written records from 1225.[1][5] By the mid-19th century the fair had stopped attracting large crowds, as communications and business changed, reducing the variety of items for sale. The last fair happened in 1957.[2][3] The parish council bought the fairground after it fell into disrepair and converted it into small independent craft studios and shops in 2005.[3]
Weyhill railway station was opened on 1 May 1882, by The Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway, and closed on 11 September 1961.
In literature
Weyhill features in a key scene in Thomas Hardy's novel The Mayor of Casterbridge, fictionalised as 'Weydon Priors'. The historic fairground is given the place where Michael Henchard sells his wife.
Pictures
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Weyhill) |
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The Weyhill Fair pub -
The Weyhill fairground -
St Michael & All Angels Church -
War Memorial gate, entrance to Church
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Outside links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Weyhill Fair". Hampshire History. http://www.hampshire-history.com/weyhill-fair/.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "History of the Weyhill Fair". The Somborne & District Society. http://www.thesombornes.org.uk/village_org_page.php?page_id=274.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Fairground". Penton Grafton Parish Council. http://pentongraftonparishcouncil.org.uk/fairground-history.html.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1229819: Church of St Michael and all the Angels (Grade II* listing)
- ↑ "Penton Gradton, Hampshire". A Vision of Britain Through Time. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/5784.