Hampshire Life: February 2019 (^) 49
1736 and lost its medieval core
in the same way that London did
in its own ‘Great Fire’ of 1666.
Timeless? Not a bit of it. It’s now
a Georgian town, but many of the
later colour-washed buildings still
have their original 13th century
cellars; the past determinedly
clings on.
The best bits are in and around
Broad Street, which does what
it says on the tin. It’s wide. Here
can be found the most impressive
architecture. I love a good plaque
(each one tells a story) and
here is one telling us that Mary
Russell Mitford (1787-1855), the
playwright, and authoress of ‘Our
Village’, was born here (27 Broad
Street would be her home until
the age of ten). At the bottom of
the street can be found something
truly ‘old’; a medieval bridge,
another of de Lucy’s creations.
The Church of St John the
Baptist is at least 13th century
originally, but is a 19th century
rebuild in Perpendicular style,
and has been New Alresford’s
parish church since 1851. It
contains two Anglo-Saxon roods
(crosses or crucifixes), and,
amongst its gravestones, can be
found somewhere Napoleonic
prisoners of war lie buried.
Neighbouring Old Alresford
is smaller, a picturesque little
village, which has a stream
running through its green. The
brick and flint church, on the way
to New Alresford, St Mary the
Virgin, was rebuilt in the 18th
century, and had its transepts
added in the 19th, but is on a site
where people have worshipped
from perhaps the 9th century. A
church is certainly mentioned in
the Domesday Book.
Then, there’s the Mid-Hants
Railway, or ‘Watercress Line’
to give it its moniker. This is a
further example of how a town
can change, but sometimes put
that change into reverse. The
original Mid-Hants Railway
opened as a through-route
between Alton and Winchester,
connected to the rest of the
London & South Western Railway
(LSWR) system, at both ends,
in October 1865. It became
synonymous with the movement
of locally produced watercress
but was also important for the
movement of troops because of
the proximity of Aldershot. The
line survived the perennially
unpopular Dr. Beeching but was
then culled by BR in 1973. When
any community loses its rail link,
it recedes a little from the map.
That was not the end
of the story, of course, as
preservationists purchased
the line in 1975 and re-opened
between Alresford and Ropley
two years later. Today’s line
extends to Alton, ten miles
away, where it does, once again,
connect with the national rail
system. Visitors to Alresford
Station might, whimsically, think
they’re looking at a timeless
scene, but, of course, nothing
here has stayed the same. This
is no longer a through-route as
envisaged by the LSWR and is
therefore only a bit of the past re-
created. It’s a very successful bit
though and it brings visitors into
Alresford, which is what matters.
Watercress may not be the
staple of yore, but there is still a
‘Watercress Festival’ in Alresford
each May, which again draws the
punters.
By the time the first UK Census
came around in 1801 Alresford
was pretty much settled. It had
rebuilt itself after the fires and
any Georgian possessing a time
machine would recognise the
same town today, should he take
an amble along Broad Street,
East and West Street. At the turn
of the 19th century there was a
market on a Thursday (there’s still
a street market every Thursday
ALRESFORD
ABOVE: The
pretty market
town of Alresford
as it looks today
RIGHT: A view of
East Street in 1970
Photo: Sterling750 / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Photo: Alresford Museum
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