Neatham is a Roman hamlet in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

in the

East Hampshire East Hampshire is a local government district in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Petersfield. Other towns are Alton and Bordon. The district was originally to be known as the District Council of Petersfield. It comprised 42 sea ...

district of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, England. Its nearest town is

,(where the 2011 Census population was included) which lies south-west from the hamlet.

History

Roman period – Vindomis

The lost Roman settlement of Vindomis is believed to be at Neatham. Its strategic importance lay in its being at the crossing of important roads: one from Winchester towards

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and the other from

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

to Silchester, a large Roman town to the north of present-day Basingstoke. The name Vindomis might be translated as ‘(The mansio) of the wine country’ (although this may equally be a Celtic name, with the prefix VINDO-'white'). Vindomis may well have been the administrative centre of a large estate associated with the potteries. The population at this time is estimated at have been 2,500.

Saxon period – Neatham

After the Romans left, it became a Saxon settlement, called Neatham, indicating the presence of a cattle market. For several centuries, Neatham remained the chief place in the area and the focal point of Neatham Hundred, which included a large part of north-east Hampshire.

Norman period

At the time of the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

in 1085, Neatham was recorded as belonging to the Crown and it included 96 households. Neatham Hundred included 24 other places. After the founding of

Waverley Abbey Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128 by William Giffard, the Bishop of Winchester. Located about southeast of Farnham, Surrey, it is situated on a flood-plain; surrounded by current and previous channe ...

in 1128, King Steven made a gift of Neatham for the Abbey to establish a Grange and an Oratory, with a community of 12 monks, independent of the parish of

Holybourne Holybourne is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 1.3 miles (2.2 km) northeast of the centre of Alton, Hampshire, Alton, is contiguous with it and shares its A31 road, A31 bypass. The nearest Alton railway s ...

. Eventually, Neatham was eclipsed by Alton and, in the 12th century, the area was renamed the Alton Hundred.

Tudor period

When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, Neatham went into lay hands and became part of the parish of

Binsted Binsted is a village and large civil parish in East Hampshire, England. It is about east of Alton, its nearest town. The parish is one of the largest in northern Hampshire and covers almost . It contains two villages, Bucks Horn Oak and Holt ...

Modern day

In the 1980s, Neatham elected to be joined to Holybourne. Neatham is now a hamlet comprising a Manor House, a Grange, a mill, and a dozen cottages. Today, the hamlet lies along the Alton bypass between Alton and Farnham. Its Grade I buildings and mills still remain.

Notable buildings

;Neatham Grange * Mill House (C.19)''Hampshire Treasures'' Volume 6 (East Hampshire) p49
/ref> ;Upper Neatham Mill * Mill House. Possible C.18 or earlier. * Barn ; Neatham Mill * Mill and Barn . Mostly C.19. * Dovecote C.18 ;Neatham Manor * Manor House Possible C.18.
/ref> * Dovecote C.16/17

References

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20140811003912/http://www.envf.port.ac.uk/hantsgaz/hantsgaz/S0004657.HTM Neatham
PROPOSED CONSERVATION AREAS AT LOWER NEATHAM MILL AND ISINGTON
{{authority control Villages in Hampshire Alton, Hampshire