Farther Common is a geographical region of

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 seat ...

in the Parish of

Liss Liss, Lyss or LISS may refer to * Liss (band), a Danish musical group * Liss (name), a given name and surname *Liss, Hampshire, a village in England ** West Liss, the oldest part of Liss village **Liss Forest, a hamlet near Liss ** Liss Athletic ...

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

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is characterised by

greensand Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and co ...

topography,

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

and

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

, which was a common on the Money-Coutts estate centred at Stodham House, Liss. The name of this common land is in fact "Farther Commons" which can be verified by reference to the ordnance survey map of the area. The Money-Coutts family were part of the famous banking family, owners of

Coutts & Co Coutts & Co. is a London-headquartered private bank and wealth manager. Founded in 1692, it is the eighth oldest bank in the world. Today, Coutts forms part of NatWest Group's wealth management division. In the Channel Islands and the Isle o ...

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 ...

. Stodham House was used as a Special Training School (STS 3) of the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

(SOE) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, particularly for the training of Norwegian saboteurs. The plots of development land were sold off in parcels in the early part of the last century, served by two lanes which remain in use. Some of the plots are on steep parts of the greensand ridge. The original houses on both the north and south lanes of the Common were

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

houses, often now much altered. Other plots were sold off in parcels of an acre of more from the earlier plots and houses have been built in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Farther Common is bounded to the East by Bones Bottom, to the West by Gravel Pit Bottom to the North by Stodham Lane and to the South by the North track. The former Woodley House, (the gardeners cottage of Grey Walls House) and West Gables, the former servants quarters of the same property are not properly part of the Common, although now separated from their master house. The Far House on the South Lane is a modernist, 1960s wooden house built by writer and former intelligence officer

Selwyn Jepson Selwyn Jepson (25 November 1899 – 10 March 1989) was an English mystery and detective author and screenwriter. He was the son of the fiction writer Edgar Jepson (1863–1938) and Frieda Holmes, daughter of the musician Henry Holmes. His sister ...

while Ponticum on the North Lane is a remarkable 1960s modernist house looking out over the Chalk Hangars. Some of the other houses built at a later time are built on smaller plots derived from the earlier larger ones. For instance, Fernhill from the 1970s. The site has previously been used for

caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

accommodation for the staff of Hill Brow Nursing Home, now itself gone. There is a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

ring barrow A ring cairn (also correctly termed a ring bank enclosure, but sometimes wrongly described as a ring barrow) is a circular or slightly oval, ring-shaped, low (maximum 0.5 metres high) embankment, several metres wide and from 8 to 20 metres in ...

at Saxonwood House and Peacewood. Some of those that came to build and live on the common have been notable. * Monica Storrs, "God's Galloping Girl" of Peace Wood. *

Henryk Zygalski Henryk Zygalski (; 15 July 1908 – 30 August 1978) was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who worked at breaking German Enigma ciphers before and during World War II. Life Zygalski was born on 15 July 1908 in Posen, German Empire (now Poz ...

. One of three Polish mathematicians/cryptologists credited with breaking the Enigma code in the 1930s. Operated for the Allies from a clandestine radio station in Vichy France and Algeria 1940-1942 during World War II. Lived with his partner, Mrs. B. Blofield in Greenwood (now known as Saxonwood House), Farther Common. *

of the Far House, well-known author and intelligence officer (recruiting officer for F Section SOE) in World War II.

References

Geography of Hampshire {{hampshire-geo-stub