Mengham is the largest settlement on

Hayling Island Hayling Island is an island off the south coast of England, in the borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, east of Portsmouth. History An Iron Age shrine in the north of Hayling Island, later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st cent ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England. It is the largest shopping area on the island, and has three schools and a library. There is a church, St Mary's, in the north of the settlement. There is said to be an entrance to a tunnel in St Mary's churchyard, disguised as a grave. This tunnel allegedly goes down to the shore and in past times

smugglers Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

used it to bring

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") is any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It comprises goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes of the leg ...

items into the mainland. The tunnel, found under the name "Mary Gritt's" leads around 1/2 a mile underground.

External links

* Villages in Hampshire Hayling Island {{Hampshire-geo-stub