Tichborne is a village and

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

east of

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

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.

History

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

in the south of the parish within the

South Downs National Park The South Downs National Park is England's newest national parks of England and Wales, national park, designated on 31 March 2010. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in t ...

is a bell barrow, bowl barrow and regular aggregate field system immediately east of Ganderdown Farm, a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

indicating

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

inhabitation.

Manor

In AD 909

Edward the Elder Edward the Elder (870s?17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousi ...

granted the manor of Tichborne to

Denewulf __NOTOC__ Denewulf (died 908) was a medieval Bishop of Winchester from 878 or 879 until his death. Little is known of him, though by tradition he began life as a swineherd, and was promoted to bishop at an advanced age after a chance encounter ...

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

. However, Tichborne is not recorded in 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086. The

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Tichborne family has held the manor since the 12th century. Tichborne House was built shortly after 1803 while a longstanding baronetcy (indicating the use of 'Sir') was held by the family. There was a notorious 19th-century legal case of the Tichborne Claimant, in which an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

imposter,

Arthur Orton Arthur Orton (20 March 1834 – 1 April 1898) was an English man who has generally been identified by legal historians and commentators as the Tichborne case, "Tichborne Claimant", who in two celebrated court cases both fascinated and shocke ...

, then living in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, claimed to be missing Tichborne family member Sir Roger Tichborne.

Other buildings

Almost all of the other buildings are clustered near each other and are

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s. They include an Old Rectory, which may indicate

chancel repair liability Chancel repair liability is a legal obligation on a small number of property owners in England and Wales to pay for certain repairs to a church, often the local parish church. Where people purchase property within land that was once rectorial (pa ...

, the Chapel of St Margaret and Tichborne Park House. Near Cheriton is the only Grade II* listed building, Sevington Farmhouse. east of Alresford are a northern small street of cottages, Lady Croft Cottages and Seward's Bridge over the River Itchen and

Watercress Line The Watercress Line is the marketing name of the Mid-Hants Railway, a heritage railway in Hampshire, England, running from New Alresford to Alton where it connects to the National Rail network. The line gained its popular name in the days ...

railway.

Parish church

The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Church stems from the Gospel of Jo ...

has an 11th-century Saxo-

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

that combines characteristically Saxon double-splayed windows with Norman flat buttresses and has reached Grade I listed status. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and two-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

arcades are

Early English Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

. The north aisle is now railed off to form the Tichborne Chapel, with

monuments A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

to members of the manorial family Inside the chapel is a tomb with full-sized horizontal images of Sir Benjamin Tichborne (d.1621) and his wife Amphillis. Tichborne church grave

It is rare in being dedicated as a

chapel within a pre-Reformation

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Parish Church. The west tower was added in 1703 and is built of blue and red brick. It has a

ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

of six bells cast between 1737 and 1887.

Amenities

Tichborne holds a traditional charitable festival called the

Tichborne Dole The Tichborne Dole is a traditional English festival of charity which is held in the village of Tichborne, Hampshire, during the Feast of the Annunciation. The festival is centered on the handing out of donations of flour, which have been blesse ...

. On the main village street, on the north side of the village is the Tichborne Arms pub

Alresford Golf Course, founded 1890, covers much of the north-east, with greens highly rated on golfing websites. Nearby attractions include the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

garden at

Hinton Ampner Hinton Ampner is a village and country house estate with gardens and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bramdean and Hinton Ampner, in the City of Winchester, Winchester district, in the county of Hampshire, England. It is near New Alres ...

. In September is the large agricultural and funfair Alresford Show at Tichborne Park.

Notable people

Matilda Ellen Bishop Matilda Ellen Bishop (12 April 1842 in Tichborne, Hampshire – 1 July 1913 in Camberwell, London) was the first Principal (academia), Principal of Royal Holloway, University of London, Royal Holloway College, University of London and was responsib ...

, first Principal of

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

* Sandy Brown, ceramics artist *

James Lillywhite James Lillywhite (23 February 1842 – 25 October 1929) was an English Test cricketer and an umpire. He was the first ever captain of the English cricket team in a Test match, captaining two Tests against Australia in 1876–77, losing the fir ...

, cricketer *

Bryan Michie Thomas Bryan Michie (5 January 1906 – 24 March 1971) was a British radio and television producer, broadcaster and executive. Biography Born in Tichborne, Hampshire, Bryan Michie started his career as a teacher, and was then a stage actor. ...

, producer and broadcaster * Charlie Ottley, journalist and broadcaster

References

Sources

* *

External links

{{authority control Villages in Hampshire