Weston Colley is a hamlet of about twenty dwellings, adjacent to (and within the parish of)
Micheldever
Micheldever is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, situated north of Winchester. It lies upon the River Dever .
The river, and village, formerly part of Stratton Park, lie on a Hampshire grass downland, underlain with chalk and ...
,
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. It is within the
City of Winchester
Winchester (), or the City of Winchester, is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Hampshire, England.
The district is named after its main settlement of Winchester, which ...
local government ward of Wonston And Micheldever. Winchester is also the nearest large settlement, lying approximately south of the hamlet.
History
Within the past thirty years, the landed estate which owned much of Weston Colley has sold (mostly to private owners) its housing portfolio, retaining most of the farmland within and around the hamlet, together with Weston Farm, which is run on a long tenancy. The landed estate is now owned by
Zurich Financial Services
Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. is a Swiss insurance company, headquartered in Zürich, and the country's largest insurer. the group is the world's 98th largest public company according to ''Forbes'' Global 2000s list, and in 2011, it ranked 94th ...
, which acquired it as part of its buy-out of
Eagle Star Insurance
The Eagle Star Insurance Company plc (formerly Eagle Star Insurance Company Limited) was a leading British insurance business. It underwrote the full range of risks including liability, fire, accident, marine, motor, life, contingency and Pluvius ...
- which, in-turn, bought the assets from the estate of
J. Arthur Rank - based at near-by
Sutton Scotney
Sutton Scotney is a village in Hampshire, England, north of Winchester in the civil parish of Wonston.
It lies alongside the River Dever and is now bypassed by the A34 trunk road. It is notable for having been the site of numerous Spitfire cr ...
.
The housing stock mainly dates from the 1930s but there are some centuries' old
thatched
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
, oak-timber buildings.
Business & Services
Whilst there are no large commercial activities in Weston Colley, some residents operate enterprising small businesses. Examples are a lock-up yard, farm, horticultural service, photo-artist, a bed-and-breakfast and a small (maximum five caravans) certified field camping site. However, the hamlet has no shops, pubs nor places of worship.
ADSL broadband-internet is limited to about six GB because Micheldever's telephone exchange serves a small population (therefore is low priority to
British Telecom
BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-li ...
) and because of the distance from that exchange. The quality of service is, however, good, with few drop-outs. Both the telephone / broadband wires and those that deliver electricity are located above ground on poles. There is
mains water
A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following:
# A drainage basin (see water purification – source ...
. However, there is no cable TV / fibre broadband, no mains gas nor
mains sewage (residents have
septic tank
A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater (sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatment ...
s in their gardens).
Nearby services include: churches in several villages, a village shop, petrol station and doctors' surgery in
Sutton Scotney
Sutton Scotney is a village in Hampshire, England, north of Winchester in the civil parish of Wonston.
It lies alongside the River Dever and is now bypassed by the A34 trunk road. It is notable for having been the site of numerous Spitfire cr ...
, a primary school in
Micheldever
Micheldever is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, situated north of Winchester. It lies upon the River Dever .
The river, and village, formerly part of Stratton Park, lie on a Hampshire grass downland, underlain with chalk and ...
and
Micheldever railway station on the
South West Main Line
The South West Main Line (SWML) is a 143-mile (230 km) major railway line between Waterloo station in central London and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many commuter areas including south wes ...
. More comprehensive services are available in
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 ...
(circa nine miles),
Andover
Andover may refer to:
Places Australia
*Andover, Tasmania
Canada
* Andover Parish, New Brunswick
* Perth-Andover, New Brunswick
United Kingdom
* Andover, Hampshire, England
** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station
United States
* Andov ...
and
Basingstoke
Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...
(both circa fifteen miles)
At each end of the hamlet is a bridge. The Micheldever end has an elevated railway line over the single-track lane, restricting the height of traffic below. At the
Stoke Charity
Stoke Charity is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wonston, in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. It is on the River Dever, its nearest town is Winchester, which lies approximately 6.1 miles (9.9&n ...
end, the
River Dever
The River Dever is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at West Stratton near Micheldever and flows westwards for to meet the River Test at Wherwell.
Course
The source is at Above Ordnance Datum (AOD) alongside th ...
is crossed by a single-track road bridge, which was rebuilt in the 2000s to safely carry heavy grain lorries to and from the farm.
By the railway bridge is a mobile telephone transceiver, owned by
EE. Some while ago,
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...
applied to install another mast, close by. However, whereas the EE mast is camouflaged by trees, the proposed Vodafone mast was much taller and received considerable local opposition.
Geography

Weston Colley is located entirely within the Dever Valley; the
River Dever
The River Dever is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at West Stratton near Micheldever and flows westwards for to meet the River Test at Wherwell.
Course
The source is at Above Ordnance Datum (AOD) alongside th ...
flows through the hamlet but briefly disappears under the tall Victorian railway-track embankment which separates Weston Colley from Micheldever. The busy main
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
(Waterloo) to
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
railway still uses the line. There is one proper through-road (Weston Lane) in the hamlet, from Northbrook (Micheldever) at one end and toward Stoke Charity at the other. There is also a
green lane (unsuitable for most road transport) from
Micheldever Station
Micheldever Station is a village in the civil parish of Micheldever in the City of Winchester, which is in turn a district of the county of Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial ...
.
Weston Colley sits on southern English chalk downland. This means the valley sides rise gently and the River Dever runs very clear - though it dries in arid summers (chalk being porous). Bare soil is
alkaline
In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The ...
and populated by chunks of
flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
. Most of the non-garden area is arable fields with some woodland by the river. A few cows, nursing young cattle, are often to be seen in the water meadow but the dairy has not operated for decades.
References
{{authority control
Hamlets in Hampshire
Micheldever