Hursley

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National Gazetteer (1868) - Hursley

"HURSLEY, a parish in the lower half of the hundred of Buddlesgate, county Hants, 4 miles S.W. of Winchester, its post town. The village stands on the high road from Winchester to Romsey. This parish formed part of the ancient manor of Merdon, and belonged to the Saxon kings and bishops of Winchester, but afterwards came into the hands of Richard Cromwell. It is the head of a Poor-law Union. It is identified as the Mrantune of the Saxon chronicles, where Cynewulph, king of Wessex, was assassinated by Ceynard, brother of Sigebert, the last king, of Wessex.

The living is a vicarage* with the curacy of Otterbourne annexed, in the diocese of Winchester, value £440. The parish church, dedicated to All Saints, has an octagonal spire containing five bells. In the interior are several stained-glass windows and the tomb of Richard Cromwell and others of that family. There is also a district church at Ampfield, the living of which is a perpetual curacy* in the patronage of the Vicar of Hursley. The charities produce £1 per annum. Hursley Lodge, situated in a wooded park well stocked with deer, is the seat of Sir William Heathcote, Bart. It is a mansion built on the site of an older one, in which the great seal of the Commonwealth was discovered about a century ago."

"AMPFIELD, a village in the parish of Hursley, in the lower half of the hundred of Buddlesgate, in the county of Southampton, 4 miles from Romsey, 6 from Winchester railway station, and 74 from London. The beautiful little church, dedicated to St. Mark, is nearly new, and built in the Gothic style; the material is blue brick and stone, with an octagonal spire. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £2000 by Sir W. Heathcote and J. White, Esq., in the diocese of Winchester, and in the patronage of the vicar of Hursley. Ampfield House is the principal residence."

"CRANBURY PARK, the seat of Lady Holland, in the parish of Hursley, in the county of Hants, 3½ miles S.W. of Winchester. Here is a meet for the Hursley hounds."