National Gazetteer (1868) - East Meon

"EAST MEON, a parish chiefly in the lower half of the hundred of East Meon, but partly in the hundred of Meon-Stoke, county Hants, 5 miles S.W. of Petersfield station, its post town. The parish is of large extent, comprising 11,380 acres. It contains the villages of Meon-Stoke and West Meon. About 8,000 acres are arable, 700 meadow and pasture, 1,350 woodlands, 1,277 downs, and the remainder in common and waste. An Enclosure Act was passed in 1839 for taking in certain lands. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Winchester, value with the curacies of Froxfield and Steep annexed, £903, in the patronage of the bishop.

The church, dedicated to All Saints, is a cruciform structure with a Norman tower surmounted by a steeple containing six bells. It contains an ancient font, similar to that in Winchester Cathedral, sculptured with symbolical figures representing the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, and their subsequent instruction in the arts of husbandry and spinning. There is a National school. The Bishop of Winchester is lord of the manor. Westbury House is the principal residence. "BORDEAN, a tything in the parish of East Meon, hundred of the same name, in the county of Southampton, 3 miles to the W. of Petersfield. Near the village is Bordean House. "COOMBE, a tything in the parish of East Meon, in the county of Hants, 6 miles W. of Petersfield.

"FROXFIELD, a chapelry in the parish and hundred of East Meon, county Hants, 3 miles N.W. of Petersfield, its post town, and 9 S. of Alton. The living is a curacy annexed to the vicarage of East Meon, in the diocese of Winchester. The church is dedicated to St. Peter. The charities consist of a school endowment of about £28 per annum. The Wesleyans have a chapel. In the neighbourhood are remains of ancient burial-places, with traces of a fortified camp, specimens of Roman pottery, &c. The Bishop of Winchester is lord of the manor. "LANGRISH, a tything in the parish of East Meon, county Hants, 3 miles W. of Petersfield. "OXENBOURNE, a tything in the parish of East Meon, county Hants, 3 miles W. of Petersfield. It is situated near Oxenbourne Down, under Butser Hill. "PEAK, a hamlet in the parish of East Meon, hundred of Meon-Stoke, county Hants, 5 miles N.E. of Bishop's Waltham, and 10 W. by S. of Petersfield. It is joined with Westbury to form a tything "RAMSDEAN, a tything in the parish of East Meon, county Hants, 3 miles S.W. of Petersfield. "RIPLINGTON, a tything in the parish and hundred of East Meon, county Hants, 5 miles N.W. of Petersfield. "WESTBURY, a tything in the parish of East Meon, county Hants, 5 miles W. of Petersfield."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]