National Gazetteer (1868) - Laverstoke

"LAVERSTOKE, a parish in the hundred of Overton, Kingsclere division of the county Hants, 2 miles N.E. of Whitchurch, its post town, and 5 N.W. of Andover Road railway station. It is situated near the South-Western railway. The village, which is small, is situated in the valley of the Test, a rivulet rising within 2 miles of the parish, with trout of excellent quality. The paper for the Bank of England notes has been manufactured here since 1719. The soil is chiefly clay, on a substratum of chalk. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Winchester, value £180. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a small edifice situated in the park. It contains several tablets of the Portal family. There is a free school, supported by Melville Portal, Esq., the lord of the manor, who resides at Laverstoke House, rebuilt at the commencement of the present century, under the supervision of Bonone. It is situated on gently rising ground."

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