Seasonal treats for Hampshire heritage lovers, by Barry Shurlock

It’s a boxed set of 17 historic maps of the city and its surroundings from prehistoric times to the present day (available from Amazon). One of c.1800 is on a large scale in nine sections (available in part separately for £8 from Old House Books). There are also 11 spreads with 140 engravings and other illustrations of major sites, and a comprehensive gazetteer – the size of two Scrabble boards! 

This handsome, encyclopaedic product is No. 11 in the Winchester Studies Series of books published over the years to showcase the work of the Winchester Archaeological Committee and the Winchester Research Unit, now based in Oxford.  

It is the result of the work – based on archaeological and documentary evidence – of Martin Biddle and his team carried out over the past 60 years. Overall, it represents the most comprehensive study of any city in Northern Europe. 

The volumes of Winchester Studies Series have been mainly used by scholars, but recent moves are enabling some of them to be bought and read on the screen at a fraction of the price of print products. 

Environment and Agriculture of Early Winchester, from the late Iron Age to the early post-medieval period, is available as a PDF for personal use for only £16 from Archaeopress, Oxford. Every local historian will benefit from perusing it.

The Winchester Studies Series is also accessible on the shelves of the Hampshire Record Office in Sussex Street, Winchester (Tuesdays to Fridays, 9:30 to 4 and some Saturdays). This must-go-to place is free to use, it’s comfortable and warm, and its staff field those difficult questions that old documents sometimes raise.

One of its little-known secrets is that in the foyer is a shelf of over-stock publications that visitors can take free of charge. Also free in the search room is access to the British Newspaper archive and the family-history search engines Ancestry and FindMyPast, including the 1921 national census.

For a surprise Christmas gift at a modest price the HRO sells some important books published over the years – ideal for exploring the past without struggling with medieval Latin or early handwriting. All appear on the HRO website and are obtainable from the HCC Online Shop.

They include official documents from St Swithun’s Priory, the monastery of Winchester Cathedral before Henry VIII changed everything with the Reformation. There are other volumes on the registers of medieval bishops, the Hearth Tax in 1685, church surveys in the 18th and 19th centuries and much else, mostly priced at only £5 plus p & p.

Digital forms of some of this and other material are also available from the HRO, including the bishops’ registers from 1282 to 1684, the famous Winchester Pipe Rolls and a survey of Basingstoke carried out in 1762.

Particularly appealing for the proverbial Christmas stocking would be a digital copy of a tithe map of about 1840. The HRO sells copies of this valuable source for many villages in the county, as listed on the website. Instead of poring over a huge map laid out in the HRO, it can be viewed at home, field by field, house by house.

The HRO is partnered with the Hampshire Genealogical Society – essential for family historians - whose members regularly field queries at a help desk in the search room. Membership only costs £15 and brings a regular journal, The Hampshire Family Historian, and many other benefits.

This gives tips on researching family history, and lists members with an interest in specific surnames.

Membership also brings contacts with people with similar interests, via local groups in Winchester, Eastleigh, Andover, Basingstoke and elsewhere.

Top of the list for other ideas for Christmas for heritage lovers is a subscription to the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society. It is the prime organization in the county and has been exploring almost every facet of Hampshire history since the 1880s.

Membership brings links with others of similar interests, and its Newsletter and journal, Hampshire Studies, publish news and original papers on recent studies. All its papers published over the last 130 years can be ‘leafed through’ online.

Another big player in the history world is the Hampshire Archives Trust, with the catch phrase ‘preserving memories for the future’. Its twice-yearly Newsletter gives the latest information on new sources recently acquired by archives throughout Hampshire, with other articles on subjects of interest. Each cover depicts a different map from the HRO collection.

HAT has recently spruced up its website, with Dr Daniella Gonzalez, its Social Media Fellow posting blogs on various stories. It is perhaps not well known that the failed Spanish Armada of 1588 was one of a succession of invasion scares, including an ‘invisible armada’ of 1599.

The story is told on the HAT website by Joshua Harper, who studied at the University of Winchester, and now works for the Mary Rose Trust in Portsmouth. It was believed that the Hampshire Militia had to be threatened by the Privy Council before satisfying a command to send more men to defend the coast, though it eventually stepped up to the task. 

Tweaking the record, Joshua writes that ‘past historians appear to hold a negative perspective on the Elizabeth Militia… but they evidently improved upon this at a time of national threat and dire economic circumstances’.

The annual subscription for HAT gives membership of a ‘club’ of heritage lovers, and supports its grants scheme, which has given nearly £135,000 in awards to 41 different projects.
Another candidate for the Christmas stocking is a subscription to the Friends of Winchester Cathedral, or one to befriend the Hampshire History Trust – organisers of Winchester Heritage Open Days. These both come with various add-ons, such as publications, blogs, podcasts, heritage films and talks. 

Also, someone somewhere would be delighted to get a gift voucher from The Hampshire Cultural Trust, which runs a large number of museums and other venues. Their online shop also sells reports on a wide range of archaeological excavations carried out in Winchester, on Roman, Anglo-Saxon and medieval sites, including iconic investigations of Hyde Abbey, Oram’s Arbour and the Roman cemeteries outside the north of the city.

WARG, the Winchester group for mainly archaeology, welcomes new members to participate in their various digs and other activities. Most recently they have been working in Hursley Park, uncovering traces of the house that Richard Cromwell, ‘Tumbledown Dick’, son of the Protector, lived in, before being hounded into exile.

For modest sums, the Winchester branch of the Historical Association offers talks by nationally recognized scholars on a wide spread of subjects, such as the American Revolution, Anglo-Irish relations, early Tudor kings and many others.  

Many local history societies welcome new members and continue to produce a wealth of modestly priced publications that could happily be left under the Christmas tree. Most of them have websites. 

So, there are plenty of opportunities to surprise someone with an interest in Alresford, Ropley, Romsey, Littleton, Bishopstoke, The Worthys, Dever Valley (Micheldever and more), King's Somborne, Compton and Shawford, Basingstoke, Andover, Wherwell, Bishop's Waltham and many others.

barryshurlock@gmail.com