Research Reports

Researching ‘Farming the Valley’ also involved a number of themes which run through the history of East Meon. along with some isolated episodes. These reports are available as PDFs:

Blacksmiths. History of farriers & blacksmiths in East Meon from medieval times to the 21st century. For PDF, click here.

Autumn manoeuvres 1891. Based on the contemporary account of two divisions of Aldershot Camp which conducted their annual manoeuvres in East & West Meon. For PDF click here.

Non-conformism in East Meon.In the mid-19th century there were 3 non-conformist chapels in East Meon, following the rise of dissenting religions among working men and tradesmen. For PDF of first draft, click here.

The rise of Non-Conformity  in the Ramsdean, Lanrish & Stroud Tithings of East Meon in the 19th century. Similarly, non-conformism spread throughout the outer tithings of East Meon parish. For PDF, click here

Male Rural Migration from East Meon in the mid-19th century. Analyis of the numbers of men who were forced to seek work outside the Hundred. For PDF click here.

East Meon National School. Founded in 1845, this was the predecessor of today’s Church of England Primary School (and more information its available in Historic Buildings). Extracts from the school’s Log Books from 1863 – 1964 can be accessed as a PDF, click here.

Memories of Wartime East Meon. In 1995,  Jonathan Culley interviewed villagers who had lived in East Meon during World War II and transcribed them to produce this collection of first-hand reports. For PDF click here.

The Development of Kews Meadow. In 1999, East Meon published its Village Design Statement, and two years later development began of the large open space by the Village Hall. For PDF click here.

These reports each reflect a period of East Meon History, many researched as part of the project ‘Farming the Valley’.

Early farming in the East Meon Hundred. From 10,000 BCE to the arrival of the Romans.  For PDF, click here.

Roman Farming in the East Meon Hundred. The introduction from the Mediterranean of new forms of food and farming . For PDF, click here.

Anglo Saxon farming in the East Meon Hundred. Farmers came down from the high ground to form the settlement of East Meon. For PDF, click here

Medieval East Meon. The Hundred of East Meon was the largest of the Hampshire estates of the Bishops of Winchester. For PDF, click here.

Early Modern East Meon. First, the Reformation and then the Civil War saw the growth of private landholdings and improved agricultural techniques led to inequality between successful farmers, who acquired more land, and those who were driven off the land. For PDF, click here.

Nineteenth century East Meon. Increased mechanisation led to further growth of prosperous farms with more Enclosures and grinding poverty among the agricultural labourers who made up the bulk of the population of East Meon. This report analyses the owners of each farm from the beginning of censuses in the mid 19th century,. For PDF, click here.

Twentieth century East Meon. At the start of this century, the farms in this valley had succumbed to cheap food imports and could be rented cheaply, prompting a ‘Cumbrian migration’ of hill farmers who introduced mixed farming. Two World Wars and increased industrialisation saw farmhouses occupied by professionals from the cities, other farm buildings replaced by large sheds, and a drastic reduction in the number of people employed on the land. For PDF, click here.

This page lists research reports based on important village buildings, such as All Saints Church and the Institute, which have been central to the social life of East Meon over the centuries, as well as the large estates, such as Bereleigh, and farms. Farm buildings, too, trace the history of agriculture in the village.

All Saints Church. One of the most magnificent churches in Hampshire, it served a parish which reached to the Sussex border and beyond. For PDF click here.

Farm buildings. From the curia (farm HQ) at the Court House and the hall houses from which farmers went out to cultivate the open fields to the development of specialist buildings and then the arrival of mechanised farming. For PDF click here.

Oxenbourne. One of a dozen tithings within the Hundred of East Meon, it is like the others except for the fact that  most of East Meon’s  Enclosures were in Oxenbourne, and that Bishop Waynflete donated many of its lands to Magdalen College Oxford. For PDF, click here 

There are separate reports on individual farms and aspects of Oxenbourne, including Magdalen College Property, Hill Hampton Farm, Oxenbourne House and Lythe House Farm

Bereleigh. The nearest estate to the village of East Meon, the earliest sub-manor and in later centuries noted for its field sports. Their report is still in development. For PDF click here.

Leydene Compilation. Leydene House was built in the 1920s by a remarkable couple, Robert and Lady Peel. This compilation of sources contains a number of reports on the house and the owners, followed by its history as a Naval Signals Training establishment during and after World War II. It includes a collection of photographs of the development of the site. For PDF click here.

Westbury House As with Leydene, this is a compilation of sources relating to the mostwesterly of the large houses in East Meon; its history goes back to Saxon times, while for most of the early modern period it belonged to the Gage family of Firle Place. Later a boys’ school, it then became a nursing home and is currently unoccupied. For PDF click here.

Village Institute & Village Hall. Since the Institute was built in the year of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, it was central to the social life of East Meon. In 1973 it was sold to make way for today’s Village Hall. For PDF, click here.