The London and Southampton Railway was first proposed in 1831 and the bill approved by Parliament in 1834 at a cost of £900,000. The section between Basingstoke and Winchester opened on 11 May 1840 – and was the final part of the London and Southampton Railway to be completed. Prior to its construction, all of the traffic between London and Southampton was carried by eight stage coaches, four wagons per week, and one barge weekly on the Basingstoke Canal!
The London and Southampton Railway was first proposed in 1831 and the bill approved by Parliament in 1834 at a cost of £900,000. The section between Basingstoke and Winchester opened on 11 May 1840 – and was the final part of the London and Southampton Railway to be completed. Prior to its construction, all of the traffic between London and Southampton was carried by eight stage coaches, four wagons per week, and one barge weekly on the Basingstoke Canal!
The London and Southampton Railway was first proposed in 1831 and the bill approved by Parliament in 1834 at a cost of £900,000. The section between Basingstoke and Winchester opened on 11 May 1840 – and was the final part of the London and Southampton Railway to be completed. Prior to its construction, all of the traffic between London and Southampton was carried by eight stage coaches, four wagons per week, and one barge weekly on the Basingstoke Canal!
The Cottage,
The Cottage 2020
The following information was taken from the album recording the Micheldever Country Festival in 1984 held to raise funds for restoring St Mary's church tower.
A 17th century Farm Cottage listed by the Department of the Environment as being of architectural and historic interest.
It is built of brick, wattle and daub and is timber-framed. The timbers of the North and West walls are hidden by later external rendering. However, unusually, there are curved timbers on the South external wall, which signify that someone of means had the cottage built. Also there are bolts on both the inside and the outside of the spare room. This was so that you could lend or rent the spare room to a neighbour.
Former Occupants of The Cottage, 58 Church Street
In the 1901 census, Alfred Mansbridge, his wife Alice and son Herbert lived at 58 Church Street (The Cottage). Living with them was a boarder, an Evangelist, Percy Johnson. By 1911, Stella had been born and they no longer had a boarder. Alfred now describes himself as a bootmaker only and Herbert is an accounts clerk.
When Stella married, she and her husband joined her parents in The Cottage at the corner of Rook (at that time Brook) Lane. She married her husband, Arthur Viney, in 1923. At one time there was a grocery shop in the lounge & a cobbler's in the cellar. The Vineys bought the cottage in the 1930s for £130. Alice Mansbridge died in 1935 & Alfred in 1943. The cottage was sold in 1960 for £2000. Stella died in 1960. Her husband owned the original shop and built the replacement shop and house. This shop was demolished in 2017. He sold it when he retired in 1967. He retired with his second wife to Devon (near Paignton) then went to New Zealand where he died in 1980.
Our grateful thanks to Jill Whitear & Jacqueline Earl for this information and the photographs.
For further history of Mansbridge Family -CLICK HERE
To read more about the previous home of Alfred Mansbridge, St Cross Cottage - CLICK HERE
Arthur & Stella Viney
Sheila Mansbridge outside cottage on corner of Church Street and Rook Lane 1920
Candle recess in cellar
Arthur & Stella Viney