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!
East Stratton History cont'd
East Stratton School
Historically, the village was a rural 'estate village', that is to say the majority of people living in the village worked for the Lord of the Manor in farming, forestry, domestic service or supporting trades such as blacksmith, wheelwright, thatcher, carpenter etc.
East Stratton today displays a sequence of village development stretching over four centuries, although its history can be traced right back to Saxon times. At the north end, thatched cottages dating from the 17th and 18th centuries and East Stratton House, (the former Rectory), border the lane that sweeps down to the entrance of Stratton Park. Within the Park sits Stratton School which closed in 1965 and is now a private residence. In the south west corner of Stratton Park are the ruins of a once magnificent walled garden and the former gardener's cottage, The Bothy, now the estate gamekeeper's house.
In the field opposite the old school a stone cross, erected in 1890, marks the site of the old church of All Saints. No burials ever took place at the old church and a bridleway leading westwards to Micheldever from Winchester Lodge via West Stratton is known locally as Coffin Walk as the dead from East Stratton were taken to be buried in Micheldever churchyard. Stratton House was located on the north side of the Stratton Park and was demolished in 1962.
The new village hall, completed in September 2009 at a cost of £265,000, replaced a corrugated iron structure, formerly the gamekeeper's cottage at West Stratton, which was moved to East Stratton in the 1920s. The village hall accommodates the Micheldever and with Stratton Pre-School as well as providing a venue for cinema, lectures, functions, meetings and fitness activities.
Around the village cross-roads and War Memorial, erected to commemorate those villagers
from East and West Stratton who gave their lives in the two World Wars, are grouped more cottages, All Saints Church and East Stratton Farm, the barns of which are now converted into six houses. Further south are five pairs of early 19th-century estate cottages, designed by George Dance Junior, which incorporate unusual horizontal sliding sash windows.
The 19th-century Northbrook Arms is on the village green and opposite the pub is the old village shop and post office now a private house. A dozen houses erected in the middle of the last century by the local authority and the Forestry Commission extend the village south as far as the 17th century Cold Harbour Cottage, the last remaining cottage of a once small separate hamlet. Further to the south is Burcot Farm, which has several small business units.
Over the centuries successive owners of the estate have sought to preserve the historic character of the village and as a result the village has not been subjected to the usual infill of later properties. The mechanisation of farming and forestry practices during the second half of the 20th century coupled with the reduction in the size of the estate, and the loss of Stratton House, have altered the demographics of the village over the years. East Stratton today has a welcoming active community made up of people from widely varying social and economic backgrounds with diverse interests, age profiles and expectations. The present residents of East Stratton no longer rely on the estate for employment and are now more likely to work in Winchester, Basingstoke or beyond.
Pat Craze wrote the History of East Stratton for Peter Clarke in the Dever & Down
First School founded by Sir Thomas Baring built in 1814. Following a fire it was rebuilt in 1846 but closed in 1965 and is now a residence,
School showing two classrooms before 1900. The gallery is for the infants
1890's The Old Church - The Rev Edmund Lyone (with stick)
First School founded by Sir Thomas Baring built in 1814. Following a fire it was rebuilt in 1846 but closed in 1965 and is now a residence,