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Sparsholt
St Stephen's parish church
SparsholtLocation within Hampshire
Population	982 (2011 Census)
OS grid reference	SU435312
Civil parish	Sparsholt
District	City of Winchester
Shire county	Hampshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Winchester
Postcode district	SO21
Dialling code	01962
Police	Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Fire	Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Winchester
Website	Sparsholt Parish Council
List of places UK England Hampshire 51°04′42″N 1°22′42″W / 51.078386°N 1.378251°W / 51.078386; -1.378251

Sparsholt (/ˈspɑːʃəʊlt/) is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) west of Winchester. In 1908 its area was 3,672 acres (1,486 ha). The 2011 Census recorded its population as 982.

The parish also includes the hamlet of Dean, Farley Mount Country Park and Crab Wood SSSI.

Archaeology

There are Bronze Age bowl and disc barrows in the parish. Just west of the village are the remains of Sparsholt Roman Villa. It was built in phases from the 2nd to the 4th century, and then abandoned. It was excavated in 1965–72. Nothing is visible at the site today, but finds from the excavations are on display in Winchester City Museum. A replica of one wing of the villa has been built at Butser Ancient Farm.

There was a village at Lainston. It is now abandoned, leaving only the ruin of its 12th-century parish church of Saint Peter, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Toponym

The earliest known record of the toponym is as Speoresholt in an Anglo-Saxon charter from AD 901 now reproduced in the Cartularium Saxonicum. The name is derived from Old English and probably means "wood where spear-shafts were obtained".

A late-Saxon manuscript from about 1060–66, now reproduced in the Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici, records it as Spæresholt. A pipe roll from 1167 records it as Speresholt. Spellings from the 16th century onwards included Sparshall and Spershott.

Parish church

The oldest parts of the Church of England parish church of Saint Stephen in Sparsholt are also 12th-century. Early in the 13th century it was enlarged by adding a south aisle and arcade to the nave. The chancel was rebuilt in the 14th century. The chancel arch, west tower and some of the windows are 15th-century. The south doorway was added in 1631. The organ screen and lectern are also 17th-century. The church was restored in 1883 under the direction of the architect William Butterfield. It is a Grade II* listed building.

The west tower has a ring of six bells. Until the 20th century it had only four bells: a treble, third and tenor cast in 1742 by Robert Catlin of Holborn and a second cast by Thomas II Mears of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1829. Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry recast the three Catlin bells in 1905. In 1951 the same founders cast a new tenor, increasing the ring to five. In 1995 the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast a new treble bell, increasing the ring to six.

St Stephen's parish is now one of five churches in The Downs Benefice. The others are at Chilbolton, Crawley, Littleton and Wherwell.

Notable buildings

3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) northwest of the village is Sparsholt College, a leading land based college on the edge of the village, from which BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time series broadcasts from its "potting shed".

1⁄2 mile (800 m) northeast of the village is the Lainston House, a 17th-century country house that is now an hôtel.

Sparsholt Manor was the home of businessman and philanthropist, Sir Adrian Swire.

Amenities

Sparsholt has a pub, the Plough Inn, which is controlled by Wadworth Brewery.

Stagecoach South bus route 7 links Sparsholt with Winchester bus station. Buses run hourly from Mondays to Saturdays. There is no Sunday or bank holiday service.

The village has a primary school, village hall, and a cricket club, whose ground is 1⁄4 mile (400 m) north of the village centre.

Sparsholt has a village shop with post office. This small building was built as a well house for the village, holding water drawn from the well by a wind-pump for use by the villagers. The shop retains the name. Its post office section may be one of the smallest in the United Kingdom. In 2009 villagers bought the shop under an industrial provident scheme to safeguard its future.

Governance

Sparsholt is part of the Wonston and Micheldever ward which elects three councillors to Winchester City Council, as well as the Winchester Downlands ward which elects a councillor to Hampshire County Council.

References

1. ^ Page 1908, pp. 444–447.
2. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Sparsholt Parish (1170214539)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
3. "Sparsholt – Archaeological Sites and Remains". Hampshire Treasures: Vol 1 (Winchester City District), page 271. Hampshire County Council. Archived from the original on 9 March 2005. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
4. Wilson 2002, p. 113.
5. Johnston 2002, pp. 61–62.
6. Historic England. "St Peter's Church, Lainston House (1001909)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
7. ^ Ekwall 1960, Sparsholt
8. Historic England. "Church of St Stephen (Grade II*) (1095764)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
9. Baldwin, John (21 November 2017). "Sparsholt S Stephen". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Central Council for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
10. "St Stephen's Sparsholt with Lainston". The Downs Benefice. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
11. Sparsholt College
12. Lainston House
13. "The thirty landowners who own half a county". Who owns England?.
14. The Plough Inn
15. "Winchester Sparsholt or Salisbury" (PDF). Stagecoach South. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
16. Sparsholt C of E Primary School
17. Sparsholt Cricket Club
18. "Plan to save village shop". Hampshire Chronicle. Newsquest. 19 November 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2009.

Bibliography

• Ekwall, Eilert (1960) . Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sparsholt. ISBN 0198691033.
• Johnston, David E (2002). Discovering Roman Britain. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 61–62.
• Page, William, ed. (1908). A History of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Victoria County History. Vol. III. London: Archibald Constable & Co. pp. 444–447. ISBN 978-0712905930.
• Pevsner, Nikolaus; Lloyd, David (1967). Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 609.
• Wilson, Roger (2002). A guide to the Roman remains in Britain. London: Constable. p. 113.

External links

• Sparsholt Parish Council

v t e Towns, villages and hamlets in the City of Winchester District of Hampshire, England

Abbotts Barton Abbots Worthy Abbotstone Anthill Common Ashton Avington Badger Farm Beauworth Bighton Bishops Sutton Bishops Waltham Boarhunt Bramdean Brockbridge Cheriton Chidden Chilcomb Colden Common Compton and Shawford Corhampton Crawley Curbridge Curdridge Denmead Droxford Durley Durley Street Easton East Stratton Exton Fisher's Pond Fobdown Gundleton Hambledon Headbourne Worthy Hinton Ampner Hursley Itchen Abbas Itchen Stoke Itchen Valley Kilmeston Kings Worthy Knowle Littleton and Harestock Lower Upham Martyr Worthy Meonstoke Micheldever Micheldever Station Mislingford Morestead New Alresford North Boarhunt Northington Northington Down Old Alresford Olivers Battery Otterbourne Ovington Owslebury Owslebury Bottom Shedfield Soberton Southwick South Wonston Sparsholt Stanmore Sutton Scotney Swarraton Swanmore Stoke Charity Temple Valley Tichborne Twyford Twyford Moors Upham Warnford Welborne West Stratton West Meon Weston Colley Wickham Wickham Common Winchester Winnall Woodmancott Wood End Wonston Worlds End

v t e Electoral wards and parishes in the City of Winchester District, Hampshire, England (since 2016 boundary changes)
Wards Parishes	Wonston and Micheldever	Crawley Littleton and Harestock Micheldever South Wonston Sparsholt Wonston
	The Worthys	Headbourne Worthy Kings Worthy
	Alresford and Itchen	Bighton Itchen Stoke and Ovington Bishops Sutton Itchen Valley New Alresford Northington Old Alresford
	Winchester	Winchester unparished city area has five wards: St Barnabas, St Bartholomew, St Luke, St Michael, St Paul
	Badger Farm and Oliver's Battery	Badger Farm Compton and Shawford Hursley Olivers Battery Otterbourne
	Colden Common and Twyford	Colden Common Twyford
	Upper Meon Valley	Chilcomb Tichborne Cheriton Beauworth Kilmeston Bramdean and Hinton Ampner Owslebury Upham Exton Warnford West Meon Corhampton and Meonstoke
	Bishops Waltham	Durley Bishops Waltham
	Central Meon Valley	Swanmore Droxford Soberton Hambledon
	Whiteley and Shedfield	Curdridge Whiteley Shedfield
	Denmead	Denmead Newlands
	Southwick and Wickham	Wickham Boarhunt Southwick and Widley Newlands
(Wards ordered from north-west corner, across the map, and then progressively south and east)

• Civil parishes in Hampshire
• Villages in Hampshire