Place:Bentworth, Hampshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Bentworth is a village and large civil parish in the East Hampshire District of Hampshire, England. The nearest town is Alton, which lies about 3 miles (5 km) east of the village. The parish covers an area of 3,763 acres (15.23 km2) and at its highest point is 712 feet (217 m) above sea level. According to the 2011 UK census, Bentworth had a population of 553.

The manor of Bentworth was not named in the Domesday Survey of 1086, but it was part of the Odiham Hundred at that time. During the Second World War, Bentworth Hall was requisitioned as an outstation for the Royal Navy and nearby Thedden Grange was used as a prisoner of war camp.

The parish contains several manors including Bentworth Hall, Hall Place, Burkham House, Wivelrod Manor, Gaston Grange and Thedden Grange.

Within the Bentworth parish are several hamlets, the largest of which is Burkham to the north of the village. Other hamlets include Wivelrod to the southeast, Holt End and New Copse to the south, Thedden to the east, Ashley (Ashley in Bentworth) to the west and Tickley to the north.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Bentworth. This is a very long article which expands on many of the topics summarized here, particularly on the ownership of the manors and the hamlets built around them.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History of Hampshire, volume 4, chapter on Bentworth.
• GENUKI has a list of archive holders in Hampshire including the Hampshire Record Office, various museums in Portsmouth and Southhampton, the Isle of Wight Record Office and Archives.
• The Hampshire Online Parish Clerk project has a large collection of transcriptions from Parish Registers across Hampshire.
• A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 together with tables listing the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered, along with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. Do respect the copyright on this material.
• The three-storey City Museum in Winchester covers the Iron Age and Roman periods, the Middle Ages, and the Victorian period.
• Volumes in The Victoria County History Series are available for Hampshire through British History Online. There are three volumes and the county is covered by parishes within the old divisions of "hundreds".

A collection of maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrating the English county of Hampshire over the period 1832-1932 (the last two are expandible):

• The Hundreds of Hampshire, a map from HMSO Boundary Commissioners, dated 1832
• Hampshire showing parishes in their Rural Districts as of 1900, a map from the Ordnance Survey
• Hampshire showing parishes in their Rural Districts after the alterations of 1932, a map from the Ordnance Survey

• A group of maps of the post-1974 municipal districts or boroughs of Hampshire on Wikipedia Commons