Place:Smannell, Hampshire, England

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

Smannell is a village in Hampshire, England, located two miles northeast of Andover. It lies in the ecclesiastical parish of Smannell and Enham Alamein. In the 19th century it was a chapelry in the ancient parish of Andover and would appear from the limited data in A Vision of Britain through Time to have remained so until 1932 when it became a civil parish. According to maps, it was within the limits of Andover Municipal Borough. But when it became a civil parish it was moved to the administration of Andover Rural District.

There is a mixture of housing types including brick and flint, thatched cottages, and more modern 20th-century housing.

The village has a Church of England Church - Christ Church.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Smannell from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"SMANNELL, or Swanhill, a hamlet and a chapelry in Andover parish, Hants. The hamlet lies 1½ mile NE of Andover [railway] station. The chapelry was constituted in 1858, and bears the name of [Smannell]-with-Hatherden. Post town: Andover. Population: 638. Houses: 139. The living is a [perpetual] curacy in the diocese of Winchester. Value: £100. Patron: Winchester College."

Victoria County History of Hampshire, volume 4, chapter on Knight's Enham states "In 1878 the neighbouring vicarage of Smannell in Andover was united with Knights Enham."

Enham Alamein

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

Enham Alamein is a village and civil parish in the Test Valley District of Hampshire, about 2½ miles north of Andover. It was named Enham until 1945 and previously Lower Kings Enham.

There are three population areas, in order from north to south, now named Upper Enham (formerly Upper King's Enham), Enham Alamein (formerly Lower Enham and earlier Lower Kings Enham) and Knights Enham.

Knight's Enham is now part of the north edge of suburban spread of Andover, about a kilometre south along the A343 road from the current site of Enham Alamein. This is a hamlet of 3 or 4 houses and a church with a first recorded date of 1241.

The village of Enham was one of the original "Village Centres" chosen for the rehabilitation of injured and war-disabled soldiers returning from the front line of World War I. Originally funded by King George V in 1919, the Village Centre became a hub for the care of these soldiers where they were retrained in new trades such as basketry, upholstery, gardening services and other trades. This formed the basis of the charity which still exists today and owns the majority of Enham Alamein village, Enham Trust, providing care for civilians with disabilities.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History of Hampshire, volume 4, chapter on Knight's Enham has a few short references to Smannell which was a neighbourng vicarage.
• 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