Place:West Meon, Hampshire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

West Meon is a small village and civil parish in the Winchester District of Hampshire, with a 21st century population of about 750. It is situated near to Petersfield and East Meon, on the headwaters of the River Meon.

The Parish of West Meon was possibly in the parcel of land on the Meon River which was mentioned in Anglo-Saxon documents. The Manor of West Meon was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as owned by the Bishop of Winchester, as it had always belonged to the church. A charter of 1205 confirmed the grant of land to the Prior and Convent of St. Swithun, Winchester, in whose hands it remained until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Following the Dissolution, in 1541 the manor was granted to the Dean and Chapter of Winchester by Henry VIII, and the maintenance of six theology students at each of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge was ordered. In 1544 the king changed this regulation, and the manor was granted to Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, in whose family the manor remained until 1677.

Other lands in West Meon Parish held by the Wriothesley family were the manors of Hall Park, Coombe and Woodlands. Another manor, called Punsholt, was first mentioned in 1341 when it was held by Walter de Ticheborne. Later the manor was combined with that of West Tisted and followed the same descent. Punsholt Farm in the north of the parish indicates the site of the manor.

During the Civil War West Meon was the scene of several skirmishes prior to the Battle of Cheriton, which was fought on 29 March 1644.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History of Hampshire, volume 3, chapter on West Meon.
• 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