KINGSCLERE, a parish comprising the market
town of Kingsclere and the chapelry of Sidmonton, in
the hundred of KINGSCLERE, and the chapelry of Ecchinswell
in the hundred of EVINGAR, Kingsclere division
of the county of SOUTHAMPTON, and containing
2851 inhabitants, of which number, 2296 are in the town
of Kingsclere,9 miles (N. E. by N.) from Whitchurch, 21
(N.) from Winchester, and 55 (W. by S.) from London.
This place, as the name implies, was anciently a seat
of the West Saxon kings; and at Freemantle park, a
short distance to the south of the town, was a mansion
said to have been a royal residence in the reigns of
John and Elizabeth. The town is situated on the edge
of the downs, near the northern extremity of the county;
the streets are neither lighted nor paved; the inhabitants
are well .supplied with water. The trade is
principally in malt, for making which the fine barley
produced in the vicinity is peculiarly adapted. A small
spring near the town turns four flour-mills within a
mile and a half from its source. The market is on
Tuesday; and fairs are held on the first Tuesday after
Easter, and the first Tuesday after October 10th,
principally for sheep. Kingsclere is within the jurisdiction
of the Cheyney Court held at Winchester
every Thursday, for the recovery of debts to any
amount; and petty sessions for the division of Kingsclere
are held here and at Overton alternately. The living is a
vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Winchester,
rated in the king's books at £17. 19. 7., and in the patronage
of Lord Bolton. The church, dedicated to St.
Mary, is a large stuccoed building, with a low tower.
There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists, and
at Ecchinswell one for Independents. A free grammar
school, supposed to have been of ancient foundation, was
endowed by Sir James Lancaster, in 1618, with £20 per
annum; the school-room was rebuilt in 1820, when the
institxition was converted into a National school open to
all applicants. A bequest from Robert Higham, in 1722,
is appropriated towards the clothing, maintenance, education,
and apprenticing, of four boys. A quantity of clothes
is annually distributed among the poor, by means of
various benefactions. Here is a slightly chalybeate
spring; and on the adjacent hills are the remains of two
Roman encampments, near which the fragments of two
or three human skeletons, and several Roman copper
coins, were recently discovered.