SELBORNE, a parish in the hundred of SELBORNE;,
Alton (North) division of the county of SOUTHAMPTON,
4 miles (S. E. by S.) from Alton, containing 893 inhabitants.
The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry
and diocese of Winchester, rated in the king's books
at £8.2. 1., and in the patronage of the President and
Fellows of Magdalene College, Oxford. The church,
dedicated to St. Mary, is principally in the early style
of English architecture; the altar-piece is ornamented
with a fine painting, by1 Albert Durer, representing the
Offerings of the Magi, presented by the late Rev. Gilbert
White, author of " The History of Selborne," and other
works on Natural History, who was born here in
172Q, where he chiefly resided. In the time of the
Saxons Selborne was held in royal demesne. A fair
is. held at the village on May 29th. Gilbert White, in
1719, bequeathed £100, now producing an annual income
of £8. 10., for teaching the poor children of the
parish to read. A priory of Black canons, in honour
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was founded here, in 1233,
by Peter de. Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester; it wag
subsequently suppressed, and became part of the endowment
of Magdalene College, Oxford. At Temple, in this
parish, resided Sir Adam Gordon, the celebrated freebooter
in the time of Henry III.