ELLISFIELD, a parish in the hundred of BERMONDSPIT,
Basingstoke division of the county of SOUTHAMPTON,
4 miles (S.) from Basingstoke, containing 218
inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry
and diocese of Winchester, rated in the king's books at
£8. 3. 65., endowed with £200 royal bounty, and in the
patronage of Bernard Brocas and Thomas Terry, Esqrs.,
alternately. The church is dedicated to St. Martin.
There were two churches prior to the reign of Edward
III., when that dedicated to All Saints was taken
down, by consent of the two patrons and the diocesan.
There is an endowment of £3 a yeaTj the gift of
Stephen Terry, Esq., in 1737, for teaching six poor
children. The name of this parish seems to be a corruption
of Ella's field, from the Saxon king, Ella. A
field of about three acres, encompassed by a deep moat,
is supposed to be the site of an ancient castle; and in
other parts of the parish are various intrenchments.