Christopher Saxton’s map of Hampshire, titled Southamtoniae, was engraved around 1575 as part of his systematic survey of England and Wales. The copperplate for the county was prepared during the main production phase of the atlas (c. 1574–1578), with engraving undertaken by Leonard Terwoort of Antwerp. At this stage, the map existed as an individual printed sheet.
Christopher Saxton, born around 1540 and believed to have originated from Yorkshire, stands as one of the most significant figures in the history of English cartography. Working during the reign of Elizabeth I, he became the creator of the first printed atlas devoted entirely to the counties of England and Wales. His work marked a decisive transition from medieval mapping traditions toward a more systematic, survey-based representation of the landscape.
The Guv’nor, as he was known locally was a larger-than-life character whose farming skills were matched by his entrepreneurship. Technically not a Hambledon resident he actually owned numerous farms in the Parish or close to it such as Wallops Wood, West End Farm and Hoe Cross Farm.
At the turn of 19thC the South Pole might be seen as the equivalent of the moon in recent times: it was a wilderness area that tested the resources of explorers to the limit of endurance. Captain Robert Falcon Scott was immortalised in legend as one of the greatest Antarctic explorers but tragically he died on the return leg of his expedition to the South Pole in 1912. One of Hambledon’s most feted heroes accompanied Captain Scott on two of his polar expeditions.
Although we have no direct archaeological evidence of settlement in the form of dwellings in Hambledon itself, the surrounding downland and farm fields have a lot of evidence of human activity in the form of flint arrowheads and other flint tools. A burial site was also discovered in the 1990s complete with an antler digging tool and this points toward settlement. We don’t have a record of the exact location though the finds were identified by Winchester Museum Services as grave goods and dated as around 750 BCE.
The development of more sophisticated metal tools in this era changed man’s relationship with the environment – permitting greater control over the landscape and enabling more permanent settlement and effective hunting and defence. During this period permanent field systems appeared and the trading of high value goods took place over considerable distance and some extraordinary craftsmanship has been preserved in archaeological finds. There is not much that Hambledon tells us of this era but in context it is likely that Hambledon provided a location with all the requirements of Bronze Age settlement. The characteristic round barrows dotted around the outskirts of the village are the most visible remnants of this era.
During this period Britain experienced immigration of Celtic tribes from north and central Europe. It is likely that inhabitants in the vicinity of ancient Hambledon included these Celtic migrants and it is thought that the name Meon may be a Celtic legacy. Whatever their cultural characteristics – widely associated with particularly decorative arts – they brought key social and economic developments to the Bronze Age environment. These included such features as hill forts, and the oppidum – an enclosed settlement often marked out by ditches and dykes. They also brought their technical knowledge of ironworking.
The arrival of the Romans in 43AD is portrayed as a military invasion which is generally true because Rome certainly used military force – first in Julius Caesar’s attacks in 54BCE and then in Emperor Claudius’ sustained invasion in 43AD that set out to subdue the violent resistance of the inhabitants occupying the farthest reach of the Roman Empire. The blood that was shed in battle was the native Celt’s but also that of Rome’s multinational force drawn from the corners of its Empire.
The waning of the Roman Empire in the 5thC was accompanied by the spread of Germanic tribes across Europe and into the islands of Britain. The peoples migrating to our isles in this period were Angles, Saxons and Jutes. The Jutes predominated in the area that is now Kent and they migrated further west to the Isle of Wight thence to the Meon Valley where they were called the Meonwara.
William John Clay was the son of Alfred and Ethel Grace Clay of Chidden Farm Cottages, Hambledon, and worked locally at Scotland Farm before entering the army. Like many young men of the village his civilian life was rooted in agricultural work, but he joined one of the oldest and most prestigious infantry regiments in the British Army, the Coldstream Guards.
