The origins of Hampshire– a tale of “two counties” and rival cities

HISTORIANS are finding that modern Hampshire still bears traces of events that took place nearly 1,500 years ago, before it was even geographically defined or had a name.

Most notable are the distinct differences between the north and the south of the county and the ongoing rivalry between the capital of Winchester and the port of Southampton.

Barbara Yorke, Professor Emerita of the University of Winchester, explained that after the fall of the Roman Empire, when Saxons were settling the south, there was already a clear premium on control of the coast, with its access to the continent. 

By the end of the sixth century Kent was the dominant power controlling the Solent, as well as the Isle of Thanet – literally once an island, the easternmost part of Kent.

She was speaking at a recent symposium on Hampshire County Government held by the Hampshire Field Club in the Hampshire Record Office (Chronicle, May 2).

Her work has cast new light on the importance of these crossings in the politics and development of southern England long before the county of Hampshire had emerged. In a paper in The Middle Ages Revisited edited by Ben Jervis, she quotes an important passage from Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, written in about 731.

He refers to what became south Hampshire as the area as “opposite the Isle of Wight…part of the kingdom of Wessex which is still today called the nation of the Jutes”. The Jutish heritage of the county is reflected in several place-names, including Yting Stoc, which became. Bishopstoke

A convenient means of crossing the Channel was important to Saxon kings and others not only for trade, but also for diplomacy. And for those who had converted to Christianity it was an essential means of going on a pilgrimage to Rome.

In about 660 the Kentish overlordship of the Solent was replaced by that of the Mercian king Wulfhere, who harried the Isle of Wight and transferred control of the eastern part of the area, including the Meon Valley, to the South Saxons based in Chichester Harbour.

Shortly after, the royal house of the Gewisse, who had been extending their power from the Thames valley, took control of the whole of the Hampshire coast as part of their new kingdom of Wessex, including Christchurch Harbour and the west of the Isle of Wight. Alliances with Bernicia, the royal house of Northumbria, which required a route to the continent, helped the Gewisse to establish control over the Solent.

One destination was the French town of Quentovic, a port and trading centre close to the present town of Étable-sur-Mer in northern France, though few traces remain. According to Professor Yorke, “control or supervision of the crossing was not just concerned with trade, but was also part of the wider politics of the 7th century… competition to control the Solent was a major motivator of the aggression and alliances that are such a feature of the written sources”.

The history of the Saxon period shows how Hampshire got its name, first written as Hamtunscir (a name recently highjacked by the video game Assassin’s Creed!). This came from the name of Hamwic, the Saxon port on the estuary of the Itchen, in what is now the St Mary’s district of Southampton.

Until the late Saxon period Hamwic was more important than Winchester. This historic supremacy was reflected in the name, the County of Southampton, which remained in use in official documents until 1959, long after “Hampshire” had become the de facto name.

Within the shire were smaller organisational subdistricts (regiones) dating back to the settlement period. Some of these, including Wihtwara, Meonwara and Basingas, led to the recognisable modern names of the Isle of Wight, the river Meon and Basingstoke. They were the basis of regional law and order through regular meetings of local assemblies (folcgemote).

By the 10th century the regiones had been divided into smaller units known as hundreds (nominally 100 hides, the Saxon unit of taxation) with courts meeting every four weeks to consider local issues. Often these hundreds covered a substantial area, with far-flung villages, involving arduous travel for the local people who were required to attend court.

The Micheldever hundred, for example, extended far beyond the village of Micheldever, with four-weekly meetings held at the Gemot Hus, which stood on an ancient drove road on the site of the former Lunways Inn and Tea Gardens, now occupied by a Plymouth Brethren Gospel Hall.

In addition, for the county as a whole, a Borough Court presided over by the Ealdorman – together with the Bishop of Winchester– was held three times a year for more serious matters. Royal interests at these meetings were in the hands of the Shire-Reeve, which later became the office of Sherriff.

Very much later, as government at all levels developed, the Sherriff came to take on a huge workload, according to Professor Emeritus Michael Hicks, who spoke on county government in the 15th century. Buttressed between the crown and the county, he might have to deal with as many as 3,000 writs a year from London, covering a wide range of issues – crime, defence, poor law and much else. The High Sherriff is still the sovereign’s ceremonial representative for the judiciary in the county.

Former head of the Department of History at the University of Winchester, Professor Hicks is the author of 11 books on various aspect of the late middle-ages. Recently, when his views were sought on the discovery in a Leicester car-park of what are thought to be the remains of Richard III, he expressed doubts about the attribution, but was clear that the king was involved in the murder of his two “nephews in the tower”.

The Sheriff had a substantial team based in Winchester Castle, with an under-sherriff and as many as seven finance clerks. His main work involved the County Court, which met every 28 days in the city, probably in the open air on Oram’s Arbour.

In attendance were as many as six coroners whose job it was to investigate “sudden death”, a process which might involve several days of enquiry, with the parties examined before jurors. Also present were all the constables from the 39 hundreds into which the county was divided.

Minor misdemeanours and petty crimes were handled by JPs, either in the Quarter Sessions, or Petty Sessions or even alone. They were able to indict individuals for felonies and other serious offences, but sentencing had to be referred to circuit judges.  Other business was in the hands of the curiously named “escheators”, who were concerned with proof of age for inheritance, involving heirs, guardians, and jurors.

For the militia, an “assize of arms” recruited men aged 16-60, with musters twice a year.  Amongst other things, the records provide evidence of archery, largely from records of accidents! These show that as many as 70 per cent of men could draw a bow.

Unfortunately, detailed county records of the 15th century for Hampshire are almost non-existent, said Professor Hicks, but “a priceless document” of 1475 provides a record of the more than 300 individuals present at one of the Quarter Sessions – officials, citizens, jurors and prisoners.

The original document is in the National Archives (KB 9/110 and Proceedings Before the Justices in the 14th and 15th Centuries, ed. BH Putnam, 1938). It evokes a scene of Winchester more than 500 years ago, with a huge number of people in the Great Hall, the seat of law and government in Hampshire. Thirty-nine cases were presented, with eight death sentences.