ALDERSHOT
Alreschate (xiii cent.); Alreshute, Alreshete (xiv
cent.); Aldershott, Haldershutt, Aldrisshott (xvi
cent.); Aldershot (xvii cent).
Aldershot is situated 35 miles from London, and
has stations on the London and South Western and
South Eastern and Chatham railways. The parish
covers an area of 4,177 acres. In the south the ground
is low, but rises slightly towards the north, reaching
at Greenham's Hill a height of 413 ft. above the
ordnance datum. The River Blackwater forms the
southern and eastern boundaries of the parish.
Previous to 1855 Aldershot was one of the most
pleasant and picturesque hamlets in Hampshire, consisting of the church, the two important houses called
Aldershot Manor and Aldershot Place, two or three
farm-houses, and the village green. Mr. Hoyle
relates that in 1725 the Bishop of Winchester issued
a paper of twelve questions to the clergy of the
diocese preparatory to his visitation. One of these
questions was: 'About what number of Souls, according to the best information that you can reasonably
get, do you suppose to be in your Parish?' The
answer of James Forde, minister of Aldershot, to this
question was, 'Six score and fifteen.' (fn. 1)
In 1854 the Government purchased three large
tracts of land in Aldershot and the neighbourhood, and
established a military camp on a very extensive scale,
the camps proper being divided by the Basingstoke
Canal into two portions, the North and South Camps,
consisting of ranges of wooden huts in parallel lines. (fn. 2)
In 1890 it was decided to replace the wooden huts
by permanent brick structures, now known as the
'Wellington,' 'Stanhope,' and 'Marlborough' lines,
which together accommodate over 20,000 men.
Consequent on the establishment of these camps,
the village of Aldershot has now become a considerable town, with a population in 1901 of 30,974. (fn. 2a)
Many modern conveniences have been added to
the camp for the use of the officers and men, including
an officers' club, opened in 1896, a library and readingroom, a theatre, and cricket, tennis, and polo grounds.
The Church of England Soldiers' Institute in the North
Camp, erected at a cost of £1,000, was opened in 1894.
The Military or Cambridge Hospital, erected at a
cost of over £45,000, stands on an eminence called
'Gun Hill,' near the South Camp, and overlooking
the town, from which a gun is fired by electric
current from Greenwich daily at 1 and 9.30 p.m.
This hospital can accommodate 450 patients.
The Aldershot Cottage Hospital, in Church Lane,
was opened in 1897, and has ten beds for patients.
The Ash Victoria Hall, erected to commemorate
the Diamond Jubilee of her late Majesty Queen
Victoria, was opened in 1898.
The colossal bronze equestrian statue of the Duke
of Wellington, which stood since 1846 on the top of
the arch at Hyde Park Corner, was taken down in
1883 and erected on a pedestal of red Corshill stone
in the South Camp, Aldershot; the statue in its new
position was unveiled 19 August 1885.
On the east side of the Long Valley, a large sandy
waste used by the troops, stretching northward to the
Basingstoke Canal, stands the Queen's Pavilion, which
was erected for the use of Queen Victoria.
Aldershot Park, formerly called Aldershot Place,
occupies the south of the parish. The house was built
in the middle of the 19th century by Charles Barron
the younger, who died on 25 September 1859. Some
time afterwards the estate was sold to Mr. John Back,
on whose death it was purchased by Mr. Charles
D'Oridant, late proprietor of the Pavilion Hotel at
Folkestone. From the latter it passed by purchase to
the present owner, Miss Kennedy. A little farther
north is Aldershot Manor, the residence of Mrs. Newcome, situated near the old parish church and churchyard of St. Michael. The Grange is the residence
of Mr. William T. Robertson, J.P. Aldershot Lodge,
which is at present unoccupied, was for some time the
residence of Lieut.-Colonel Henry J. W. Jerome, R.E.
The town of Aldershot is now governed by an
urban district council, under the provisions of the
Local Government Act of 1894.
The area of Aldershot parish is chiefly covered by
common and heath, but there are 321¼ acres of arable
land, 600¼ acres of permanent grass, and 2 acres of
woods and plantations. (fn. 3) The common fields of
Aldershot were inclosed under an award of 6 May
1856. (fn. 3a)
A fish pond exists in Aldershot Park estate, but is
not mentioned in any of the known records.
In a fine of 1720 there is mention of a wood of
50 acres. (fn. 4)
In the Crondall Customary of 1567 the following
place-names occur under Aldershot:—A grove of
wood called 'The Home Grove,' a wood called
'Owles Holes,' and a close lying near 'Le Clarcke's
Lane Ende,' a grove of wood called 'Rough Grove,' (fn. 5)
a close called 'Pillebridge,' a parcel of heath called
'Hopcoxe,' a field called 'Gallowe Hill,' and a wood
called 'Cranmore.'
Manors
The manor of Crondall, which was
originally held by the Prior and convent
of St. Swithun, and on the dissolution
of the priory was granted to the newly-constituted
Dean and chapter of Winchester, included land in
Aldershot, and it still comprises part of that parish. (fn. 6)
The first recorded mention of the manor of
ALDERSHOT is in 1537, in which year Thomas
Saunders and Henry White, clerk, dealt with it by
recovery. (fn. 7) In 1599 Robert White died seised of
Aldershot Manor, (fn. 8) which, it seems probable, had been
left to him by his father Sir John White of Aldershot,
alderman of London, who died in 1573. (fn. 9) Robert
left the manor to be divided between his two daughters,
Ellen the wife of Richard Tichborne, and Mary the
wife of Walter Tichborne, brother of Richard. (fn. 10)
Ellen surrendered her moiety of the manor to her
sister, who died seised of the whole in 1640, leaving
as her heir her son Benjamin Tichborne. (fn. 11) Benjamin
evidently died without issue before 1661, for by that
year his brother Francis had succeeded to the manor. (fn. 12)
Francis died in 1671, and his estates passed to his son
White, who held them until his death, which occurred
about 1701. (fn. 13) His heir was James Tichborne, who
mortgaged Aldershot Manor to Samuel Johnson in
1712, (fn. 14) and to Sir Charles Vernon and George Vernon in 1720. (fn. 15)
White. Six pieces azure and or with three roundels argent each having two waves vert upon it in the azure and three lions' heads razed gules in the or.
Tichborne. Vair a chief or.
It is uncertain to whom the manor passed on the
death of James Tichborne, but in 1778 it was the
seat of Godfrey Clarke, (fn. 16) and in 1787 was dealt with
by fine between William Assheton and Francis Penyston, (fn. 17) the latter being again mentioned as the holder
in 1816. (fn. 18)
It is again uncertain who was the next holder of
Aldershot Manor, but the estate now bearing that
name was purchased about 1847 from a Mr. Bridges
by Captain George Newcome, who died in 1884,
leaving the estate to his widow for life. On her
death in 1888 the estate passed to Captain Newcome's
nephew Major Henry George Newcome, who left it
at his death in 1895 to his widow Mrs. Sibylla Caroline Newcome, the present holder. (fn. 19) The present
house was built in 1670. Near it are traces of the
foundations of an older building. (fn. 20)
Churches
The church of ST. MICHAEL
AND ALL ANGELS consists of a
chancel 23 ft. 9 in. by 16 ft. 4 in.;
nave, 46 ft. 6 in. by 21 ft. 1 in., with a north aisle
18 ft. 2 in. wide, and a south porch and west tower
12 ft. 1 in. by 11 ft. 8 in. The only old parts of the
church are the chancel, which seems to be of the
15th century, and is built of chalk and ironstone, with
a slight northern inclination from the axis of the nave,
and the tower. The nave and aisle are entirely modern.
The east window of the chancel has three cinquefoiled
lights of 15th-century style, in modern stonework, and
in the north and south walls of the chancel are pairs of
windows of 15th-century date, the eastern pair having
two ogee trefoiled lights under a square head with
pierced spandrels, and the western pair two plain trefoiled lights. They have all been much restored.
The chancel arch is modern, of 15th-century style,
as is the north arcade of the nave, of four bays, with
octagonal columns and moulded capitals. All the
windows of the nave and aisle are also of 15th-century
style.
The tower is in three stages, and appears to be entirely of 17th-century date, the two lower stages being
of ironstone with red-brick quoins, and the top one of
red brick, with an embattled parapet. There is a
west doorway with plastered jambs and two-centred
arch, and a modern two-light south window. The
middle and top stage have two-light windows, with
plain pointed heads.
All the internal fittings are modern, including the
galleries at the west end of the nave and aisle. The
font is octagonal with panelled bowl, and stands in
the nave under the gallery.
On the north wall of the chancel is an alabaster
monument to Dame Ellen Tichborne, 1606 (fn. 20a) , elder
co-heir of Robert White, late of Aldershot, and first
wife of Sir Richard Tichborne, second baronet, with a
small kneeling figure set in a frame, above which are
two shields, now blank, on strapwork panels.
On the opposite wall is another alabaster monu
ment, to Mary, co-heir of Robert White of Aldershot
and wife of Sir Walter Tichborne, knight. She died
in 1640, and is represented kneeling in a small arched
recess between her seven sons and six daughters.
Above are three shields, the first bearing Tichborne
arms, impaling White quartering: Ermine a cheveron
sable cotised, with three martlets or on the cheveron.
The second shield has the quartered coat of White,
and the third is Tichborne quartered with the two
coats borne by White.
There are three bells in the tower, of which the
treble bears the lion's face, coin, and foliate stamp
of the 15th-century group of bells coming from the
Wokingham foundry; the second is by E. Knight
of Reading, 1624, with an elaborate foliate band
near the top. The tenor is inscribed: 'This bell
was made 1611,' and has the maker's mark of three
bells on a shield between the initials w. y., for
William Yare of Reading.
The plate consists of a chalice of 1887, a paten of
1888, a flagon of 1841, and a pewter flagon.
There are six books of registers. The first, the
original paper book, contains baptisms 1571–1719,
with a gap from 1574 to 1592; burials, 1581 to 1719,
and marriages, 1590–1719. The second contains baptisms, 1720–94; burials, 1718–96; and marriages,
1714–54. The third contains marriages only, 1754–1808; the fourth, baptisms 1796–1812; the fifth, burials
1796–1812; and the sixth, marriages, 1808–12.
The church of HOLY TRINITY consists of a
chancel, a fair-sized nave with clearstory, north and
south aisles, and north and west porches. It is constructed of brick with stone detail and facing, and is
designed in an adaptation of 13th-century style. It
was built in 1882.
Advowsons
From an early date Aldershot
was a chapelry of Crondall, and
was served from that church. The
earliest known record of the chapel of Aldershot
occurs during the episcopacy of William of Wykeham (fn. 21)
(1367–98), but it is probable that one existed there
long before that date.
It appears from the registers of Aldershot Church,
which date from 1571, that the chapelry continued
to be served from Crondall until 1828, when a perpetual curate was appointed, (fn. 22) the advowson remaining with the patrons of Crondall Church (q.v.).
In 1864, and again in 1868, endowments for the
erection of a parsonage were granted out of the
Common Fund, (fn. 23) and in 1873 there is the first record
of the institution of a vicar. The living is at the
present day of the annual value of £270, and is in the
gift of the master and brethren of St. Cross Hospital,
Winchester.
The church of St. Augustine, which was built
at North Town in 1907 to the designs of Mr. T. G.
Jackson, R.A., and the brick-built church of St. Aidan
at the West End, which was dedicated in 1901,
are mission churches served from the church of
St. Michael.
Holy Trinity Church in Victoria Road was erected
for a district formed in 1878 in the new part of the
town. The living is a vicarage, in the gift of trustees.
Holy Trinity iron mission church was erected in
1887.
The Roman Catholic Chapel of St. Joseph in Queen's
Road is an iron building (1869) with 400 sittings.
The English Presbyterian Church in Victoria Road
was erected in 1862 at a cost of £5,000, and has
700 sittings. There is also a Wesleyan chapel in
Grosvenor Road, erected in 1874; two Primitive
Methodist chapels, one in Victoria Road and the
other in Ash Road, a Baptist chapel in Upper Elms
Road, Cargate, erected in 1883; and a Particular
Baptist chapel in Victoria Road.
In the camps are All Saints' Church for the
Wellington lines, St. George's Church for the Stanhope lines, the Marlborough Lines Church, and the
Deepcut Barracks Church. In the South Camp is an
iron church, seating 900, used by the Presbyterians;
while in the North Camp a church of wood and
iron, seating 1,000, is used both for Church of
England services and those of other denominations,
and has about 1,000 sittings. The Roman Catholic
Church of St. Louis (1861) is in the North Camp,
and that of St. Michael and St. Sebastian (1855) in the
South Camp. The camps are also provided with a
Wesleyan chapel, a Baptist chapel, and a Jewish
synagogue.
The Franciscans have a convent and an orphanage
for little boys in the parish.
Aldershot cemetery near Redan Hill was formed
in 1860.
Charities
The Parish Clerk's Endowment
formerly consisted of 9 acres of land
with buildings thereon, known as
Upper and Little Claversden, and 2 a. 2 r. 26 p.,
known as Clerk's Croft, in Church Lane, Aldershot. (fn. 24)
The former was sold in 1900 for £5,000, and
2 a. 2 r. 26 p., part of the latter property, of the
annual value of £20, was sold in 1903 for £1,800,
a portion whereof was permanently invested in
£666 13s. 4d. India 3 per cent. stock, with the
Official Trustees, and the balance was by an order of
the Charity Commissioners of 11 November 1904
authorized to be expended in defraying certain expenses incurred by the trustees in widening a road,
making compensation to a tenant, and in defraying
the cost of the erection of a parish hall on part of
the charity property. The £5,000 above mentioned
was invested in £5,263 3s. 2d. Middlesex County
3 per cent. stock in the name of the Official Trustees,
who also held £158 0s. 9d. consols, representing a
sum awarded in 1855 in lieu of common land taken
by the Crown.
The charity is regulated by a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners of 2 October 1900, whereby the
annual income, amounting to about £180, is made
applicable in the payment of £50 to £60 for the
salary of the clerk, and the residue for the maintenance of the services of the church.
This parish is also possessed of 5 acres as a re
creation ground acquired under the inclosure award
of 1856, which is in part maintained by the dividends
on a sum of £428 19s. 1d. consols, in the name of
the Paymaster-General, arising from the sale in 1869
of an acre of land. Under the same award 2 a. 38 p.,
known as 'The Green,' was also allotted.
In 1863 Miss Isabella Schroeder, by will, bequeathed £1,000, the interest to be applied for the
benefit of the poor, with a preference to poor
widows. The legacy was invested in £1,107 18s. 6d.
consols, which is standing in the names of the Rev.
Henry James West and two others.
In 1875 Thomas Smith, by will proved on 23 December, left a sum, now represented by £151 14s. 8d.
India 3 per cent. stock, the income to be applied in
aid of the sick poor.
In 1888 Mrs. Harriet Sophia Newcome, by a
codicil to her will, proved 20 November, left £300,
income for the poor. The legacy, less duty, was invested in £274 16s. 2d. consols, which, together
with the stock belonging to the preceding charity, is
held by the Official Trustees.
These charities are administered together. In
1905 the income, amounting to £39. 12s., was
applied as to £5 in providing flannel and necessaries
for needy and sick poor, and the balance in distribution of coal to about 340 poor.
The Cottage Hospital.—Richard Eve, by will
proved 28 August 1900, left £2,000, less duty, in
augmentation of the maintenance fund. The sum
of £1,800, with £200 from other moneys, was invested on a mortgage for £2,000 on the security of
leasehold premises known as 63 and 65, High Street,
at 4 per cent. per annum.