Our November trip was to New Alresford (generally known simply as Alresford), a historic market town in Hampshire, famed as the home of watercress farming. It is situated 8 miles northeast of Winchester and 12 miles southwest of Alton. It is also renowned for its Georgian architecture and the Watercress Line steam railway. Our guide was Andrew Negus who we have used many times before.
Alresford was founded as a market town in 1189. It was originally the idea of Henri de Blois, the Bishop of Winchester and was one of the bishop’s six new towns and was his most profitable. One of his residences was situated in Bishop’s Sutton, about a mile to the east. Unfortunately, Much of the medieval town was destroyed by fires in the 17th & 18th centuries. Much of the town was rebuilt in the 18th century, and many of the colourful Georgian buildings remain today. Broad Street, the wide main street was originally laid out as a market place used for sheep fairs, pleasure fairs and military gatherings over the years. At the bottom of Broad Street is the old Fire Station.
Today, the town is an attractive art, rail and tourist destination, with its two classical, dense Georgian streets. Here can be found the Swan Hotel, Bell Hotel, jewellers, wine merchants, butchers, flower shops, toy shop, dress shops, the Alresford Gallery, Candover Gallery and tea rooms. There are three other public houses, the largest being the Globe Inn, by one of the stream channels and the play area.
We started our tour at The Swan Hotel which dates back over 250 years when it was a coaching inn for travellers between London and Southampton.
Broad Street leads into Mill Hill, which was the industrial area of the town and where tanneries were to be found giving rise to unpleasant smells.
We walked along the river Alre and saw the original Fulling Mill. This is a Grade II listed 17th century half timbered house, dating from the period when the wool trade was the dominant local industry, it ceased operating early in the 19th century and has been used as a domestic dwelling ever since. The fulling of cloth is a process to tighten and shrink the cloth into a closely woven product. In early times the pressing and kneading would have been done by human feet using fullers earth.
We continued on to the Eel House which strides the river and where eels were trapped for food as they made their way to the Sargasso Sea to reproduce. It was last in operation in the 1950’s.
We returned to The Swan Hotel where some of us stayed for lunch. It was a most interesting tour of a very attractive town.
OTHER INTERESTING FACTS:
During the late 18th century, Alresford Cricket Club was one of the strongest sides in England.
During the 12th century an earth dam, called the Great Weir, was constructed across the river Alre north of New Alresford allowing the river to form Alresford Pond. This was constructed to provide a reservoir of water to make the River Itchen navigable. Today the pond is at the centre of a 30.2 hectare biological Site of Special Interest and has a rich aquatic plant community and large populations of breeding wetland birds.
The 13th-century church of St John the Baptist was rebuilt in 1898 in the Norman gothic perpendicular style. The original tower survived the fires, including the red crenelated parapet, which was added in the 16th century.
Alresford railway station is at the south-western end of the Watercress Line, officially the Mid-Hants Railway. This heritage railway line runs steam and diesel trains, and gained its nickname from the fact that it used to be the line that took locally grown watercress up to London.
The Watercress Festival:
The town is famed for its production of watercress and is recognised as The Capital of Watercress. Once a year New Alresford holds a festival on the third Sunday in May which attracts an enormous crowd; there is a street market with locally made food on sale and usually cookery demonstrations.
