King's Somborne

General Information

King's Somborne is a village in Hampshire, England. The village lies on the edge valley of the River Test.

The 'Sombornes' comprise the scattered village of King's Somborne, together with the hamlets of Little Somborne, Up Somborne, and Ashley.

King's Somborne. Between the village and the river lies John of Gaunt's Deer Park and to the south the Romans had a river crossing. King's Somborne had its own Cow Drove used by travellers unwilling to pay the tolls on the turnpike roads to Stockbridge and the Fair. 'Cruck' beams still survive from the 15th century flint and chalk cottages in the village. These beams were whole timbers curving from the roof to the ground. Nearby Marsh Court is built entirely of blocks of local chalk and designed by Edwin Lutyens, as was the War Memorial which stands in the village. The original garden plan for Marsh Court was designed by Gertrude Jekyll. Somborne Park is the home of the Hervey-Bathurst family and Compton Park was the home of the late Sir Thomas Sopwith of aviation fame. The cliffs at Brook are a local landmark where chalk is extracted.

At Ashley, gateway to Farley Mount, the Normans built a large castle and the tiny 12th century church (now redundant) is built within what was the bailey of that castle. The ecclesiastical parish of Somborne with Ashley must surely be unique in having three restored or conserved redundant churches within its boundaries.

Little Somborne has the small but charming church of Saxon origin, redundant but conserved in the 1970s and now used for two services a year.

Up Somborne, a ribbon of houses among farm land, is under one mile from Little Somborne.

Interesting Trivia

The television series Worzel Gummidge was filmed partly at or near King's Somborne, as well as nearby Braishfield.

Links

[http://www.thesombornes.org.uk/ The Sombornes Online] is the community web site for Kings Somborne and the surrounding villages.

There are many groups and organisations within the village
* [http://www.giraffeandtiger.plus.com/players/ The Somborne Players]