A History of Weeke – from Kingelis to the Great War
Weeke in 1914
Weeke in 1914 was a parish on the cusp of change. Although its outer reaches were still very rural – and would remain so until after World War Two – those closer to Winchester had seen a significant middle-class influx during the three decades leading up to the Great War. Crucially, too, Weeke’s agricultural community was facing an uncertain future following the death of one the parish’s two biggest landowners.
Weeke was unusual for a village in that it had no shops or pubs. The small population simply could not justify the usual village services so getting hold of food and other supplies meant a trip down Stockbridge Road into ‘town’. The nearest pubs were the Roebuck Inn, on Stockbridge Road, and the Jolly Farmer, on the Andover Road.
This lack of services meant that St Matthew’s Church became the hub of the community. Although small in size, St Matthew’s was perfectly adequate for Weeke in the years before the Great War. The church, whose history dates to the 11th Century, was originally a chapel of ease for the local population. Its ‘mother’ church was St Mary in the Valley, situated near the junction of Andover Road and Swan Lane. In medieval times, substantial settlements were clustered around Winchester’s city walls, including in Weeke parish. However, the Black Death of 1348 decimated the population of the city and led to many churches being abandoned, including St Mary in the Valley.
St Matthews Church
In the 1490s, St Matthew’s was created by rebuilding the chapel of ease, but the St Mary’s name lived on for hundreds of years. As late as 1911, the Census still referred to Weeke as the parish of St Mary’s of Wyke – a recognition of the ancient association with St Mary in the Valley as well as one of the name variations for Weeke. The modern spelling of Weeke was established in the Ordinance Survey maps of the late 19th Century and has remained the same ever since.
The growth of Winchester from beyond its old city walls was already well underway in 1914. The first boundary extension had been in 1802 and the Roebuck Inn was subsequently built on the new ‘city limit’. In 1902 the boundary was extended to a line close to Chilbolton Avenue and it would be pushed out further still to the outer limits of Weeke at Salters Lane in 1932. Meanwhile, with the building of the railway in 1840 and the subsequent sale of land by the Church Commissioners, the areas outside the city walls slowly grew in population to form Fulflood.
Weeke Manor
If St Matthew’s Church was Weeke’s communal hub in 1914 then 18th Century Weeke Manor was its major employer. For nearly 100 years, the Burnett Hitchcock family had lived in the Manor (opposite Bere Close on Stockbridge Road) from where they had managed the cluster of farms that formed the basis of the Weeke community. The first of these, Weeke Manor Farm, was a mixed farm and the farmhouse still stands on Stockbridge Road behind the Weeke fish and chip shop. Part of Teg Down Farm, which had sheep on the downs, was also in Weeke and the farmhouse is on Sarum Road. The third, Pipers Farm, was a poultry farm, but is now gone. It used to stand opposite Weeke pond on Stockbridge Road.
For hundreds of years the lands of Weeke were owned by the Church, having been given to the Bishop of Winchester in 636AD by Kingelis, the King of Wessex. The land was leased to many families over the centuries, including the Burnett Hitchcocks from the early 19th Century. Then from the 1860s, the family started purchasing much of the land when the Church decided to sell off some of its holdings.
The view up the Stockbridge Road from Weeke pond with the tower of St Matthew’s Church visible in the top left. Weeke Manor stood further down the hill on the right. Judging by the ladies’ attire, the photograph was probably taken in the early 1900s
Colonel Thomas Burnett Hitchcock took over the ownership and management of Weeke Manor and the associated properties and farms when his father died in 1887.
A much-respected pillar of the community, Colonel Burnett Hitchcock became a JP and was involved in the early days of Hampshire County Council. However, when he died in 1909 his family decided to leave Weeke Manor.
In 1911 the Colonel’s assets were taken over by a trust for the benefit of his family, and by 1914 there was no family living in Weeke Manor. The house was rented out until 1920 when the family sold it to John Norton, 5th Baron Grantley, who held the property until 1942 when it was requisitioned to house schoolboys evacuated from war-ravaged Portsmouth. In 1945 the Red Cross purchased the house as their headquarters before it was finally converted into housing in 2006.
New Residents
As Winchester’s population grew in the 1880s, a number of middle-class residents began to build large houses beyond the city boundary close to the village of Weeke. The first houses, such as The Vicarage, Arnwood, The Hermitage and Springhill, were at the Weeke end of Cheriton Road. The Firs, meanwhile, was built on the eastern side of Stockbridge Road, just north of the Roebuck Inn. Large properties also began to appear along Bereweeke Road and this development continued until around 1910.
Inevitably, this type of housing boom changed the social complexion of Weeke. The newcomers were often clergymen or Army officers, both retired and serving. With two Army barracks in Winchester, there was a clear need for accommodation suitable for senior military personnel and these new residents were no doubt welcomed by the Burnett Hitchcocks. Many would have attended St Matthew’s Church which almost certainly ranked over St Paul’s in Fulflood in terms of social status. Indeed, the number of middle-class ‘locals’ worshipping at St Matthew’s probably exceeded the farm workers.
Golf and Tennis
In the 1880s a group of gentlemen set up the Winchester Golf Club on land near Morn Hill. The club thrived, but the three landlords could not agree on a long lease for the land. Consequently, in 1901, the club moved to an area of Teg Down owned by the Church Commissioners, who were prepared to offer a long lease. Golf was the perfect leisure activity for Weeke’s new middle classes - Colonel Burnett Hitchcock even provided a silver salver for a club competition. The club’s location, not far from the station and close to stabling at The Old Red Deer and Roebuck Inns on Stockbridge Road, was ideal and membership grew steadily up to 1914.
The Hermitage, at the Weeke end of Cheriton Road, was typical of the large houses built in the area from the 1880s as middle-class residents moved out of increasingly crowded Winchester. The house still stands today
Golf was not the only middle-class leisure activity to take root in Weeke in this period. In 1906 a group of Winchester residents met to discuss the idea of forming a tennis club. Colonel Burnett Hitchcock agreed to lease more than five acres of land along Bereweeke Road and by February 1907 the greens and courts had been laid out. After the Colonel’s death in 1909 his son, Captain Burnett Hitchcock, continued the family’s support and in 1913 agreed to sell the land in Bereweeke Road to the club. During the Great War numerous Army and Navy officers were allowed temporary membership of the club.
The opening of the Golf Club and the Tennis Club increased the urbanisation of Weeke and further marginalised the local farming community. This process continued in the 1920s and 1930s with the construction of houses in Bereweeke Avenue and Stoney Lane. However, the major developments took place after World War Two. In 1957 Weeke Manor Farm closed, paving the way for the Weeke Manor council estate. Pipers Farm was sold as four building plots in 1961, although it is unclear how long the farm had been closed before the sale. Finally, the Teg Down housing estate was built on the down lands during the 1960s. Although Harestock Farm was part of Littleton parish it was bounded on the city side by Weeke Manor Farm. It closed in the early 1970s allowing the Harestock estate to be built.
The urbanisation of Weeke was complete.