The parish of East Woodhay is made up of many small hamlets, estates, farms and houses. The hamlets include Ball Hill, Heath End, North End, East End, Gore End, Hollington, Hatt Common, Broad Layings and Woolton Hill.
East Woodhay itself is effectively St Martin’s Church, Church farm and a few other houses. However there once was a manor house though the exact site is yet to be confirmed. Archeological surveys have identified several features dating back to the 12th Century when the original church was built.
The northern boundary follows the River Enborne, set in Saxon times, and also the County boundary with West Berkshire – as is the western boundary.
The southern boundary follows the hill ridge including Pilot Hill.
The eastern boundary is, again, Saxon and originally followed the Andover Road through Highclere. This used to be called Honey Way. In the 1980s the Boundary Commission moved it westwards.
Our parish has been our political ward but this will change in 2020 when we join with Highclere, Burghclere, St. Mary Bourne and Ashmansworth to become Evingar Ward. That name was used for our area in the Domesday Book and originally stretched down to Whitchurch.
The area is rich in history. The earliest evidence we have of people living in the area goes back to somewhere between 10000 and 4000 BC. The Hampshire Sites and Monuments Record details a Mesolithic site in the Parish, and flint tools from the same period have also been found. Evidence of Neolithic occupation of this area has been unearthed and a stone axe was found in 1939.
The economy of the area relied on agriculture from Neolithic days up until the 1950s when the estates of Stargrove, Hollington, Hazelby, Malverleys, Woolton House, Tile Barn and Hayes were split up.
During the second half of the 20th Century, Woolton Hill took on a more suburban appearance with large housing developments changing the character considerably. The south and west of the Parish retains a rural landscape.
There are 37 listed buildings spread throughout the Parish, all of which are Grade II Listed. East End and North End Conservation Areas were designated in 1992 by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in recognition of the special architectural and historic interest of these hamlets.
Thanks to the History Society
