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History

The two villages of Brown and Chilton Candover give their name to the parish.

Both villages became depopulated, having flourished in the middle ages. Evidence of early habitation can be seen, particularly in Chilton Candover, in the form of earthworks and traces of the house foundations.

The old droving route, called the Oxdrove, runs through the villages to the south. The route used to be a main thoroughfare for herds of cattle and flocks of sheep being driven from the west country to London and the south east.

Directly after the Norman Conquest the family of Andely or Daundely settled in Chilton Candover. They probably came from Les Andelys, a fortified town on the River Seine between Paris and Rouen. By 1086 the manor of Chilton Candover was held Richer de Andely under the Bishop of Winchester and the land continued in possession of the family until 1387. The manor then passed to members of the Bayntun family and was sold to John Fyssher in 1562 who cleared the village of most of the houses and evicted the inhabitants. The actual record of the systematic destruction of a village community is unique in Hampshire’s history. Later Chilton Candover became repopulated.

The manor of Chilton Candover later changed hands frequently and in 1647 a manor house was built by Sir Robert Worsley, whose family came from Appuldurcombe on the Isle of Wight. His granddaughter Frances married John Lord Carteret, who later bccame Lord Granville on his mother’s death. Subsequently, the manor or Chilton Candover together with Brown Candover and Woodmancote was bought by Sir William Heathcote. In 1818 his successor sold all this land to Alexander Baring, Lord Ashburton and it remained with this family until the early 1900s.

The manor of Brown Candover belonged to the Crown until the tenth century when it was granted to Hyde Abbey. It remained in the hands of the Abbey until the Dissolution when it was granted to Sir William Paulet, Lord St. John. In 1571 the property was sold to Roger Corham but later returned to the Paulets in the 17C. By the beginning of the 18C the manor had passed to the Worsleys of Appuldurcombe and Chilton Candover and followed the same descent as Chilton Candover.

The ancient crypt of St. Nicholas Church in Chilton Candover was excavated in 1929. The crypt had been a Norman church and in the 12C a simple but larger church was built on top of it and the original church used a burial chamber. The 12C church was pulled down in 1875 and the crypt church was ‘lost’ until 1929. The tomb of John of Candover was found in the crypt. Nowadays an open-air evening service is held in the churchyard every June.

For more information about the history of the parish www.british-history.ac.uk

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