Michelmersh

Michelmersh is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Michelmersh and Timsbury, in the Test Valley district, in the county of Hampshire, England. It is 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Romsey.

Michelmersh
St Mary's Church, Michelmersh
Michelmersh Location within Hampshire
Population	735 [1] 881 (2011 Census including Kimbridge)[2]
OS grid reference	SU346261
Civil parish	Michelmersh and Timsbury
District	Test Valley
Shire county	Hampshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ROMSEY
Postcode district	SO51
Dialling code	01794
Police	Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Fire	Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Romsey and Southampton North
List of places UK England Hampshire 51.03323°N 1.50794°W / 51.03323; -1.50794

The Monarch's Way long-distance footpath crosses the parish, passing through the churchyard of the 12th century St Mary's Church. The Georgian former rectory, Michelmersh Court, is Grade II* listed ^[3] and was for many years the home of Sir David and Lady Carina Frost.^[4]

The parish is located to the east of the River Test on the northern edge of the Hampshire Basin, with chalk in the north.^[5] To the south and east of the village this is overlain by Palaeocene sands and clays of the Lambeth Group. At the southern are younger deposits of Eocene age, sloping from a ridge of the Nursling sands into a valley of London Clay.^[5] It has a brick and tile works,^[6] and extensive former sand pits on Casbrook Common, now used as a landfill site.

The name Michelmersh is derived from the Old English micel + mersc, meaning ' large marsh'.^[7]

Civil parish

On 1 April 1932 the parish of Timsbury was merged with Michelmersh, on 19 November 2003 the merged parish was renamed "Michelmersh & Timsbury".^[8] In 1931 the parish of Michelmersh (prior to the merge) had a population of 1101.^[9]

Church

Parts of the church date to the 12th century with extensions added in the 13th century.^[10] It was twice restored in the 19th century once 1846-7 and the second time 1888–9.^[10]

The font dates from around the 14th century although it appears to have been modified at some point after 1822.^[10]

In popular culture

Michelmersh is known for being one of the main locations for the filming of the 1980s British TV series Worzel Gummidge. Other locations include nearby villages of Stockbridge, King's Somborne and Braishfield.^[11]

Notable people with a connection to Michelmersh

• Mary Watson, one of the first two women to study chemistry at the University of Oxford

External links

• Details
• Michelmersh and Timsbury parish

Gallery

• 
  Church Road, Michelmersh
• 
  Michelmersh brickworks
• 
  Casbrook Common

References

1. "Parish Headcounts, Area: Michelmersh CP (includes Timsbury)". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. 2001. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
2. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for Natgional Statistics. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
3. British Listed Buildings: Michelmersh Court
4. "For sale: the stunning Hampshire home of Sir David Frost". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 March 2013.
5. British Geological Survey, 2002, England & Wales Sheet 299: Winchester, 1:50,000 Geology Series, Keyworth, Nottingham:British Geological Survey, ISBN 0-7518-3340-1
6. "Michelmersh Brick and Tile Company". Archived from the original on 20 June 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
7. Mills, A.D: A Dictionary of English Place-Names, page 229. Oxford University Press, 1991.
8. "Romsey Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
9. "Population statistics Michelmersh AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
10. O’Brien, Charles; Bailey, Bruce; Pevsner, Nikolaus; Lloyd, David W. (2018). The Buildings of England Hampshire: South. Yale University Press. pp. 386–387. ISBN 9780300225037.
11. "Worzel Gummidge (TV)". 3 March 2016.