Hurstbourne Tarrant

Village and civil parish in Hampshire, England

Human settlement in England

Test Valley

Hampshire

Region

South East

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townAndoverPostcode districtSP11Dialling code01264Police Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire Hampshire and Isle of Wight Ambulance South Central UK Parliament

North West Hampshire

List of places: UK; England; Hampshire

51°16′39″N 1°27′05″W / 51.277490°N 1.451262°W / 51.277490; -1.451262

Hurstbourne Tarrant is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England.^[2]^[3] It lies to the north of the county in the Test Valley.

History

The Tarrant part of the name originates from 1226, when the village was given to the Cistercian Tarrant nunnery. The civil parish includes the village of Ibthorpe.^[3]

During the Second World War, Hurstbourne Tarrant was the decoy site for RAF Andover, the headquarters of RAF Maintenance Command. This was one of four airfields in Hampshire to be given a decoy site in 1940, to deceive enemy aircraft into attacking a spurious target. The decoy site at Hurstbourne Tarrant was a type 'K' decoy site with fake aircraft and buildings. From September 1940, fake machine gun posts were added to Hurstbourne Tarrant.^[4]

William Cobbett declared Hurstbourne Tarrent and its location as worth going miles to see with beauty at every turn.^[5] He referred to it in his book Rural Rides (1830; but serialised from 1822) as Uphusband.

Hurstbourne House

Hurstbourne House is a grade II listed late 17th-century country house at the edge of the village. It was renovated in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It is home to the Sharpe family. The original central range was built in two storeys, and has 19th-century three-storey cross-wings at each end. The walls are stucco rendered and the roof tiled. The frontage has three bays, the central one recessed.^[6]

Notable residents

The American Victorian/Edwardian artist Anna Lea Merritt lived in the village before her death in 1930.^[7]

References

^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
^ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 185 Winchester & Basingstoke (Andover & Romsey) (Map). Ordnance Survey. 2013. ISBN 9780319228845.
^ ^a ^b "Ordnance Survey Election Maps". www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
^ Historic England. "Official UK National Monument Record webpage on Hurstbourne Tarrant decoy site (1465311)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 4 April 2016.
^ The Kings England Hampshire and I.O.W., Arthur Mee., Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (1950). ASIN:B000S3760G
^ "Hurstbourne House, Hurstbourne Tarrant". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
^ "Anna Lea Merritt". nmwa.org. National Museum of Women in the Arts. Retrieved 12 January 2024.