Liss
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Liss (previously spelt Lys or Lyss) is a village in north east Hampshire, lying between Petersfield and Liphook, and south of Alton in the East Hampshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The parish consists of 3,567 acres (14 km²) of semi-rural countryside, and is one of the largest parishes in the region.
The earliest written mention of Liss (or Lyss as it was known then) was in the Domesday book.
The village consists of an old village at West Liss and the modern village, which congregated around the 19th Century ‘Southern Railway’ station, which is largely Victorian and later. West Liss contains most of the historical and architectural interest.
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[edit] Prehistory
Flint spearheads, arrowheads, scrapers, flakes and cores dating from Palaeolithic and Mesolithic times have been found.
Evidence of Neolithic activity is present in axe heads and flint implements. An Irish decorated axe and two bracelets engraved with parallel lines and chevrons have been found, and there are plentiful Bronze Age features on the chalk hangers above the village and at Berry Grove, the Wylds and at Peacewood, Farther Common. There was a major culture in the Rother valley by the Bronze Age. Bowl barrows and other Bronze Age features exist at Berry Grove (Bowl Barrow - Located in the garden, 12 m. in diameter and 1.5 m. high. Has two large oaks growing on it), the Wylds (Bowl Barrow 23.0 m. in diameter, and 2.0 m. high. Surrounded by tree ring of dry stone walling, and planted with fir trees. Traces of human and animal hair found in tree trunk coffin burial) and at Peacewood, Farther Common (An almost circular enclosure on a slight northern slope. Circular barrow Enclosure contains trees). (Also on surrounding high ground)
[edit] Iron Age and Roman periods
It is likely that the area was also inhabited in the Iron Age and to a lesser extent throughout the Roman period.
The name Liss may be of Celtic origin and is perhaps one of the very few remaining Celtic names in lowland Britain. It implies an important place: possibly a chieftain's court or hall and may relate to the presence of early governmental structures.
There are numerous elements of early Roman infrastructure in the area, and being in proximity to Roman Chichester and Winchester with the course of a Roman road in northeast corner of parish. It appears that the area would have been very settled with evidence at Alton and there is doubtless much that remain to be found along the foot of the downs under the spring line villages. The Liss historical society have recently uncovered what appears to be an extensive Roman villa site close to East Liss, with further excavations to be made in 2004.
However, the survival of the Celtic place name may be taken to indicate that the area remained something of an enclave of earlier times and peoples through the Roman and indeed early Saxon periods.
[edit] Saxon period
No direct evidence of habitation in the current Liss village area exists, and the early Saxon period is also slightly represented archeologically. It seems unlikely that there was any significant community on the site of the original or the current villages. However, the comparative remoteness was useful when in 900 Alfred the Great created an Abbey at Lyss Place under the control of St. Mary's Abbey at Winchester as a retreat for nuns.
In the time of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), the penultimate Anglo-Saxon king, there was a mill in operation at Liss paying an annual rent.
[edit] Norman period
In 1086, at the time of the Domesday Survey, the manor of Liss probably formed part of the original endowment of the abbey of St. Mary at Winchester. The manor was later known as Liss Abbess, and the Abbess and nuns of Winchester kept the land until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538.
[edit] 13th century onwards
Some development occurred in the early Norman Period in the area around St. Peter's Church, which was built in stone in the 13th century, on the site of an earlier timber structure. The nearby Plestor (The name is derived from 'playstow', or playground) had stocks and an oak, which stands, in front of the current Spread Eagle Inn.
The village developed economically in the three centuries following Domesday. St Peter's Church was built in stone in the 13th century, replacing an earlier timber structure. (St. Peter, West Liss. Chancel, parts of tower, and octagonal piers of arcade date from C.13. Octagonal font. Mullioned and transomed window in south aisle. Top stage of tower weatherboard with pyramid roof - Ref: Buildings of England; Hants. and I.O.W., (Pevsner and Lloyd), pp.319–320).
Part of Liss Place Farm, West Liss. dates from the C.14 with an addition of C.19 date.
The Church came under the control of Odiham, which appointed the curate-in-charge. In 1867 it was separated from Odiham and the Rev. W. French, who had been the curate, became the first Rector of Liss.
The village was thus centred in what is now West Liss. Before the move in centre caused by the railway, the village was centred on Church Street. Liss was of no great significance politically or economically other than in relation to the monastic establishment..
A traditional fair was held in May in the field between the Spread Eagle Inn and Church Street, opposite the glebe meadow where Liss Cricket Club now plays.
The manor was later known as Liss Abbess, and the Abbess and nuns of Winchester kept the land until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. After the Dissolution Liss remained crown property until about 1610. The monastic establishment at Lyss Place then passed into private ownership and was subsequently held by the Cole, Fitzpatrick, Taylor and Hawkshaw families.
The village centred around West Liss and the Plestor. Farms existed throughout the parish. To the East, timber framed houses and farms were constructed in the 17th and 18th centuries along a drover's road and the route of one of the Pilgrims Ways between Winchester and Canterbury. The route passes through Stodham, Balls Farm, Woodlands Farm, Barn Place Farm, Ciddy Hall Farm, Palmers Farm (resting place for pilgrims), Reeds Farm leaving the parish further than Brewells Farm.
[edit] Victorian period
The village was radically altered in the 19th century and is late Victorian in character. The Southern Railway came to East Liss in 1859 which then became the village of Liss. St Mary's Church was built in 1892/94 (Sir A. Blomfield) to serve the new parts of the village replacing St. Peter at West Liss, which is largely thirteenth century with only a few later additions. The tower of St Mary's was added in 1932 - from local sandstone - and it became the Parish Church in 1959. The earlier Church is finer, the modern one being something of an ugly stump not helped by the newer tower added in 1930.
Stodham Park House was built circa. 1820 as part of the Money family Estate. It has 3 storeys and basement with an imposing 4-pillared porch with steps to main door.
The inclosure of the commons and wastelands occurred in 1864. Station Road, St Mary's Road, Western Road, the shopping area, the beginning of Hill brow Road, Andlers Ash Road, Liss Forest Road, Mint Road, the original village school and the village hall were all built on inclosed land. Under the Inclosure Award the West Liss Recreation Ground, the four allotments sites "for the labouring poor of the parish" and a number of roads were created. In 1894 the management of the village's affairs, hitherto undertaken by the Vestry, was transferred to the newly formed Parish Council.
Liss was primarily an agricultural village but became famous locally during the nineteenth century for the production of peppermint. The mint was grown, distilled and sold at four pence a pint by the Money family.
The bounds of the parish were beaten yearly. Local historians indicate that a small boy was traditionally put in the oven of the Flying Bull Inn, as the parish boundary was believed to pass through the kitchen of the inn.
[edit] The Titanic. April 14, 1912
A Mr. Edward Arthur Dorking , 19, a single man from Liss, Hampshire, was one of the 705 survivors of the Titanic. He boarded at Southampton as a third class passenger traveling to join his uncle, Fred Cooke at Oglesby, a cement manufacturing town about five miles south of LaSalle, Illinois. Dorking's stepfather Mr. John C. Baker lived in Clevedon, England.
Edward Arthur Dorking was rescued in Collapsible B. He was quartered for a time at a New York Hospital before making his way to Illinois where he earned money for a time by relating his experiences in a series of public appearances, as reported by the local press at the time.
[edit] The Longmoor Military Railway
In 1933 a military link from Liss station to Longmoor Army Camp was added which again caused an increase in population, but closed in 1969. The railway was used as a set for many films including "The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery".
Post War. Since the war building has extended onto what was previously farmland doubling the population to a little over 6000.
[edit] The present
Various local groups and the Parish Council are attempting to preserve the heritage. The village is included in the new South Down National Park, which will may lead to a change in planning practices than obtained under East Hampshire District Council, formerly Petersfield Rural District Council.
The population of Liss is approximately 6,000, and accommodates many commuters due to good road (A3) and railway (Portsmouth Direct Line) links to London. Liss is served by Liss railway station.
[edit] External links
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- Satellite image from WikiMapia or Google Map
- Street map from Multimap or GlobalGuide
- Aerial image from TerraServer
