A Brief History of Overton

There is evidence of ancient  occupation including the Harrow Way, a drovers’ track which passes across the parish north of the village. Roman pottery shards have been found in Little Meadow.  Shards and Roman coins have also been found at Foxdown. The straight northern boundary of the parish marks the path of a Roman road.

There was a settlement in Overton in Anglo-Saxon times when the village was centred round St Mary’s Church, north of the river. The weirs and leats dating from Anglo-Saxon times gave sufficient fall of water for four historic mills. Those at Quidhampton, Town Mill and Southington survive and contribute to the character of the parish.

In about 1218, the Bishop of Winchester established seven new market towns across Hampshire and Overton was one of them. The new town was built south of the river and included the main highway between London and Exeter. The pattern of roads remains to this day. Winchester Street is a wide thoroughfare, designed for fairs and markets.

In 1587, Overton lost its charter as a town ‘through neglect’ and reverted to being a village. It was famous for the annual July sheep fair, held in Winchester Street from 1246, when thousands of animals changed hands. The fairs ceased in the 1930’s but the tradition was revived in 2000 and has been held every four years since. The event attracts hundreds of visitors.

The ‘White Hart’, which existed in 1442, became an important coaching inn on the London – Exeter road until the coming of the railways in 1854. On 5^th November, 1805, Lt. John Lapenotiere changed horses there. He was bringing news of the victory at Trafalgar and the death of Lord Nelson from Falmouth to London.

In 1724, a Huguenot refugee from France, Henri Portal, obtained the contract to make bank note paper for the Bank of England. In 1922, the main operation moved from Laverstoke Mill to Portal’s Overton Mill by the station, now owned by De la Rue, where security papers are still made for the Bank of England and 150 other countries.

In 1817, a new curate, David Williams, established the first free ‘National’ School in Overton  in a borrowed room. A proper school was built in Kingsclere Road in 1836 but a charge had to be made so it became known as the ‘Penny School’. A much larger school was built in 1867 which is now the Community Centre.

On 18th November 1830 there was serious rioting outside the White Hart. Several hundred farm labourers marched through the village demanding money, food and higher wages. Negotiations resulted in a settlement but the population gradually fell as people moved away to find factory work. In 1846, Overton Silk Mill, which employed many women and children as young as six, was closed. The rector described it as ‘the greatest calamity that could befall the poor of this Parish.’ In 1939, Bank of England staff were evacuated from London to Overton and housed in temporary buildings at Foxdown for the duration of the war.

Since the war, Overton has grown and flourished but remains proud of its heritage.