Funtley
Encyclopedia
Funtley – from the Anglo-Saxon, "Funtaleg", meaning "Springs", formerly known as Fontley – is a village located to the north of Fareham
, Hampshire
, England
, within the borough of Fareham
. Originally it grew due to the development of a quarry
there, used to extract the clay that was then turned into brick
s—the famous Fareham Red
. These were widely used, the most famous usage being the Royal Albert Hall
in London
.
Sometimes still called Fontley by locals, the village has now developed into a sleepy residential area. The quarry has been turned into a fishing lake, and the local pub
is The Miners Arms.
of Fontley Iron Mills (next door to the house). Henry Cort was the inventor of the rolling mill and the puddling furnace which were of importance for the production of iron during the Napoleonic Wars
. Some of Cort's inventions were tried out at these mills.
Cort's innovation was a new process for "fining" iron. This became essential, once blast furnaces were used to extract iron from its ore. The "pig" iron produced was too impure for forging (though it could be cast ): fining removed the impurities. The previous method of fining used a finery hearth
fuelled with charcoal. By Cort's time wood for making charcoal had long become too scarce to enable the iron industry to expand: already many blast furnaces were using coke instead of charcoal. What Cort did was to burn coal in the furnace, and "puddle" his impure iron, i.e. stir it with a long rod, in the hot gas of the flames. The purified iron came out as spongy mass, and had to be consolidated (shingling. Another of Cort's innovations was to use grooved rolls in a rolling mill, rather than a hammer to draw the iron out into a bar. This enabled the iron to be rolled into bars with a variety of cross-sections (square, circular, etc.). These two brilliant innovations, were the most important ones for the iron industry in Industrial Revolution
.
After Henry William Saunders died, his wife Annie Elizabeth Saunders, is described as the owner and mortgagee on the license until 8 February 1905 when it shows his two sons Herbert Henry and Richard John Saunders as owners, presumably the mortgage had been settled. In 1921 the wall separating the bar and refreshment room was taken down to give the licensee supervision over both places. Herbert Henry and Richard John Saunders, whose brewery was known as the Wallington Brewery had to sell everything off on the 31 March 1944, the reason for the sale is described in "Fareham Past and Present" a publication by the Local History Group. The buyer Charles Hamilton and Co.Ltd. had "The Miner's Arms" for 26 years, until it was sold off to Bass Charrringtonon the 1 July 1970. It then came into the possession of George Gale and Co.Ltd in July 1991, but has recently been sold off to Fullers Brewery. "The Miner's Arms", may have been so named after the men that dug the clay from the clay pit, which was an open cast mine.
, it was originally in the Church of Duntisbourne Abbots, Nr Cirencester. The window depicts the Nativity
and the Ascension of Christ.
was built on Knowle Hill just north of the village. By 1856 the asylum had expanded to take 400 patients, and the growth continued throughout the century - with over 1,000 patients at the asylum by 1900. The hospital itself was re-named Knowle Mental Hospital c.1923 - 1948 and re-named Knowle Hospital in 1948 closure in 1996.
Fareham
The market town of Fareham lies in the south east of Hampshire, England, between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, roughly in the centre of the South Hampshire conurbation.It gives its name to the borough comprising the town and the surrounding area...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, within the borough of Fareham
Fareham (borough)
Fareham is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Fareham. Other places within the Borough include Portchester, Stubbington, Hill Head, Titchfield, Warsash, Locks Heath, Sarisbury and half of Whiteley...
. Originally it grew due to the development of a quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
there, used to extract the clay that was then turned into brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
s—the famous Fareham Red
Fareham Red
Fareham red brick is a famous red-tinged clay brick, from Fareham, Hampshire. The most notable building constructed of these distinctive bricks is London's Royal Albert Hall....
. These were widely used, the most famous usage being the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Sometimes still called Fontley by locals, the village has now developed into a sleepy residential area. The quarry has been turned into a fishing lake, and the local pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
is The Miners Arms.
Fontley Iron Mills
Fontley House, Iron Mill Lane was the residence of Samuel Jellicoe from about 1784 until his death in 1812. Samuel Jellicoe was the partner of Henry CortHenry Cort
Henry Cort was an English ironmaster. During the Industrial Revolution in England, Cort began refining iron from pig iron to wrought iron using innovative production systems. In 1783 he patented the puddling process for refining iron ore...
of Fontley Iron Mills (next door to the house). Henry Cort was the inventor of the rolling mill and the puddling furnace which were of importance for the production of iron during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. Some of Cort's inventions were tried out at these mills.
Cort's innovation was a new process for "fining" iron. This became essential, once blast furnaces were used to extract iron from its ore. The "pig" iron produced was too impure for forging (though it could be cast ): fining removed the impurities. The previous method of fining used a finery hearth
Finery forge
Iron tapped from the blast furnace is pig iron, and contains significant amounts of carbon and silicon. To produce malleable wrought iron, it needs to undergo a further process. In the early modern period, this was carried out in a finery forge....
fuelled with charcoal. By Cort's time wood for making charcoal had long become too scarce to enable the iron industry to expand: already many blast furnaces were using coke instead of charcoal. What Cort did was to burn coal in the furnace, and "puddle" his impure iron, i.e. stir it with a long rod, in the hot gas of the flames. The purified iron came out as spongy mass, and had to be consolidated (shingling. Another of Cort's innovations was to use grooved rolls in a rolling mill, rather than a hammer to draw the iron out into a bar. This enabled the iron to be rolled into bars with a variety of cross-sections (square, circular, etc.). These two brilliant innovations, were the most important ones for the iron industry in Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
.
The Miners Arms
The Miners Arms is so called because the first landlord George Feast was also the contractor for the railway tunnel. He imported a gang of Welsh miners to dig it and one of the Welsh miners had the privilege of naming it. When the railway came it cut Funtley in half and the narrow humpy bridge is another George Feast construction. The pub was soon to become the hub of the village and was originally used as both a pub and a bottle shop for first the miners and then the local brickmakers. The pub was run by at least another three or four generations of the Feasts throughout the height of the brickmaking industry. After the decline of the brickmaking industry, many locals moved to Portsmouth in search of work.History of "The Miner's Arms"
Henry Feast began selling beer in Funtley sometime in 1839, he was in the court, which was held in the "Red Lion", Fareham, charged with keeping a disorderly beer house on the 18 December 1839 - he was convicted and paid a Penalty and Cost totalling 40 shillings. Henry Feast brought the property that became known as "The Miner's Arms" from Robert James, a merchant of Fareham, by mortgage for £100 plus interest on the 5 March 1840. The first time the name "The Miner's Arms" appears is on the 1841 Census return, and Henry Feast is described as a labourer, he is probably working on the construction of the railway during the day, and leaving the beer house and shop to be run by his wife and children. The Register of Licensees for beer shops and public houses start from 1872, the records previous to that have been destroyed, it shows Henry Feast as the owner and licensee for the years 1872 and 1873. Henry Feast died 28 September 1874 aged 76 yrs - about a year before he died, on the 3 October 1873, he conveyed everything to his eldest son, George Feast, and he is recorded as the owner and licensee from the 28 September 1874. George Feast remained the owner and licensee until 29 February 1892 when he sold "The Miner's Arms" to Henry William Saunders, on a mortgage. James Feast, son of George Feast, became the licensee after the sale, and he remained the licensee until 1913, when George Robert James Oakes became the licensee on the 8 December 1913.After Henry William Saunders died, his wife Annie Elizabeth Saunders, is described as the owner and mortgagee on the license until 8 February 1905 when it shows his two sons Herbert Henry and Richard John Saunders as owners, presumably the mortgage had been settled. In 1921 the wall separating the bar and refreshment room was taken down to give the licensee supervision over both places. Herbert Henry and Richard John Saunders, whose brewery was known as the Wallington Brewery had to sell everything off on the 31 March 1944, the reason for the sale is described in "Fareham Past and Present" a publication by the Local History Group. The buyer Charles Hamilton and Co.Ltd. had "The Miner's Arms" for 26 years, until it was sold off to Bass Charrringtonon the 1 July 1970. It then came into the possession of George Gale and Co.Ltd in July 1991, but has recently been sold off to Fullers Brewery. "The Miner's Arms", may have been so named after the men that dug the clay from the clay pit, which was an open cast mine.
Funtley Church
The Little Church of St Francis is listed as a small stuccoed T shaped church with traceried windows, hoods and bargeboards, designed probably by Architect Jacob Owen. The Little Church possesses its own pleasing characteristics. Simplicity is the dominating feature. The building was originally built as a school for the village children in 1836 and also acted as a Mission Church named Trinity Fontley Church. A painted window above the altar meets the eye. The design is reputed to have been made or designed by John RuskinJohn Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
, it was originally in the Church of Duntisbourne Abbots, Nr Cirencester. The window depicts the Nativity
Nativity of Jesus in art
The Nativity of Jesus has been a major subject of Christian art since the 4th century. The artistic depictions of the Nativity or birth of Jesus, celebrated at Christmas, are based on the narratives in the Bible, in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and further elaborated by written, oral and...
and the Ascension of Christ.
Knowle Hospital
In 1852, Hampshire's first County Lunatic AsylumHampshire County Lunatic Asylum
The Hampshire County Lunatic Asylum, later Knowle Mental Hospital and Knowle Hospital, was a psychiatric hospital near the town of Fareham in Hampshire, southern England, opened in 1852 and closed in 1996...
was built on Knowle Hill just north of the village. By 1856 the asylum had expanded to take 400 patients, and the growth continued throughout the century - with over 1,000 patients at the asylum by 1900. The hospital itself was re-named Knowle Mental Hospital c.1923 - 1948 and re-named Knowle Hospital in 1948 closure in 1996.