Sleaford in 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...

 is a hamlet of Headley

Headley, East Hampshire

Headley is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 1.8 miles east of Bordon on the B3002 road.The nearest railway station is 3.6 miles south of the village at Liphook....

  Civil Parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 and the Northanger Ecclesiastical Benefice

Benefice

A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...

. It lies on the A325 and B3004 roads where they cross the small River Slea, a tributary of the Wey

River Wey

The River Wey in Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex is a tributary of the River Thames with two separate branches which join at Tilford. The source of the north branch is at Alton, Hampshire and of the south branch at both Blackdown south of Haslemere, and also close to Gibbet Hill, near Hindhead...

. Since the road junction has been re-aligned, there are now three bridges across the river.

Sleaford is at the edge of Broxhead Common, a part of the belt of heathland on the Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

-Hampshire border from Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

 to West Sussex

West Sussex

West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...

, which the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 found attractive for training. There are numerous military colleges, camps and training grounds in the region which extends in a zone

Zone

-Places:France* Any of several divisions during the German occupation of France during World War IIGermany* The Zone , a derogatory term for the German Democratic RepublicGreece...

 southwards from Windsor

Windsor, Berkshire

Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....

, through Camberley

Camberley

Camberley is a town in Surrey, England, situated 31 miles  southwest of central London, in the corridor between the M3 and M4 motorways. The town lies close to the borders of both Hampshire and Berkshire; the boundaries intersect on the western edge of the town where all three counties...

, Frimley

Frimley

Frimley is a small English town situated 2 miles south of Camberley, in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire. It is about 31 miles west south-west of Central London. It is part of the Borough of Surrey Heath...

 and Aldershot

Aldershot

Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...

 to Bordon

Bordon

Bordon is a town in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It lies 5.4 miles southeast of Alton and forms a part of the civil parish of Whitehill, the adjoining village. Both settlements are on the A325 road and close to the A3 road between London and Portsmouth...

 (near Sleaford), Woolmer

Woolmer

Woolmer is a place in Hampshire, England. Woolmer is situated between Liphook and Bordon. The surrounding Woolmer Forest, a Royal forest, is both a Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest....

 and Longmoor Military Camp

Longmoor Military Camp

Longmoor Military Camp is a British Army training camp and training area on the A3 road between Liss and Liphook in Hampshire, England. The village of Greatham lies to the south....

 . The last two were set up to train engineers

Royal Engineers

The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....

 to run railways, a very important skill in the Great War

War Department Light Railways

The War Department Light Railways were a system of narrow gauge trench railways run by the British War Department in World War I. Light railways made an important contribution to the Allied war effort in the First World War, and were used for the supply of ammunition and stores, the transport of...

period.

The hamlet is home to the Country Market, Hampshire's last market store until it burned down in a major fire in 2010.

External links

• Map of Kingsley Civil Parish. Sleaford is in the East.
• The Kingsley Parish Council website.
• Map of Headley Civil Parish. Sleaford is to the north-west.
• A Headley web site.
• About the old Kingsley church on the Kingsley civil parish web site.