Wootton is a small village 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...

, 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Basingstoke

Basingstoke

Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...

. The name is derived from the Old English wudu tun meaning woodland settlement or farm.

History

The manor of Wooton was a possession of the prior and convent of St. Swithun

Winchester Cathedral Priory

Winchester Cathedral Priory was a cathedral monastery attached to Winchester Cathedral, providing the clergy for the church. Cenwealh son of Cynegils is credited with constructing the Old Minster of Winchester in the 640s, and a new bishopric was created in the 660s with Wine as the first bishop...

 from the time of the Domesday book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 until the dissolution of the monasteries

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

. The Dean and Chapter of Winchester sold the manor to William Wither in 1649. However, the manor was reclaimed by the church after the restoration and the family received no compensation. The manor returned to the family after the purchase by the Reverend Lovelace Bigg-Wither in 1863, but he sold it to the Bates family 10 years later. Wooton oak timber was used to reconstruct Winchester Cathedral

Winchester Cathedral

Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe...

 knave c. 1390 by William of Wykeham

William of Wykeham

William of Wykeham was Bishop of Winchester, Chancellor of England, founder of Winchester College, New College, Oxford, New College School, Oxford, and builder of a large part of Windsor Castle.-Life:...

.

Governance

Wootton is a civil parish with an elected Parish Council and falls within the local government district of Basingstoke and Deane

Basingstoke and Deane

Basingstoke and Deane is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England. Its primary settlement is Basingstoke. Other settlements include Bramley, Tadley, Kingsclere, Overton, Oakley, Whitchurch and the hamlet of Deane, some from Basingstoke....

, part of the shire county of Hampshire

Hampshire County Council

Hampshire County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Hampshire in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are district councils, and town and parish councils...

. On 1 July 1966 the East Oakley ward of Wootton St Lawrence Parish Council was added to Oakley

Oakley

Oakley may refer to:* Oakley, Inc., an eyewear manufacturer* Baron Oakley, a hereditary title-United Kingdom:*Oakley, Bedfordshire, England*Oakley, Buckinghamshire, England*Oakley, Dorset, England*Oakley, Fife, Scotland...

 Parish Council, with elections in May 1968.

Religious sites

The village has a church named St. Lawrence and the village is often regarded to its name. The mediaeval church was rebuilt in 1864, retaining the 12th century north arcade and tower and some of the 14th century windows.

Notable residents

• Charles Butler
  Charles Butler (beekeeper)
  Charles Butler , sometimes called the Father of English Beekeeping, was a logician, grammarist, author, minister , and an influential beekeeper. He was also an early proponent of English spelling reform...
  
   (1560–1647), sometimes called the Father of English Beekeeping, was Vicar
  Vicar
  In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
  
  of St Lawrence for 48 years until his death in 1647

Further reading

Parishes: Wootton St Lawrence, A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 4 (1911), pp. 239–242