HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR TOWN?
We offered this competition in response to a request and in the hope that we might involve some of our readers in a little research of their own. We were disappointed in that no entries arrived. We did receive a comprehensive list of all the postal addresses of the town from a well-known resident. He, however, did not wish his list to be included in the competition. His list helped us in our researches and it was decided that the first prize of £20 should be sent to a charity of his choice.
Alresford's streets, roads, lanes, closes, etc. carry a total of eighty six names. Over hundreds of years the town remained small and compact, concentrated around Broad Street, West Street and East Street, so most of the names are of recent origin. The naming of roads is a joint effort involving the Parish Council, the Planning Department, the estate developers and, for a final check, the Post Office.
Twenty six of the eighty six names are those of individuals. Two are at present inconclusive. Jacklyns Lane is very old and the spelling varies on old maps so we are not sure if Jacklyn, Jackland or Jagan really existed. Carpenters, a block of housing at the bottom of Grange Road, was a name given to a field on that site on an Enclosure Map so probably refers to the owner or tenant at that time. The three earliest named roads on our list are Haig, Rosebery and Salisbury. All the rest resulted from new growth in the last sixtv vears, during which time the town's housing stock and population more than trebled.
| De Lucy Avenue | First on the list should surely belong to Godfrey de Lucy, ordained Bishop of Winchester in 1189, He had a palace at Bishops Sutton. He reconstructed Alresford and set it on the path to prosperity. |
| Ashburton Road | After Lord Ashburton. Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire and County Councillor. Also Ashburton Close. |
| Jesty Road | After Mr E Jesty, M.B.E. Headmaster of the Dean School from the First World War to the Second. Member of the Town Trustees for many years |
| Meryon Road | After Doctor Meryon, who practised in Alresford from 1920 to 1960. |
| Mitford Road | After Mary Russell Mitford, early nineteenth century authoress and poetess, best known for her sketches of country life. She was born in Alresford in 1787 and spent her early childhood here. |
(To be concluded in the next issue)