Ropley is a village and large civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It has an acreage of , situated east of New Alresford. It is served by a station on the Mid Hants Railway heritage line at Ropley Dean, just over from the village shops. It is southwest of Alton, just off the A31 road. It lies within the diocese of Winchester.
The St Swithun's Way, part of the Pilgrims' Way from Winchester to Canterbury, passes through the village.
It is distinguished by its general absence of pavements in favour of boundary walls, hedges and mature trees. Ropley holds an annual Boxing Day walk, and a pram race on the spring bank holiday in May.
Etymology Ropley is first recorded in AD 1167 as Ropeleia. The name is derived from the Old English personal name Hroppa,The Saxon Land Charters of Hampshire with Notes on Place and Field Names (4th Series) cognate to modern day Robert, and the common suffix léah which means meadow, small woodland or woodland clearing. The latter meaning is most likely, hence Ropley is translatable as 'Robert's woodland clearing' which would have been known to Anglo-Saxon locals as Hroppanleah.
Ropley's etymology is also related to that of the hamlet of Lyeway about 2.25 km away. Lyeway is first recorded in 1327 in the personal name John atte Ligheweye. The name refers to a way or lane that led to the léah; in other words, Lyeway translates as the 'lane to Ropley'.
History
Prehistory Ropley has seen human activity and presence since the Lower Palaeolithic evidenced by a number of handaxes collected in the parish over the last few decades. Later Stone Age evidence from the Mesolithic and Neolithic is also very numerous and particularly evidence from the Neolithic suggest occupation and possibly even flint extraction in the vicinity.
Evidence of Bronze Age activity in the village is significant. Barrows dating to the Early Bronze Age number about five in the parish. A Middle Bronze Age gold torc, found in the village in 1843 suggests activity of local significance and is now in the Royal Cornwall Museum in Torquay although a replica can be found in the local Curtis Museum in Alton. In addition, an impressive imported stone axe (likely from Nuneaton dating to the transition of the Early and Middle Bronze Age further suggests the Bronze Age population in the area were well connected.McK Clough, T. H., Cummins, W. A., Stone axe studies. Volume 2. The petrology of prehistoric stone implements from the British Isles. CBA research report 67 (London 1988), 163.
Iron Age evidence is numerous in the village and its surroundings. Several banjo enclosure crop marks and smaller enclosures can be seen throughout the parish on satellite imagery. Additionally artefacts such as brooches, coins and pottery have been found in significant quantities.Ellicott, L., Enduring Evidence of Past Power. Extant power features in a hinterland cultural landscape (unpubl. diss. 2024)
During the Roman occupation the village saw its fair share of activity. It is possible that several roman roads passed through the village the largest of which was one of the main thoroughfares that connected London with Winchester. Settlement in Ropley at this time consisted of farmsteads and smaller settlements situated on, or near the sites of older Iron Age settlements, however no evidence of villas have been found within the parish.
The Middle Ages
In the Domesday Book of 1086, Ropley was part of the "Hundred of Bishops Sutton" (or "Ashley") and as a result part of Bishops Sutton's or Sudtone entry.Ropley history Ropley is supposed to have provided the honey for William the Conqueror's mead, although there is no evidence for this, and is likely a myth of later creation.
Ropley was a comparatively large settlement for the area and by the 14th century has outgrown the population of Bishop's Sutton. This is mostly due to the large number of remote hamlets that the parish boundaries of Ropley encompassed such as North Street, South Street and Charlwood. By the 15th century there was a dramatic local shift away from arable to pasture farming, particularly of sheep, whose wool was widely traded from Alresford onwards.
The Gervais family By the 13th century much of the manor of Ropley was owned by the Gervase family (also written as Gervais, Gervas, Gervase, Gerveis and Jervays). The name is of French/Norman origin and likely related to the other families who held lands throughout the country, such as that of Walter Gervais. In the 1370s the family began to gift lands in Ropley to the founding of Winchester College by William of Wykeham. William Gervas of Ropley, mentioned in Winchester College documents in 1256, is the first recorded member of the Gervais family in Ropley, although their presence in the village possibly went back earlier. The last known mention of the family in regard to the rentals of the land of Roger Gervays was in 1450.Himsworth winchester college archives At this point the family had sold most of their lands to Winchester College.
Post Medieval
Inclosure act
The commons and common fields of Ropley, estimated at 500 acres, were enclosed by the (8 Ann. c. 16 ) in what was the first private act of Parliament of its kind in England. The bill was led by the Bishop of Winchester, Jonathan Trelawny, in an effort to restore his family finances, and by the College of Winchester. The enclosure was strongly contested by petition by many of the commoners, who claimed that the bishop and his three appointed commissioners were stealing their commons rights. Parliament declined to intervene. Serious and bloody repercussions followed affecting neighbouring parishes and later enclosures across the country.Heal, C. Ropley's Legacy (2021).
Historic buildings
There are numerous old buildings in the village:
NameGradeCentury of oldest partSt Peter's Church of England ChurchGrade II11th or 12thThe ForgeGrade II15th with later extended Flemish bond red brick walls.SmugglersGrade unknown15th with successive alterations and renovations through each centurySoame's FarmGrade unknown15th The Old FarmhouseGrade unknown16thThe Old Manor HouseGrade II16th with later Town Street FarmhouseGrade II16thDover CottageGrade II16thRopley HouseGrade II*16th additions in 18th Charlwood HouseUnlisted Held in Hampshire Record Office map of Rotherfield Archive Code 103M71/Z217th shown on a map of 1635FordesGrade II17thCromwell CottageGrade II17thLaurel And Pondside CottagesGrade II17thRopelia CottageGrade II17thGardeners CottageGrade II17thFieldviewGrade II17thFairwaysGrade II17thSparrow ThatchGrade II17thThe Old Farm HouseGrade II17thThe Old ParsonageGrade II17thThe Post HouseGrade II18thBounty HouseGrade II18thNorth Street FarmhouseGrade II18th (1730)Exeter HouseGrade II18thArchbishop's CottageGrade II18thHall Place Grade II18th (1790)Ropley GroveGrade II18th Flemish bond red brick wallsCarpentersGrade II18thLittle BartonGrade II18thStables 10 metres east of Hall PlaceGrade II18thYew Tree CottageGrade II18thRopley LodgeGrade II18thOld Down CottageGrade unknown18thRopley ManorGrade IIearly 19thStable Block 20 metres south-east of the Post HouseGrade IIearly 19th
St Peter's Parish Church
St Peter's Parish Church is one of the most ancient churches in the area, with the oldest parts dating to the 1000s. The church also bears some architectural similarities to St Peter's ad Vincula in nearby Colemore, now redundant, albeit larger. Throughout the medieval period the church saw several modifications, including extension and addition of a south chapel in the late 1200s.
The church here was considered a chapel until Ropley became a separate parish from Bishop's Sutton. Hence, in one of the first records mentioning from around 1270, the church in Ropley is known as the "Cappella de Roppele", meaning the chapel of Ropley in Latin.
In the Victoria County History entry for Ropley the bell inscriptions of Ropley's bells are preserved:
"There are five bells, the ring having been recast from four old bells into five by Samuel Knight in 1701. The tenor bears the inscription: John Gilberd did contrive to cast from four this peale of fife (five).
John Gilberd was evidently the foreman in charge of the work. The fourth bell was recast by Robert Catlin in 1749, and the third is now cracked. The bell frame was made new at the general recasting, and is inscribed IG TO 1701".
Interestingly, through works and excavations done within the church itself, "workmen found in the South Transept the remains of a furnace and pieces of old bell metal", suggesting the bells were recast directly in the church.Hagen, M. Annals Of Old Ropley (1929) available at: http://www.ropleyvds.ropleysociety.org/annals/church-1.html#TheChurch
The vicar of Ropley from 1796 to 1811 was the Reverend William Howley (who succeeded his father, also William Howley, in the post). Howley is perhaps Ropley's most famous resident, and went on to serve as a canon of Christ Church, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University, Bishop of London (1813–1828), and Archbishop of Canterbury (1828–1848), in which capacity he crowned two British monarchs.
By the late 1800s the church "had fallen into such a state of dilapidation as to be actually insecure", leading to a restoration that was decided upon in 1891. However, planning did not begin until 1892, due to the appointment and settling-in of the new vicar, Rev. W. H. Leak. The new reverend was able to collect around £2,300 by 1896, about £244,000 in today's money, which was spent primarily on repairing the roof, re-paving the floor with pine blocks and concrete, and removing the old gallery.
Its World War I memorial lists 40 people who died, whilst the World War II tablet lists a further 10 people.
On the morning of 19 June 2014 the Grade-II listed church was severely damaged by a major electrical fire. This gutted the building and destroyed the roof. However, plans were put forward to repair the building, and after eight years, on 26 August 2022, the church was reopened to the public.
Hamlets Ropley contains many interesting and ancient hamlets that were part or currently are part of the historical area of Ropley Parish:
+ Ropley hamlets Hamlet name First mention Year mentioned Charlwood Cherlewde 1218 Gilbert Street Robertus f. Gilbertus 1203 Harcombe Henrico de Havercompe 1208 Hawthorn Horethornes 1427 Four Marks Fowremarkes around 1550 Kitwood Kyteswode 1403 Lyeway Ligheweye 1327 North Street North st. 1347 Ropley Dean l'Dene 1410 Ropley Soke Hamerdene (an ancient name for the same region) AD 701 Stapley Stapol Wege AD 932 Swelling Hill Sweolynge 1403
Amenities Education The village contains one primary school, Ropley CofE Primary School, founded in 1826 by the Reverend Samuel Maddock, who first built it on a previous site in Petersfield Road. William Faichen was the co-founder of the school, and became the first headmaster.
In 1869, the school burned down in a fire. It was rebuilt on the present day site at Church Street and reopened the same year. Since then, the school has operated continuously.
By the early 1900s it became clear that the population growth in Four Marks, then a hamlet within Ropley Parish, made necessary the construction of a new school there. Financed by Marianne Hagen, daughter of the wealthy politician Jacob Hagen, the Ropley School was opened in 1902. "RS 1902" can still be seen on the front of the main school building (see Four Marks School).
The school values its historic links with the community. Parts of the original Victorian traditional flint and brick buildings remain, and now form the hall and the school kitchen. The main teaching area consists of six modern classrooms with shared corridor working spaces. The most recent classroom was built in 2001 and is especially equipped for early years children.
The primary school is one of the feeder schools for Perins School, and both maintain high standards.
Station