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Written by (Original Site Content)
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Wednesday, 10 October 2007 |
Grateley lies just to the South of the pre-historic hillfort of Quarley Hill.
The Parish covers 1551 acres with 607 people
living in 250 dwellings
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The village has two shops, two pubs, a church, a primary school, a railway station, a small business park, a golf driving range, and is surrounded by farmland with ancient footpaths and droveways ideal for those who appreciate the English countryside.
A popular mis-conception is that our village is in fact two villages; that of Grateley and Grateley Station. Whilst it is true that the village has two distinct parts 3/4 mile apart, there is only one village - Grateley.
This unusual division began in the mid-nineteenth century when it was decided that Grateley should have its own railway station.
 In the early 1850s the Boutcher family who lived in Grateley House practised an early form of NIMBYism when it was proposed that the new station was to be built in the village. As a compromise the station was eventually built 3/4 mile to the West of the village and was opened on the 1st May 1857.
Subsequent years have seen both parts of the village develop and the area around the station has approximately 100 dwellings, a shop, and one of the village pubs.
Grateley has its roots firmly in agriculture; as are most of the villages in Hampshire. Farming has been the main source of income for parishioners for the past 2000 years, now like many other rural locations the reliance upon farming as a livelihood is slowly dying out to the extent nowadays that less than 10% of the village population rely upon agriculture as an occupation. |
Acknowledgements:
The Grateley Church drawing shown here have been kindly loaned to us by Badger's Heritage. Hard copies of this and many other prints are available to buy on their website |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 21 October 2007 )
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