Neatham is a Roman hamlet, an ancienthundred and a formercivil parish, now in the parish ofAlton, in theEast Hampshire district ofHampshire, England. Its nearest town is Alton, which lies 1.6 miles (2.6 km) south-west from the hamlet. In 1931 the parish had a population of 134.[1]
The lost Roman settlement of Vindomis is believed to be at Neatham. Its strategic importance lay in its being at the crossing of important roads: one fromWinchester towardsLondon and the other fromChichester toSilchester, a large Roman town to the north of present-dayBasingstoke. The name Vindomis might be translated as ‘(The mansio) of the wine country’ (although this may equally be a Celtic name, with the prefix VINDO-'white'). Vindomis may well have been the administrative centre of a large estate associated with the potteries.[2] The population at this time is estimated to have been 2,500.
Neatham was formerly atything in the parish ofHolybourne.[3] From 1866 Neatham was a civil parish in its own right; on 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Alton andBinsted.[4]
After the Romans left, it became a Saxon settlement, called Neatham, indicating the presence of a cattle market. For several centuries, Neatham remained the chief place in the area and the focal point ofNeatham Hundred, which included a large part of north-east Hampshire.
At the time of theDomesday Book in 1085, Neatham was recorded as a hundred belonging to the Crown comprising 96 households.[5] Neatham Hundred included 24 other places.[6] After the founding ofWaverley Abbey in 1128,King Steven made a gift of Neatham for the Abbey to establish a Grange and an Oratory, with a community of 12 monks, independent of the parish of Holybourne. Eventually, Neatham was eclipsed by Alton and, in the 12th century, the area was renamed the Alton Hundred.
WhenHenry VIII dissolved the monasteries, Neatham went into lay hands and became part of the parish of Binsted.
In the 1980s, Neatham elected to be joined to Holybourne. Neatham is now a hamlet comprising a Manor House, a Grange, a mill, and a dozen cottages. Today, the hamlet lies along theAlton bypass between Alton andFarnham. Its Grade I buildings and mills still remain.
