Warnford

Warnford is a village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England.

Warnford
Warnford Location within Hampshire
Population	220 [1]
OS grid reference	SU624231
Civil parish	Warnford
District	City of Winchester
Shire county	Hampshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Southampton
Postcode district	SO32
Dialling code	01730
Police	Hampshire
Fire	Hampshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Meon Valley

The village lies on the A32 in the valley of the River Meon between West Meon and Exton. It has a church and a pub, The George and Falcon, which is grade II listed and dates to the 16th century.[2] From the crossroads by the pub Hayden Lane climbs a spur of the downs, rising to Old Winchester Hill and onwards to Clanfield. Just west of the village Wheely Down Road branches from the A32, heading up a side valley and then climbing onto the Hampshire Downs plateau on its way to Winchester. There is an infrequent bus service from Bishop's Waltham to Petersfield, currently run by Xelabus (route X17) on Wednesdays only. The village was by-passed by the former Meon Valley Railway (now the "Meon Valley Trail" footpath and cycleway) [3]which ran down the east of the valley.

The Church of Our Lady, located in Warnford Park to the south of the village, is Grade 1 listed.[4] It is of Saxon origin but was rebuilt in the 12th century [5]and contains relics of an earlier Saxon church. The ruins of the 13th century St. John's or King John's House are behind the church.[6] The church and St John's House are accessible via a public footpath from the A32. Except for access to the church, Warnford Park is not open to the public except on Sundays in February when a "snowdrop walk" is opened up in aid of the church, with the permission of the landowner.

The village hall[7] is located in Lippen Lane close to the centre of the village and was converted from a farm shop, having been earlier a pig farm laboratory. It was given to the village in 1998 by the owner of the Warnford Estate. The hall has a single room which can accommodate up to 100 people and is available for hire by the hour.

The River Meon flows through the village. In summer the section between West Meon and Warnford is often dry, but there are major springs at Moorhen Trout Fishery and just below it at Warnford Upper Pond, so the river through the village is always in water. There is on the ground evidence of an extensive system of channels fed from sluices in Warnford Upper Pond which fed water to meadows on the west side of the valley. The river flows into the park and feeds a lake, originally the pond for a paper mill close to the A32 at the junction with Peake New Road.

There are watercress beds at three places in the valley but two of these are currently out of use.

Watercress beds in Warnford

The Beacon Hill National Nature Reserve and SSSI is at the western end of the parish, a chalk hill some 201 metres (659 ft) high flanked by numerous steep-sided dry valleys. Beacon Hill is accessible via the Monarch's Way long-distance footpath which crosses the valley in Warnford. The Old Winchester Hill National Nature Reserve is just outside the eastern end of the parish and is accessible via Hayden Lane. The South Downs Way links these two nature reserves and shares short sections of the Monarch's Way either side of the parish. The route across the valley has been contentious and was the subject of public inquiries in 2004 and 2006. Although a footpath route via Beacon Hill Lane and Peake New Road was approved after the second inquiry, the inspector's decision was overturned in the High Court[8] and this route has not been pursued further by Hampshire County Council. Ordnance Survey maps now show a southerly route past Beacon Hill via Exton, implemented as a temporary measure but now in place for the foreseeable future.

Further information on the village is available on the Warnford village website. [9]