Alton (East Hampshire) 

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Historical notes about the Town of Alton (East Hampshire)

Alton

The fate that has overtaken Basingstoke has also been the lot of Alton. It is a pleasant enough place in its way, but modernised to the point of dullness. Not that any town can be really dull which can boast such an incident in its career as the epic fight which raged in the parish church of St Laurence on December 13th 1643. The essentials of the story are given in the tablet to the Royalist Colonel Boles, which is to be found in Winchester Cathedral (Alton church only possesses a copy):

"A MEMORIAL"

 

"For this Renouned Martialist Boles of Ye his last Action, to omitt all others was at Alton in this County of Soughthampton, was sirprised by five or six Thousand of the Rebells which Caused him there Quartered to fly to the Church with near Fourscore of his men who there Fought them six or seven of them and then was slayne himselfe, with sixty of his men aboute him. His gratious Soveraigne hearing of his death gave him his high commendation in Ye pationate expression Bringe me moorning Scarffe, I have Lost one of the best Comanders in this kingdome."

The bullet-marks in the south door of the ancient church show that the great fight is indeed no fiction. The actual building has been much transformed and restored, but a certain amount of interesting Norman work has survived, so that Alton church is emphatically not to be missed.

18 m east of Winchester

 

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