Situated about eight miles north of Southampton, Awbridge’s (prounounced Aybridge) main attraction is its lovely rolling countryside. The beech woods and rhododendron-lined roads are a delight in spring. One boundary follows the river Test and there are several trout lakes. The lake at Awbridge Danes was made in the 19208 to provide work for the local unemployed, each man receiving one shilling a day and a loaf of bread.

Roman occupation in the area is suggested by a villa found on aerial survey, and tiles, pottery and coins have been found at Awbridge House dating from AD 307. The Saxons, and later the Normans, had hunting lodges at nearby Stanbridge Earls (whose estates until recently covered large parts of the village) and Awbridge Danes, and the village is still well wooded.

For many centuries Awbridge was a very small settlement. By the 16008 there were only half a dozen substantial houses, of which four still stand. By 1800 there were about 40 houses and a population of some 400, and recent building has raised numbers further. Present inhabitants are mainly commuters to nearby large towns but there are still half a dozen farms, a mushroom farm, golf course, nurseries and smallholdings, builders and small engineering firms.

The parish itself is relatively modern, having been carved out of surrounding parishes in the 18708. The church was built in 1876 at a cost of ?2,800 and is a pleasant, unpretentious building in pretty surroundings. The village school dates from 1877.The village information above is taken from the The Hampshire Village Book, written by members of Hampshire Federation of Women’s Institutes and published by Countryside Books.