‘The old order changeth yielding place to new’ – Tennyson’s words are an apt comment on the parish of Fair Oak and Horton Heath. Once a small cluster of cottages, it has developed into a village with a population of around 8,000, situated about seven miles northeast of Southampton.

For many years the parish was known just as Fair Oak, the name of Horton Heath being incorporated in 1983. The name derived from the fair that was held near the oak tree in the square on 9th June every year. The fair was discontinued after the First World War and all that remains of the original oak tree is a chair made from its wood in Winchester Cathedral. A carving depicting it outside the George Inn is incorporated in panelling above a fireplace at Fair Oak Lodge in Allington Lane. The present tree was planted in 1843.

Inevitably, the surge in population has resulted in all sorts of changes, especially in amenities. The parish church of St Thomas has been extended. The church school was superseded by a large school campus on another site, with the original site now being used for sheltered accommodation for the elderly. When the church graveyard became full, a new cemetery was opened in 1942 and Mr Jesse Latimer was appointed gravedigger. Sadly, he died before he could start work and was accorded the dubious privilege of being the first person to be buried there. The latest amenity is a new village hall which serves a growing number of clubs and activities.

William Cobbett could never have foreseen the spoliation of this area on frequent journeys between Winchester and Botley along what was then known as Cobbett’s Road, but is now plain Winchester Road. He wrote of this route in his Rural Rides of 1832; ‘a more beautiful ten miles there is not in all England’. Yet some of that beauty still survives in what is so unromantically known as the Green Belt, and human habitation has not quite driven out the wildlife. The village has its own designated nature reserve, Knowle Hill, adjoining the deer farm. Administered by the Parish Council it was once part of a rubbish tip.

The village information above is taken from The Hampshire Village Book, written by members of Hampshire Federation of Women’s Institutes and published by Countryside Books.