Situated about six miles north of Southampton, the original name of ‘Bedeslei’ is thought to be a derivation of Baeddes Leah, ‘Baeddi’s Wood’ or clearing. There are signs of Roman and Saxon settlements within the area. In medieval times, the centre of the village was the parish church of St John the Baptist (still its most cherished possession), and the manor house, which was a Preceptory for the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem from around 1167.

There are two gravestones in the churchyard both bearing the same name. In 1822 Robert Snelgrove, an assistant keeper on the Broadlands estate belonging to Lord Palmerston, found two men poaching at Toot-hill. One of the men, Charles Smith, fired when the keeper was close at hand and wounded him seriously in the thigh. Both men got away but many months later Smith was caught and condemned to death at Winchester Assizes. Palmerston did his utmost to get the sentence reduced to one of imprisonment but failed and Smith was duly hanged. The first gravestone was erected by William Cobbett, writer and social reformer of the time, who felt that Smith had been a victim of oppression. The second gravestone appeared many years after Lord Palmerston’s death and was erected by his grandson, Evelyn Ashley, in an attempt to absolve the family from any blame.

Street names in the village have generally been adopted from the families who owned the manor of Baddesley: Seymour Parade after the famous Tudor family; Mortimer Drive commemorates the Earls of March who held the manor in the reign of Richard II; Chamberlayne Court after the last recent owners; and Tottehale Close and Launcelyn Close are taken from the Preceptors of the Knights Hospitallers.

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