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Description: | Built in 878, the Old Church of St Edmund, also known as the old Holy Rood Church at Crofton is one of the oldest buildings in the area. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book, was extensively renovated in the 13th century and mentioned by Samuel Pepys in his diary for April 26, 1662 when he was travelling from Gosport to Southampton. The church consists of a chancel, a south chapel, north and south transepts and a nave but there are no aisles. Inside all the walls have been preserved by being whitewashed.
Difficulties were often encountered by the priest sent from Titchfield to Crofton as the church was cut off by tidal waters, so he often had to access the church by boat or detour via Catisfield. Close to the church were the saltings or salt pans for the salt drying industry. The sea came very close to the old church until a channel, floodgates and a sea wall were built by Richard Talbotte and experts from Holland. The sea was eventually cut off at the Haven, Hill Head in 1611. Periodic maintenance through the years has kept the church in reasonably condition to the present day. By the late 19th century it had become too small for the population of Stubbington so a new church, the Holyrood, was built on land given by Montague Foster which took over the functions of the old Crofton Church in 1878.
Crofton Old Church is set some way back from the main Stubbington to Titchfield road. Until recently the main road ran past the front door of the church but major road works in the 1970's redirected the road and today it lies hidden behind a row of modern houses which form Lychgate Green. It is maintained by the Friends of Crofton Old Church who hold a strawberry fayre every year to raise funds.
References:
1. Emery, John. 1985. Fareham in old Picture Postcards, p.100.
2. Stubbington WEA Local History Group and Crofton Women's Institute. 1984. A look at Stubbington- 1850-1875, p. 28-31.
3. Brown, Ron. 1997. Stubbington and Titchfield, p. 51.
4. Prestidge, Colin. 1997. History of Stubbington, p. 14- 19. | Format: | image/jpeg | License: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=gateway&f=generic_sitetext%2ehtm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&cms_con_core_subtype%3acms_con_text_what=copyright&%3acms_sys_group=%22sopse%22 | Rights holder: | Hampshire Library and Information Service - Hampshire County Council | Subjects: | work building church Crofton street Montague Foster Crofton Old Church boat Samuel Pepys Haven salt drying Titchfield Road Lychgate Green Catisfield saltings transport churchyard Richard Talbotte sea wall Church of St Edmund floodgate Holy Rood Church at Crofton | Temporal: | start=1905-01-01; end=1905-12-31; | Source: | Sense of place SE | Creator: | William Smith | Identifier: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | image/jpeg | Go to resource |
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