Titchfield Timeline
Key events from 700 to present
Discover the key moments that shaped Titchfield. Explore the events that define our community.
700
Saxon Settlement at Titchfield
Titchfield's origins lie in the Saxon period, when a settlement grew up near the mouth of the River Meon on the southern coast of Hampshire. The name ...
1086
Titchfield in the Domesday Book
Titchfield appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Ticefelle', recorded as a royal manor held directly by the king. The entry indicates a substantial...
1232
Titchfield Abbey Founded
In 1232, Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, founded a Premonstratensian abbey at Titchfield, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Premonstra...
1260
Titchfield Granted Market Rights
During the thirteenth century, Titchfield was granted the right to hold a weekly market, establishing it as a market town rather than simply an agricu...
1400
The Great Barn of Titchfield
The Great Barn at Titchfield is a medieval tithe barn that stands near the village centre, close to Bridge Street. The barn dates from the fifteenth c...
1537
Wriothesley Family Acquires Titchfield Abbey
In 1537, following the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, Titchfield Abbey was surrendered to the crown and granted to Thomas Wriothesle...
1542
Place House Completed
By 1542, Thomas Wriothesley had completed the conversion of Titchfield Abbey into Place House, a substantial Tudor mansion that became the seat of the...
1593
Shakespeare and the Earl of Southampton
The connection between William Shakespeare and Titchfield rests on the relationship between the playwright and Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southamp...
1611
Titchfield Canal Constructed
In 1611, the 3rd Earl of Southampton commissioned the construction of a canal to divert the lower course of the River Meon and to reclaim the marshlan...
1645
Titchfield in the English Civil War
Titchfield was drawn into the English Civil War through the involvement of the Wriothesley family and the strategic importance of the area around Port...
1700
Formation of Titchfield Haven
The formation of Titchfield Haven as a distinct landscape feature was a gradual process that accelerated from the late seventeenth century onwards. Th...
1760
St Peter's Church Through the Centuries
St Peter's Church in Titchfield has been restored and altered at various points in its long history, but the works carried out in the eighteenth and n...
1850
Victorian Village Life in Titchfield
During the Victorian period, Titchfield was a working agricultural village with a character quite different from the commuter settlement it has partly...
1944
Titchfield During the Second World War
Titchfield's proximity to Portsmouth and the Solent made it part of the wider military landscape during the Second World War. The area was within the ...
1969
Titchfield Conservation Area Designated
The designation of the Titchfield Conservation Area, first established in 1969 and subsequently extended, recognised the architectural and historic im...
1972
Titchfield Haven Designated as Nature Reserve
Titchfield Haven was designated as a Local Nature Reserve in 1972 and subsequently as a National Nature Reserve, recognising the outstanding ecologica...
2000
Modern Conservation and Community Life
In the twenty-first century, Titchfield has maintained its character as a historic village with a strong community while adapting to the pressures of ...