{"id":104,"date":"2024-07-05T12:00:37","date_gmt":"2024-07-05T11:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/visiontank.net\/brightwaters\/?page_id=26"},"modified":"2025-12-12T14:45:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T14:45:23","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/overtonbenefice.org.uk\/holy-trinity-and-st-andrew\/about\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The Church<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The church has records of patrons and rectors going back to the 13th<\/sup> century and there is reason to believe that a religious building was on the site of the present church well before that.  The building holds an outstanding and nationally important collection of painted glass windows by Charles Eamer Kempe.  These were installed as part of the Victorian restoration of the church between 1877 and 1878.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former Rectory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ashe House was formerly the Rectory and has a strong connection with Jane Austen.  During Jane\u2019s time in Steventon, Ashe Rectory was occupied by the Lefroy family. \u201cMadam\u201d Lefroy, as she was known, was Jane\u2019s \u201cbeloved friend\u201d and mentor.  Jane was devastated when Madam Lefroy died after a fall from her horse in December 1804.  It is known that Jane spent many happy hours at Ashe Rectory.  One of Jane\u2019s favourite nieces, Anna Austen, married Bejamin Lefroy, the youngest son of \u201cMadam\u201d Lefroy. The church contains several monuments relating to members of the Austen and Lefroy families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Other features of interest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The River Test is a chalk stream world-famous for its trout fishing. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of modern fly fishing. It has one of the richest fauna<\/a> and flora<\/a> of any lowland river<\/a> in England. More than 100 species of flowering plant have been recorded along its banks and 232 members of the invertebrate group in the river itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The river rises near Ashe church, 7 miles (11 km) to the west of Basingstoke<\/a> (at grid reference<\/a> SU 532,498<\/a>), and flows west through the villages of Overton<\/a>, Laverstoke<\/a>, and the town of Whitchurch<\/a>, before joining with the Bourne rivulet and turning in a more southerly direction.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Church The church has records of patrons and rectors going back to the 13th century and there is reason to believe that a religious building was on the site of the present church well before that.  The building holds an outstanding and nationally important collection of painted glass windows by Charles Eamer Kempe.  These […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":842,"parent":98,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-104","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHistory - Holy Trinity & St Andrew<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"St Mary\u2019s Church has a rich and storied past, dating back to at least the time of King Alfred the Great. 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