Mill House

Hook

The Mill House

The Mill House dates from the Doomsday Book and is situated very close to the ruins of King John’s Castle. Damaged by fire in 1354, the pub has been altered over the years and was converted to its present form in the 1800’s.

Odiham village

The village name of Odiham is derived from the English ‘Wudighamm’ or ‘Wudiham’ which is translated to mean ‘wooded area’ and the river Whitewater, on which our pub sits, runs through it.

Odiham has been in existence since at least the Bronze Age. King Harold held Odiham before the Norman invasion, and the town continued as a royal manor until 1603. Despite its idyllic setting, Odiham has had an importance disproportionate to its size through the centuries, and has suffered a number of turbulent incidents through the centuries.

Odiham Castle

King John built Odiham castle between 1207-1212 at a cost of £1200, and it is said that he stayed overnight at the castle before he rode to Runnymede to sign Magna Carta.

Situated on the north bank of the Basingstoke Canal, halfway between Odiham and Greywell, where the River Whitewater crosses the canal, these days it is an unprepossessing dilapidated shell of what used to be the stone keep of the castle.

In 1216 the castle was famously besieged by the French for 15 days, until 9th July, when the defending "army" of just 13 were granted safe passage - a number which by all accounts left the invading French somewhat nonplussed.

King David II of Scotland was imprisoned there for a substantial time after his capture at the battle of Neville's Cross (1346).

In 1523, Henry VIII was preparing to invade France, and he asked Odiham to muster 169 archers. Today, that legacy is remembered in such names as Butts End, Butts Cottages and Archery Fields. For several hundred years, the law required that every able-bodied man practiced with the longbow.

During the English civil war in May 1644 there was a battle between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians at North Warnborough. The Roundheads occupied the village at Odiham and used the Whitewater as a defence barrier. The Royalists plotted to burn Odiham to the ground, but the Roundheads discovered the plot in advance. They launched an unexpected attack on the Royalists and by catching them off guard were able to defeat them. Many Royalists lost their lives and 150 were taken prisoner.

The Parish Clerk at the time, Thomas Hooker, clearly a diligent and conscientious man, was much distressed by the turbulence and the confusion it threw upon his record keeping:

“Thear will com a time when men will com to search in this Booke for the names of thear children and in Regard that thay cannot find Theare names hear writen let them not blame me for it but looke upon theare selves for since the wars began in this land [t]heare have been maney that have been baptised that I never knew of nether had I aney notes of them never the lese I know that the blame will be laid upon me. Thomas Hooker, parish clerke 1652”

Odiham Church

Looking more closely at the village and its origins, it can be assumed that the original site is The Bury. The word itself comes from Bearh, meaning "hill". It is likely that this area was, as was typical of the time, a fortified hill. As Christianity spread in the early 300 - 400's AD, churches tended to be built on already-established places of worship. While All Saints Church is not especially old, it is safe to say that there has been a church there for a long time, as there is mention of two churches in Odiham in the Domesday Book. The base of All Saints tower dates from the 14th century and parts of the building are over 900 years old. The six bell peal dates from 1614 and the prayer-bell from 1588.

The Pest House

There is a beautiful cottage in the village called the Pest House, which has a tragic history. When it was built, in the early 1600's, Europe was beset with the plague. Pest Houses were built for travellers, pilgrims and local people suffering with the plague and other epidemic diseases, and the building saw use until the beginning of the 19th century. Fittingly, it is situated next to the church and graveyard.

The Cricket club

The first recorded match was played in the summer of 1764 against Alresford. The match was played at Alresford, and Odiham lost by a margin of 26 runs. The composition of the Odiham team is probably irrelevant owing to the following comments on club continuity and the use of "mercenaries".

The early club game was structured in a way we do not know now. A "Club" would consist of gentlemen (land owners, military or professional men) plus hired "assassins" (strong, talented ball players, usually of lower born or lesser opportunity stock). A working man with talent would be paid and transported free of charge to and from matches. One can imagine a comparative situation to prize fighters, since the sponsor would expect a return on his investment from successful bets with other gentlemen who also offered their proteges for combat.

The club continues to thrive to this day, as the Odiham and Greywell Cricket Club, and on a good day fields four teams.

The tale of the mill pond:

Once upon a time there was a car garage, its owner was very pleased as it stocked most popular models in the land. One day a customer asked to test out one of the cars, and of course the garage owner was only too happy to oblige, so the customer chose a lovely little car and off they went.

The trip started out rather we’ll, driving down country roads, the car must have been having a great time. It was even lucky enough to be brought to the Mill House for lunch. Unfortunately for our little car, lunch had satisfied the customer so much that when they returned they made a mistake…..

Now, I know what you’re thinking, mistakes happen, and you’d be right. Normally the little mistake would have been so insignificant it wouldn’t be worth mentioning, let alone writing a tale about. But alas on this day, the little mistake became a huge mistake. The little mistake being putting the car in first gear instead of reverse, and the huge mistake being parked in front of a pond…..

After a few hours the little car was rescued and returned home to the garage, where it was fixed……and lived happily ever after.