Micheldever Wood

The Hampshire Downs form a large area of downland in central southern England, mainly in the county of Hampshire but with parts in Berkshire and Wiltshire. They are part of a belt of chalk downland that extends from the South Downs in the southeast, north to the Berkshire and Marlborough Downs, and west to the Dorset Downs. The downs have been designated a National Character Area (NCA 130) by Natural England, the UK Government's advisor on the natural environment. To the north lie the Thames Basin Heaths, to the east the Low Weald (Western Weald), to the south the South Hampshire Lowlands and the South Downs, and, to the west, Salisbury Plain and the West Wiltshire Downs.The northern boundary of the Hampshire Downs follows a line from just north of Walbury Hill in Berkshire to Basingstoke and Farnham, forming a ridge and dramatic escarpment which rises to over 290 metres, overlooking the Thames Basin. In the east the boundary runs from Farnham to Alton, then swings southwards to Petersfield, forming an escarpment at the western edge of the Weald, including an area known as the East Hampshire Hangers. In the south the boundary runs westwards to Winchester, south to Twyford and Otterbourne, then west-northwest to Michelmersh; and in the west from Michelmersh through the Wallops to Ludgershall in Wiltshire, and back to Walbury Hill.The main rivers of the Hampshire Downs are the Test and River Itchen. The main settlements in the area are Andover, Alton, Basingstoke and Winchester. 20% of the area (the North Hampshire Downs) falls within the North Wessex Downs AONB, and around 6% within the South Downs National Park.

Winchester services are a pair of motorway service stations, between junctions 8 and 9 of the M3 motorway near Winchester, England which are both operated by Moto Hospitality.

The River Dever is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at West Stratton near Micheldever and flows westwards for 11 mi (18 km) to meet the River Test at Wherwell.

West Stratton is a village in the civil parish of Micheldever in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. The village lies close to the M3, which has separated West Stratton from East Stratton. Its nearest town is Winchester, which lies approximately 7.8 miles (10 km) south-west from the village.

Micheldever is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, situated 6 miles (10 km) north of Winchester. It lies upon the River Dever . The river, and village, formerly part of Stratton Park, lie on a Hampshire grass downland, underlain with chalk and flint. Parts of the river now disappear in summer through lack of replenishment, evaporation and, more specifically, the porous nature of the bedrock.

East Stratton is an estate village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Micheldever, in the Winchester district, in the county of Hampshire, England. It is at the entrance to the landscaped grounds of Stratton Park, some 8 miles northeast of Winchester Both park and village demonstrate the evolution of a landscape directed by three eminent families - Wriothesley, Russell and Baring - during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. In 1931 the parish had a population of 230.In East Stratton can clearly be seen a sequence of village development stretching over four centuries. At the north end, thatched cottages dating from the 17th and 18th centuries border the lane which sweeps down to the entrance of the Park. Around the village cross-roads and War Memorial are grouped other cottages and the 'new' 19th-century church, All Saints, East Stratton and farm. Further south are five pairs of early 19th-century estate cottages and the 19th-century Plough Inn (now renamed the Northbrook Arms). A dozen houses erected in this century by the Rural District and Forestry Commission now extend the village as far as Cold Harbour, once a small separate hamlet. The name Stratton comes from Old English and means farmstead or village on a Roman road.

Stratton Park, in East Stratton, Hampshire, was an English country house, built on the site of a grange of Hyde Abbey after the dissolution of the monasteries; it was purchased with the manor of Micheldever in 1546 by Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton. The last earl of Southampton made Stratton Park one of his chief seats, and his son-in-law, Sir William Russell, pulled down part of the hamlet and added it to his deer park in the 1660s. The Russell heirs eventually sold the estate in 1801 to Sir Francis Baring, Bt, of the Baring banking family. Baring remodeled the manor house in a neoclassical style, to designs by George Dance the Younger, 1803–06,' including an imposing stone Doric-columned portico and stuccoed brick main block and wings. The pleasure grounds and landscape park were laid out and planted, starting ca 1803 by Humphry Repton, and described by William Cobbett, in Rural Rides: in the counties of Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Hants, when Stratton Park held the living of Micheldever and included Micheldever Wood, which Cobbett said "contains a thousand acres [4 km²], and which is one of the finest oak-woods in England." In the late nineteenth century Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook laid out more formally structured gardens, with hardy plantings by Gertrude Jekyll. The park has been Grade II registered since 1984.Most of the Stratton Park house was demolished in 1963 by owner John Baring, 7th Baron Ashburton, whose involvement in the demolition of the Baring family's architecturally important banking headquarters in London had earned him the nickname "Basher Baring". Today, all that remains is Dance's stone portico, looming up near, but in no stable relation with, a modernist house by Stephen Gardiner and Christopher Knight, 1963-65. The portico is now a listed structure since 1983. Mature specimen trees from the landscape park tower above the present structure.

St Mary's Church is an Anglican church in Micheldever, Hampshire, England. It is in the Diocese of Winchester. The building, which is Grade II* listed, is unusual for its octagonal nave.

Northington Down is a hamlet in the civil parish of Northington in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is New Alresford, which lies approximately 4.2 miles (6.8 km) south-east from the hamlet.

The Itchen Abbas railway station was in the county of Hampshire in England and opened on 2 October 1865 by the Mid-Hants Railway. It closed on 5 February 1973.

Itchen Abbas is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Itchen Valley, in the Winchester district, in the county of Hampshire, England. The village is on the River Itchen about 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of Winchester.

Itchen Valley is a civil parish in the English county of Hampshire. Forming part of the City of Winchester district, it comprises the villages of Avington, Easton, Itchen Abbas and Martyr Worthy, with a population of 1,267 at the time of the 2001 Census. increasing at the 2011 Census to a population of 1,459.It is to the northeast of Winchester and takes its name from the River Itchen. The parish is crossed by the M3 motorway, and contains Winchester services. The main West–east route through the parish is the B3047. East bound from Winchester the B3047 enters the parish at Worthy Park and exits it at a point approx. 300m East of Rectory Lane, Itchen Abbas. It is located near to the civil parishes of Itchen Stoke and Ovington and New and Old Alresford. Largely rural in character, much of the parish is in both the South Downs National Park and the East Hampshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is crossed by several designated walking paths and riding routes including the Itchen Way, King's Way, Pilgrims' Way, St. Swithun's Way, South Downs Way, Three Castles Path and Oxdrove Way.