Battle of the Beanfield

Snoddington is a small hamlet in Hampshire and close to the border of Wiltshire near to Thruxton Aerodrome and first mentioned in the eleventh century in the Domesday Book. The hamlet is surrounded by agricultural downlands and has become part of the South of England urban sprawl being largely inhabited by commuters. Local facilities are limited with no local shop. Likewise the absence of public transport links requires that local inhabitants own at least one vehicle for the purposes of shopping in local supermarkets. The hamlet is part of the parish of Shipton Bellinger where local Church of England worshippers repair to St Peters Parish Church for Sunday services. Snoddington Manor House is first mentioned in Domesday Book and has a long history of occupancy passing through a number of different families. In a "History of Hampshire" a limited history is offered: The manor of SNODDINGTON belonged before the Conquest to Tovi and at the time of the Domesday Survey to Hugh de Port, tenant-in-chief. (fn. 38) It was held in the 13th century of Robert de Pont de L'Arche, lord of Newton Valence, and by him of Robert St. John, a descendant of Hugh de Port. (fn. 39) The overlordship of the St. John family subsequently lapsed, and the manor was held henceforward as of the manor of Newton Valence (q.v.) by suit of court and the service due from the fourth part of a knight's fee. (fn. 40)At the beginning of the 13th century Thomas de Port and Margery de Cundy held jointly of Robert de St. John the fourth part of a knight's fee in Snoddington, (fn. 41) and a century later, in 1305, Gilbert Cundy held the same land, valued at 60s., of Aymer de Valence. (fn. 42) However, before 1316, Snoddington had come into the possession of Ingram Berenger, (fn. 43) lord of Shipton Bellinger, who two years later obtained from Thomas Harengod and Eleanor his wife (fn. 44) a quitclaim of all their rights in two messuages and 2 carucates of land in Snoddington for a rent of £5 during the life of Eleanor. (fn. 45) From this date the manor followed almost exactly the descent of Shipton Bellinger (fn. 46) (q.v.) until 1466, when Robert Bodenham died seised only of the reversion of the manor. This right passed to his infant grandson and heir Richard, son of his son Robert, (fn. 47) who as soon as he came into possession evidently sold the manor, probably to pay his grandfather's debts, to Tristram Fauntleroy, (fn. 48) a younger son of the Dorset family of that name. Tristram died in 1538, leaving a son and heir Brian, (fn. 49) whose son Henry held the manor until his death in 1578. (fn. 50) His heir was his son William, (fn. 51) who evidently died in a few years without issue, since his brother Henry was returned as the heir of his father Henry in 1589. (fn. 52) From this date the descent of the manor is unknown until the beginning of the 18th century, when it was in the possession of Richard Bird. Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Richard, brought Snoddington in marriage to Ralph Etwall of Andover, and the manor continued in the Etwall family until 1885. when Mr. William Etwall sold it to Mr. William H. Alexander. (fn. 53) The latter dying in 1905 devised the manor by will to Mr. H. C. Formby, B.A., J.P., the present owner. (fn. 54)

Shipton Bellinger is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. Shipton Bellinger is about 5 miles (8 km) north-east of the town of Amesbury and 12 miles (19 km) north-east of the city of Salisbury. It is on the A338 road, near its junction with the A303 road. It is in the Test Valley council district but its post town is Tidworth in Wiltshire. The village is surrounded by Salisbury Plain. It is close to Tidworth Camp and a number of British Army families live in the village. Notable features in the village include the Norman Church of England parish church of Saint Peter and the River Bourne. Village facilities include a public house, a sports and social club, a village shop and visiting Mobile Post Office, a primary school, a village hall and a garage.

The A338 is a major primary route in southern England, that runs from the junction with the A35 at Poole in Dorset to the junction with the A420 at Besselsleigh in Oxfordshire, a distance of 84 miles (135 km). In Bournemouth and Poole the road is known as the Wessex Way.

Cholderton, or more properly West Cholderton, is a village and civil parish in the Bourne Valley of Wiltshire, England. The village is about 4 miles (6 km) east of the town of Amesbury. It is on the A338, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the A303 trunk road and 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Salisbury. East Cholderton is part of Amport parish, over the county border in Hampshire. Local attractions include Cholderton Rare Breeds Farm, a Rare Breeds Survival Trust approved farm park.

Wilbury House or Wilbury Park is an 18th-century Neo-Palladian country house in the parish of Newton Tony, Wiltshire in South West England, about 8.7 miles (14 km) northeast of Salisbury. It is a Grade I listed building, and the surrounding park and garden are Grade II listed.The park is immediately north of Newton Toney village, on both banks of the River Bourne, and extends north beyond the house into Cholderton parish.

Tedworth House, also known as South Tidworth House, is a 19th-century country house in Tidworth, Wiltshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.The house and its grounds were in Hampshire until 1991, when the county boundary was redrawn.

St Mary's Church in South Tidworth, Wiltshire, England, was built in 1878. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.The church is built of rock-faced brown stone, in a style described by Historic England as "spectacular Geometrical Gothic". It was designed by John Johnson, with work supervised by G.H. Gordon, for Sir John Kelk. Kelk, an engineer and major building contractor who owned the Tedworth House estate nearby, had previously worked with Johnson on the construction of the Alexandra Palace. St Mary's cost Kelk £12,000. The site is near that of the medieval parish church.The chancel is 28 feet (8.5 m) by 17 feet (5.2 m) and the three by nave 43 feet (13 m) by 17 feet (5.2 m). There are also north and south aisles, a north vestry and a south porch. At the west end is a tall and slender bell turret with a tapering spire, also known as a flèche, above a massive stepped buttress. Nikolaus Pevsner calls the bell tower "perverse and wilful...à la Burges".Pevsner considers the interior "sensational, in scale as in everything else". It includes carvings and polished marble shafts in the columns of the arcade piers. The chancel floor is laid with Italian mosaic. There is also a silver chalice and patens of 1837 and 1877 and a silver-gilt flagon of 1869. The altar and other carved stonework are by Farmer & Brindley. The stained glass is by Clayton and Bell, apart from the east window which was designed by Heaton, Butler and Bayne.Outside the church is an avenue of yew trees, the largest of which has a girth of 7 feet 9 inches (2.36 m).The church was declared redundant on 1 September 1972, and was vested in the Trust on 19 December 1973. Access to the church is restricted after vandalism in 2016.

Tidworth Camp is a military installation at Tidworth in Wiltshire, England. It forms part of the Tidworth, Netheravon and Bulford (TidNBul) Garrison.

Newton Tony (formerly Newton Toney) is a rural English village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, close to the border with Hampshire. Situated in the Bourne Valley, Newton Tony is about 9 miles (14 km) north-east of its post town, Salisbury. Wilbury House, a Grade I listed 17th-century mansion, stands in parkland in the north of the parish.

Quarley Hill Fort is a 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Grateley in Hampshire.Quarley hillfort is a hillfort with no public access, which is privately owned. This site on the land surrounding the Iron Age hill fort on Quarley Hill has chalk grassland which is maintained by cattle grazing. It is rich in herbs, such as felwort, small scabious, dropwort, chalk milkwort, greater butterfly-orchid and bastard toadflax.

Quarley Hill is the site of an Iron Age univallate hill fort in Hampshire, southern England. The hill affords commanding views of the surrounding countryside. Oval in plan, the fort is in good condition with a counter-scarp and well defined entrances at north-east and south-west. It is built on the site of an earlier palisade enclosure. There is evidence of prehistoric activity in the area including four large Bronze Age ditches radiating from the hill fort, believed to be part of a Bronze Age farming settlement, and a barrow cemetery about a mile away to the north. There is also evidence for a Roman settlement on the northeast side of the hill, with Roman coins of Maximum II and Constantine the Great, and other sherds found in 1951.Today, the ditches and ramparts are for the most part clear, with the centre of the site given over to small trees and shrubs. The site is recorded as a scheduled ancient monument no.67.The fort is surrounded by a Site of Special Scientific Interest called Quarley Hill Fort.

Tidworth is a garrison town and civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 about 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) north of the A303 primary route, the town is approximately 8 miles (13 km) west of Andover, 12 miles (19 km) south of Marlborough, and 13 miles (21 km) north by north-east of Salisbury. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was approximately 10,600.Originally two villages – North Tidworth and South Tidworth – the modern town is dominated by Tidworth Camp, a large British Army site. Swinton Barracks, another Army site, is in the west of the parish.