Alresford in 1833
ALRESFORD, NEW, a market town in the County of Hampshire, on the river Itchin, fifty-seven miles from London, on the high road to Winchester. It was formerly a town of far greater importance than at present, and sent a representative to parliament. It probably owed its prosperity to the circumstance of the river having been rendered navigable by a head or pond of 200 acres, formed by Godfrey de Lacy, Bishop of Winchester, early in the thirteenth century. At present the navigation does not extend above Winchester, and is there confined to a few barges.
During the present summer, (1833,) a large quantity of English silver coins, all of the reign of William the Conqueror, were found in a leaden box in a field a short distance from this town. About 7,000 of these coins are now in the British Museum.
It has been twice destroyed by fire, once in 1690, and again in 1710. It has a manufactory of linseys ; the population in 1831 was 1,437, or if we include that of Old Alresford, a village in the immediate neighbourhood, and which some consider as another parish of the same town, it may, be taken at nearly 1,900. Alresford has a national school. The market, which is held on Thursday, is chiefly for corn.
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