A number of the cards remain for sale, price £1.00 – contact me to buy
(approx size 8x12 inches)
The village celebrated the millennium over the weekend of 10th/11th June 2000. On Saturday 10th there was a fete on the Village Green followed by a Historical Pageant. On Sunday 11th the Church held an open-air service on the Village Green, followed by a barbecue and games.
A video tape showing extracts from three Headley pageants (1935, 1951 and 2000) has been produced and was shown at the Village Hall on the evening of Friday 13th October 2000.
| An illustrated card was commissioned and presented
to all schoolchildren living in Headley parish. The picture was painted
by local artist Christopher Cole and is a view of the High Street and Church
as seen from his property (The White House in Headley High Street). A number of the cards remain for sale, price £1.00 – contact me to buy (approx size 8x12 inches) |
|
Inside the card is the following text:—
Headley is a place with a long history. The name comes from the Old English Haedleah meaning “a clearing in the forest or heath,” as hundreds of years ago Woolmer Forest covered all this part of Hampshire.
Over 900 years ago, Headley was recorded in the Domesday Book as Hallege, and since that time it has been called by several different names, among them Hetliga, Hertelegh, Hetle and Hethelie. For most of this time, until quite recently, it included the areas which we now know as Grayshott, Lindford and Bordon.
The church tower is probably the oldest part of a building still standing in the parish — it is said to have been built around 1380, at about the time Geoffrey Chaucer was writing his Canterbury Tales and Dick Whittington was Lord Mayor of London. Once it had a steeple like the one on Bramshott church, but in 1838 this burnt down and was replaced by the square top and turrets you see today.
In the early days, only a few hundred people lived here and most of them worked on the land. Today we have a population of well over five thousand in the parish. Housing estates cover what once were farmers’ fields. Oast houses and mills – except for Headley Mill which still grinds corn into flour – have become private houses, and most people have to travel each day to their work.
So a village changes in the course of centuries.
We owe a great deal to the people who lived before us: to the generous individuals and groups of villagers who gave us our Churches, Schools, Meeting Places, Playing Fields, and all the other amenities which help to make our lives more pleasant.
We hope that you have enjoyed our celebrations to mark the start of a new millennium, and that you will remember them for many years to come. Wherever you live in the future may you always think of Headley with affection, and be grateful for the spirit of friendship and unity you found here in AD 2000.
Cover picture is from an original water colour by Christopher Cole
Sponsored by Hampshire County Council and Headley Voluntary Care Group
— Site maintained by John Owen Smith —