Otterbourne

"OTTERBOURNE, a parish in the lower half division of Buddlesgate hundred, county Hants, 4 miles S. of Winchester, its railway station and post town, and 8 N.W. of Southampton. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the road from Winchester to Southampton, and on the river Itching. The parish includes the tything of Boyatt. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. The Itching navigation and the South-Western railway pass through the district. The living is a curacy annexed to the vicarage* of Hursley, in the diocese of Winchester. The church, dedicated to St. Matthew, is a cruciform structure of blue brick, erected in 1839 at a cost of £4,000. The interior is decorated with stained windows, and contains two bells. There is a National school for both sexes. The Primitive Methodists have a place of worship. The President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford, are lords of the manor. "

[From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]