Botley, Hampshire

Botley is a historic village in Hampshire, England with an estimated parish population of 5100. Between 1806 and 1820 it was the home of the famous journalist and radical politician William Cobbett, who described the village as the most delightful in the world. There is a memorial stone to William Cobbett in the village square.The village can be easily accessed from Eastleigh and Fareham by train. Previously, a rail service operated to Bishops Waltham along the Bishops Waltham Branch Line. Botley railway station is just outside the modern boundary of Botley, within Curdridge.In nearby Curbridge is Fairthorne Manor, a day camps centre run by the YMCA, which includes a golf course, the Fairthorne Manor Golf Course, and farm.HistoryWhen the Romans built a road from Noviomagus Reginorum (Chichester) to Clausentum (Southampton), it crossed the River Hamble at a natural crossing point located to the south of present-day Botley. The crossing later became the site of Botley's first settlement, which existed at least as far back as the 10th century. Known in Saxon times as "Bottaleah" ("Botta" was probably a person, while "Leah" was the Saxon word for a woodland clearing). Some time prior to the Norman conquest, a gradual rise in sea level meant that travellers found the river easier to ford further north of the original Roman crossing, this new crossing place provided a new focal point for the village, which in 1086 was listed in the Domesday book as "Botelie" and included two mills and had a population of less than 100.