Hampshire
Art, History & Archaeology Sites & Museums

On the top of a hill with views over the fields of Hampshire and Wiltshire is the Breamore Mizmaze. A designated scheduled monument, it is one of only eight surviving medieval turf mazes in England and one of only two mizmazes. A path of turf was formed by cutting down into the chalk and removing the vegetation on either side, rather than the more common method used where a chalk path was created by removing vegetation. The turf path leads to a central mound. Eleven concentric rings, with a diameter of 84 feet, are bisected into quarters by a Christian cross.

Built in the 1580s by the Knight family, Chawton House is an impressive example of an Elizabethan family home. Its prominence today, however, rests on its early 19th century associations, when the house passed to Edward Austen, brother of the famous novelist Jane Austen. Austen visited Chawton House on many occasions and references to it as the “Great House” can be found in her letters. The surrounding grounds have been restored to the English Landscape style popular in Austen’s time. Today the house is home to the Centre for the Study of Early Women’s Writing, 1600–1830, with a library of many rare books.

Highclere Castle is widely known having featured in the period drama, Downton Abbey. The Castle was the ancestral home of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon – it was the 5th Earl who funded Howard Carter’s excavation of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. A few artefacts are now on display for visitors in the ‘Antiquities Room’, along with a near perfect replica of the mummy and sarcophagus of the boy king.

Jane Austen is perhaps the most famous English language novelist of her generation, a writer whose works are still enjoyed internationally. Jane Austen’s House in Chawton was her home during the last eight years of her life and is the place where she wrote all six of her novels, including Pride and Prejudice. The rooms are decorated with period furnishings to better convey their appearance during Austen’s day. While in Chawton, Austen fans can also visit the novelist’s grave as well as Chawton House, the home of her brother.

The beach near the village of Lepe is where the Mulberry Harbours were made and launched. These were critical to the success of the invasion, a deep water harbour which protected supply ships and provided facilities and equipment. Hundreds of troops, vehicles and ammunitions were hidden in the wooded area and narrow roads around Lepe. PLUTO, the pipeline that transported fuel to France for use in the invasion, left the mainland here. The area is now a sandy beach with cliffs covered in pine trees and wildflowers. Many remnants from D-Day preparations can be seen along the beach, such as construction platforms, sand hardening mats, slipways and gun emplacements.

Netley Abbey is one of the best preserved Cistercian abbeys in the south of England, with remains of the church, cloister buildings, abbot’s house, as well as remnants of the post-Dissolution mansion. The abbey was founded in 1239 and closed by Henry VIII in 1536. Its 300 year history was unremarkable, despite Royal patronage it was never a wealthy nor influential abbey. The extensive ruins have been an inspiration to Romantic writers and poets, and today the site is a popular visitor attraction.

Near the New Forest, this Roman Villa with over forty rooms was one of the largest in the area and centre of a substantial farming estate up until the 5th century AD. Discovered in 1942, excavations have revealed extensive farm buildings and workshops, as well as living quarters and bath houses. Although some of the villa has been reburied for preservation reasons, still visible is the outline of the villa, together with some of the better mosaic floors and parts of the underfloor heating systems.

The completely buried remains of the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum, near present day Silchester, are still surrounded by what are considered to be some of the best preserved Roman town walls in England. Originally an Iron Age oppidum, the settlement was first occupied by Romans in about 45 AD and then abandoned by the 5th century. Outside the polygonal walls a relatively well preserved, albeit overgrown with trees and shrubbery, amphitheatre can be visited. There is a car park at St Mary’s church, from where it is easy to visit the amphitheatre and see the walls.