Publications: click the links to jump to details of individual books and other items.

• The Odiham and North Warnborough Visitors Trail – A pocket reference for a walk round the parish - Price 50p

• Odiham High Street: An Itinerary -  An invaluable reference book to the architecture and history of buildings in the High Street, the majority of which are listed - Price £5.00

• The Parish of Odiham: An Historical Guide – The more detailed reference book to Odiham and North Warnborough - Price £4.00

• Odiham’s Royal Deer Park – Click here for more details - Price £2.50

• Last Orders, Please! - Click here for more details - Price £4.50

• Nonconformists and their chapels in Odiham and North Warnborough - Click here for more details - Price £2.00

• The Story of Odiham Cottage Hospital – Written by Daphne Reggler to celebrate the re-opening of the Cottage Hospital in 1999 - Price £2.50

• A Key to Odiham Castle – Written by Rupert Willoughby and published in 1998 following archaeological excavations of the site in the 1990s - Price £3.00

• Guide to The Cross Barn at Palace Gate - Price 50p

• The Bridewell in the Bury - Price 50p

• A Guide to the Pest House - Price 60p

• A Biannual Journal - Available free to members. For non-members interested in buying back copies, please contact the Secretary (see contacts page) for availability and price

• Notelets – Currently out of stock

• Post Cards - Click here for details

• The Odiham Tea Towel - Click here for details - Price £5.00
  

NONCONFORMISTS AND THEIR CHAPELS IN ODIHAM AND NORTH WARNBOROUGH by Mary Ann Bennett

It has always been thought that the Congregational Chapel, one of the earliest in Hampshire, was established in Odiham High Street in 1662 during the turbulent period after the Restoration. The green outside the entrance to the chapel is still known as Gospel Green and this, it is said, acquired its name from nonconformist preachers, who had been expelled from the churches after the Commonwealth period, holding meetings there.

Today the chapel has been converted to residential use but the site has as diverse a history as any building in the town. Not in fact built in 1662, it was first converted or built within the house or grounds of Richard Hooker’s property in 1692. It was initially Independent and from 1739 Presbyterian. It closed in the late 1760s. After it re-opened in 1794 it was Methodist (Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion) until the late 1820s, when it became Congregational. The building was virtually rebuilt in 1820, extended in 1832 and 1844 and restored again in 1891. It closed in 1958 and was purchased by the PCC of All Saints in 1963. It became a library in 1964 and was used as the church office. A Grade II listed building it was converted for residential use in 1998.

This book covers not only the people who worshipped and preached here and in all the nonconformist chapels in Odiham and North Warnborough but also includes the struggle to keep it open, the building of London Road School (now the Vine Church) and the role of evangelists who were employed to make house to house visits, preach in cottages or, when necessary, in the open air. From the men of note who ran it, who were barred from public office because of their faith, to the scandal of a failed preacher hanging on the coat-tails of his famous cousin, this book exposes the power struggle and frailties of those trying to maintain alternative forms of worship in a largely Church of England town.

The book is available from Odiham Society meetings and speaker events or from Odiham Cards, price £2.50, or £3.50 by post from Helen Oliver, Thimrowe Cottage, Alton Road, Odiham RG29 1PJ to include postage and packing.

ODIHAM'S ROYAL DEER PARK by Sheila Millard

Do you enjoy walking the tranquil footpaths across the fields to the north of the High Street and extending to the M3? Discover more about the history of this area from the latest Odiham Society publication by Sheila Millard. The book is available from Odiham Society meetings and speaker events or from Odiham Cards, price £4.50, or £5.50 by post from Helen Oliver, Thimrowe Cottage, Alton Road, Odiham RG29 1PJ to include postage and packing.

LAST ORDERS PLEASE! by Sheila Millard
Learn whether your property was ever a public house.

The Odiham Society is transporting readers who enjoy the public houses of the parish back in time with the launch of a new publication, Last Orders, Please! 

Locally grown high quality malting barley and hops led to the proliferation of brewing and the equivalent to one licensed house for every 125 inhabitants including children by the end of the 19th century. Most of the establishments — converted from front rooms — gave rise to a new breed of part-time landlord, enjoying a second income. 

Readers will learn where their predecessors ordered a winter supply of coal with their pint of beer.  Some will even discover that their own home was once one of these licensed premises.  

Author Sheila Millard discovered from gardening at her own High Street home that it had also once been a public house: “I found the remains of literally hundreds of pieces of 17th century clay pipe stems and even complete bowls in the ground.” An archaeologist confirmed her suspicion. It was the site of the former Crown. 

The history of the public houses of Odiham and North Warnborough therefore makes a fascinating read and a great illustrated companion when visiting the many establishments still in operation today.

The book is available from Odiham Society meetings and speaker events or from Odiham Cards, price £4.50, or £5.50 by post from Helen Oliver, Thimrowe Cottage, Alton Road, Odiham RG29 1PJ to include postage and packing. 

THE ODIHAM TEA TOWEL

The Odiham Society has sponsored both the design and production of an Odiham Tea Towel, made in pure cotton and available from the Katherine Jane gift shop and Odiham Cards, price £5. The Odiham tea towel is also available at £6.00 by mail order, from Helen Oliver, Thimrowe Cottage, Alton Road, Odiham RG29 1PJ.    Please make your cheque payable to "The Odiham Society". The design incorporates several sketches of well-known buildings, landmarks and scenes in and around Odiham, drawn by Ray Millard and reproduced by kind permission of the Society's Archivist and Vice-President, Sheila Millard, MBE. It makes an excellent gift all year round, and provides a beautiful memento for anyone who has recently visited Odiham.

POSTCARDS

All Saints Parish Church	King John's Castle	The Pest House
High Street, Central Odiham	High Street, Looking West	High Street, Looking East
The Poppy Field, Odiham	The Ford, North Warnborough	The Basingstoke Canal

'Click' on any of the pictures above for a larger view.

The Postcards are available at Odiham Cards, High Street, Odiham.