Hartley Mauditt


Hartley Mauditt is an abandoned village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is south of the village of East Worldham, and southeast of Alton, just east of the B3006 road. It is in the civil parish of Worldham. The nearest railway station is northwest of the village, at Alton.
The settlement appears to have been uninhabited since the 18th century, except for a couple of scattered cottages. Dating from the 12th century, St Leonard's church stands as the only remaining building of the former village.

Geography

Hartley Mauditt is still an agricultural settlement of some with several large farms, although the medieval village was much larger but has now shrunk down to the parish church of St Leonard and a couple of cottages. The remaining houses include a 17th-century thatched cottage, an old rectory, and the converted village school on the parish boundary adjoining West Worldham.

History

Hartley Mauditt was first documented in the Domesday Book as "Herlege" ; "Hartley" signifies a pasture for deer. The manor had been granted to William de Maldoit by William the Conqueror. Later, it was in the possession of John of Gaunt, the Duchy of Lancaster, the Crown, and then in 1603 to Nicholas Steward.
In 1790, the 4th Baronet of Hartley Mauditt, Sir Simeon Henry Stuart, sold the manor to Henry Bilson-Legge whose son pulled down the manor house in 1798. After the demolition of the house the village of Hartley Mauditt declined, and eventually left the church as the only remaining building in the site of the settlement.