Elvetham

The cenotaph in the High Street commemorates those who died in battle but whose remains lie elsewhere. It is of unusual and classic appearance; it was designed by the architect Harry Inigo Triggs, who had travelled and studied in Italy. The detailing is borrowed from the eight blank panels in the Medici chapel in Florence; on these panels are carved the names of the town’s dead of the First World War. (Plaques were added after the Second World War commemorating the 54 young men who died on duty away from home during that conflict). After much deliberation over an appropriate location for the town’s memorial, it was erected by the mason Andrew Perryman of Dragon Street in its present position early in 1922 - a position in the Square was discounted. In the wake of the war, under the auspices of the Housing Act of 1919, the country set about building ‘homes fit for heroes’. The first of these were built in Noreuil Road, which was named after a little village of some 100 inhabitants near Arras in France. Petersfield had adopted the village to help with its reconstruction, and a letter thanking the town for gifts of parcels of clothing and coloured wall maps to brighten the schoolroom was signed by J Nicholai, the schoolmistress at Noreuil. The Electricity Supply Act of 1919 gave rise to an application by Dr R J Cross, Mr T A Crawter and Mr C W Seaward, who wanted to form a company to supply electric light to Petersfield. The plan was for a generator on land located to the rear of the Volunteer Arms (now Meon Close), with a frontage on Frenchmans Road. (Note that the company was only to supply electric light, not power). With houses having only 40-watt lamps, it is unlikely that a supply greater than 20 kilowatts would be required. Tom Crawter’s house, Clare Cross, was the first house in Petersfield to be lighted by electricity. Nevertheless, there was enough power to supply the Electric Theatre with the town’s first film shows. The first cinema stood at the corner between Chapel Street and Swan Street - in fact, the demolition of the Swan public house made way for the Electric Theatre. That first cinema was replaced by the Savoy Cinema in 1935, and is now a nightclub.
An extract from from"Petersfield - A History & Celebration".

And now to the greatest mystery: who were the people who raised the tumuli or burial mounds on Petersfield Heath during the Bronze Age some 1,000 years after the Stone Age? Today, Petersfield is home to one of the most numerous collections of Bronze Age burial mounds in England. Unfortunately, the planting of conifers on the mounds in Victorian times and the mixed tree growth of the last 50 years has successfully camouflaged the outline of the tumuli and largely hidden them from the casual view (see page 11). To create mounds like this would have required the labour of many people, and they appear to have been built over many years, if not centuries. So where did these people live? Why have they left us no clues to tell us where they came from? Did they come from miles around to bury the ashes of their dead princes here? Were they nomads carrying the remains from a fair distance to a sacred spot or a clearing in the forest? Or is it possible that someone may yet find their habitation site here within the town itself? In all probability we shall never ever know the answer, and the mystery will remain for all time.
An extract from from"Petersfield - A History & Celebration".

MOST OF this first chapter has to be supposition, for the facts are few and far between, but certainly two requirements were just as important in the past as they are now in the 21st century: firstly, the lie of the land was and is still critical to a successful place to camp for the night; and secondly, man’s intelligence was and is needed to make the right decisions on where to camp.
An extract from from"Petersfield - A History & Celebration".

Following the death of Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector in 1668 and the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Benjamin Laney returned and reclaimed the title of Rector of Buriton and Petersfield for the Protestant cause, immediately handing over to Edmund Barker who was then appointed rector (1660-1668). He would doubtless have met King Charles II on the monarch’s overnight visits to Petersfield on his way to and from Portsmouth to visit his Royal Navy and to inspect the defences of the dockyard. It is just possible that he also met the King’s mistress, Louise de Kérouaille, who was considered worthy of the title The Baroness Petersfield.
An extract from from"Petersfield - A History & Celebration".

There are a total of 21 barrows on Petersfield Heath, and there are examples of the four basic types of barrow: bowl, disc, saucer and bell. Sir Stuart Piggott, the eminent archaeologist, was educated at Churcher’s College; he became fascinated by the heath and its barrows, which set him on his chosen career. Some have even called the heath a Bronze/Iron Age Westminster Abbey. Petersfield is very lucky in having Butser Ancient Farm close at hand. Here many fascinating discoveries have been made about life in pre-Roman Britain. The remains of Iron Age farm animals have been studied, and their nearest surviving equivalents identified; where possible, live examples of these animals can be seen at the farm. More spectacular are the recreated buildings - they display the inventiveness of our predecessors. The great roundhouse was built using information derived from the excavation that took place on Cowdown at Longbridge Deverel in Wiltshire. The excavation gave positive clues about the construction of the building, and the archaeologists re-created it from the logical interpretation of that information. There is every reason to believe that any similar Iron Age building in the vicinity of Petersfield would exhibit much the same features.
An extract from from"Petersfield - A History & Celebration".