Shalden, Hampshire

Today I made a long awaited visit into Hampshire to visit some of the places that feature in my story and some that don't! Unfortunately, the weather wasn't as good as I had hoped and there were a good number of showers, one absolutely torrential one with hail when I left Shalden.

Shalden is the first place to be mentioned in the story. It lies about two miles NW of Alton about 600 feet up on the chalk downs. It' is not a place that you would pass through, but one you would go to if you were wanting to go there specifically as I did, as it is off the beaten track so to speak! It is a small community with scattered houses and farms, but no school, pub or shop. It does have a (locked) church and a village hall and a telephone box. This view has Manor Farm on the left with its barn and a peep north up the main street.

So why here? My Medieval character Hawise was born into the family of Fitzpaine in 1390 and marries into the Mauditt family who in real life held the manor of Shalden from the Norman Conquest onwards. In real life, by the time 1390 was reached, both families had died out completely, but in the story, they are still very much around. Hawise happens to have two homes - both manor houses that are in Shalden and Hartley Mauditt, north of Selborne. Hawise is forced to marry into the Mauditt family and travels to Shalden for the wedding. She makes Shalden Manor her principal home. When Hawise travels ahead in time to the present, something that she has done on numerous occasions, she happens to see and overhear Rachel and Sarah talking as they walk through the village on a Sunday morning in early September. When Hawise realises that Rachel's voice is a West Country accent (Rachel comes from Holford, Somerset), she manages to follow them both back to Alton where they live and then decides that she wants to try and make contact with her, thinking her someone special. Hawise is lonely, and now widowed and wants to make contact with someone in the future. So Shalden, where Hawise lives, is where she sees Rachel for the very first time.

After visiting Shalden, my trip took me between showers to Hartley Mauditt, Empshott, Liss, Steep, Froxfield Green and East Meon with a brief stop at Liphook before going on home, so quite a busy day!