Catisfield Village, Fareham, Hampshire.

Malcolm Low

The location of Catisfield is at the north of Titchfield village on the eastern edge of the Meon Valley. There is little documented history relating to Catisfield; amongst the records that are available there is mention of it as a small hamlet sited on the crest of Titchfield Hill at a historically significant road junction overlooking the Meon Valley. Before the 19th century Catisfield was at the junction of historic routes to Botley, Stubbington, Titchfield, Southampton, Fareham and Portsmouth. It is said that Samuel Pepys probably rode through it on his travels as did Margaret of Anjou on her way to Titchfield Abbey at the bottom of Fishers Hill from Southwick in 1445, for the reconfirmation of her marriage in France to Henry VI. The route from Fareham to Southampton followed the present day Catisfield Road. It divided in the village, one road leading to Titchfield or Botley, via Fishers Hill and Stoney Bridge, originally named Anjou Bridge of wooden structure and the other to Stubbington along Ranvilles Lane.

In 1811 a new Turnpike opened that linked the Avenue from the Heathfield Manor (now the Oast and Squire) with East Street in Titchfield across the River Meon via a new bridge at the bottom of Titchfield Hill, bypassing Catisfield to the South. This created a more direct route from Portsmouth and Fareham to Southampton through Titchfield and via Park Gate that effectively isolated Catisfield from the main road network. The original nucleus of the settlement was around the junction of Catisfield Road, Catisfield Lane and Fishers Hill. The age of the

buildings included in the local and Statutory Lists of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest would suggest the origins of the village to be in the early 18th Century. However, houses grouped around the recognisable street pattern of Catisfield are marked on the Titchfield Estate map of 1610.

Malcolm can be contacted on email: m.low1@ntlworld.com