Nether Wallop is a small village with pretty thatched cottages, four miles north-west of Stockbridge. Readers of the Agatha Christie ‘Miss Marple’ novels, know the village as “St. Mary Mead”, as most of the original BBC TV series, starring Joan Hickson, was filmed in the village. Dane Cottage in Five Bells Lane, was Miss Marple’s cottage.
The Five Bells Inn dates from the 17th century. During the Battle of Britain, the Inn was frequented by air crew from 604 and 609 fighter squadrons based at RAF Middle Wallop, now the home of the Army Air Corps.
The name Nether Wallop is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word, meaning “valley of the stream”. The Wallop Brook, a tributary of the River Test, flows through the village. The Mill, which was in use until 1949, now provides fly fishing tuition courses.
St. Andrew’s Church dates from the 11th century. It is built of flint, stone and brick at the side of a steep chalk hill, overlooking Wallop Brook. The church contains “Christ in Majesty”, the only Anglo-Saxon wall painting in England to survive in its original location since 1020. In the churchyard, there is an unusual pyramid memorial known as the Francis Douce Mausoleum. Francis was a doctor who lived in the village and died in 1760, but in 1748, had the Mausoleum built. He left a legacy to the village so that his Mausoleum would be maintained in perpetuity.
