Titchfield is a very attractive small village alongside the River Meon in Hampshire, close to Fareham. It has a long history stretching back to the 6th century. In the Domesday Book in 1066, it was known as Ticefelle. In Medieval times, it was an important market town and port, although it is now three miles from the shores of the Solent Estuary. In 1611, the Third Earl of Southampton constructed a wall to seal the River Meon off from the sea and effectively ended Titchfield’s role as a port.
The village is a conservation area with many historic buildings dating from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, grouped around a large square. In the early 17th century, there was a market hall, but this was dismantled in 1972 and re-erected at The Weald and Downland Living Museum at Singleton, Sussex. The Bugle Hotel in The Square, is an 18th century coaching inn, full of atmosphere. It is popular with families and walkers and is dog friendly. The lintel over the bar and a large fireplace, were taken from Titchfield Abbey. The Titchfield Mill on the edge of the village, is a country pub full of rustic character in picturesque surroundings, alongside the River Meon. It was a watermill until 1939 and dates from 1779. The River Meon provided a natural supply of water. The Titchfield Mill is close to Titchfield Abbey, a ruined 13th century abbey, converted into a mansion, Place House, by the Earls of Southampton.
St. Peter’s Church contains the remains of the original church, built in the 7th century. It was greatly altered in the Middle Ages. The church is notable for the Wriothesley Monument, erected in Elizabethan times, in memory of the Second Earl of Southampton and his parents.
