Froyle
Froyle – or more accurately ‘Upper Froyle’ and ‘Lower Froyle’ – is some three miles northeast of Alton just off the A31. The name is thought to be an old English word meaning ‘Frea’s Hill‘. It recently won the ‘Best Small Village’ in the Hampshire Calor Village of the Year 2008.
The manor was held by Edward the Confessor until William the Conqueror gave it to the nuns of St Mary’s Winchester, who held it until 1538 when the dissolution of the Monasteries took place.
Upper Froyle is known locally as the “Village of the Saints” as many of the houses display a small statue of a Saint. These were brought back from Italy by Sir Hubert Miller, the last Lord of the Manor, who died in 1940. The home of the Miller family, Froyle Place, is now the home of Treloar School.
The nearby St Mary’s Church is a mixture of 18th century brickwork and 14th century stone.
Froyle village website (opens in new window)
