Liphook
Liphook is in the extreme east of Hampshire, bordering both Surrey and West Sussex. Extensive areas in and around the Parish are in the ownership of the National Trust.
It became the village it is today thanks to being a coaching stop between London and Portsmouth during the 17th and 18thcenturies, and is still just off the A3 London to Portsmouth road today. ‘So by coach to Lippock’ wrote Samuel Pepys as he described how Liphook became a prosperous village as a result of the London – Portsmouth road and later with the arrival of the railway in 1859.
Originally nearby Bramshott was the main settlement but the coaching trade and the railway saw Liphook becoming the parish centre. The village also served as a base during the First World War and the Second World War for Canadian troops stationed in Southern England.
Flora Thompson who wrote Lark Rise to Candleford, recently televised by the BBC, lived in Liphook between 1916 and 1928 as her husband used to be the postmaster. Local tradition also has it that Nelson spent his last night in England in Liphook before sailing for the Battle of Trafalgar, and George III and Queen Charlotte on their stay gave permission for the Blue Anchor to be renamed the Royal Anchor.
On ‘the night the clocks go back’ (usually the last Saturday in October) the village plays host to the Liphook Carnival, a procession of floats through the village followed by a bonfire which has taken place since 1903.
Liphook village website (opens in new window)
