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News
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Dick's Diary
By on March 5, 2010
The wartime diaries of 2nd Lieut. Richard Willis Fleming (1896-1916) are being published daily as a weblog - Dick's Diary - 94 years to the day since they were first written. The diaries start on 24 February 1916 and follow the 162 days until Richard's death in Egypt on 4 August.
Working the Land in Romsey
By on November 27, 2009
Jean Brent and Pat Goodwin's new book is subtitled 'a history of farms and farming families in a Hampshire parish', and covers the rural history of the area from the founding of Romsey Abbey up until recent times. Like the Broadlands Estate, the Fleming Estate was one of the major landowners, and the book contains a wealth of information about local farms and families. For more information, and to order a copy, see the Lower Test Valley Archaeological Study Group's website at www.ltvas.org.uk.
John Valentine Willis Fleming (1925-2009)
By on November 5, 2009
 We are enormously sad to announce the death of John Valentine Willis Fleming, head of the family and a founding trustee of the Willis Fleming Historical Trust. John, known to friends and family as 'Roo', died on 3 December 2009 after a short illness. His funeral will take place on Friday 13 November 2009 at St Goran Church, Gorran.
The Annual Picnic 2009
By on September 30, 2009
The Willis Fleming Historical Trust held its Annual Picnic on Saturday 26 September 2009, at Chilworth Manor in Hampshire. Upwards of forty members and friends of the Trust assembled in the Field Tent, pitched in the old meadow that lies west of the Manor House.  [ More photographs ] Chilworth Manor was acquired by John Barton Willis Fleming in 1825; it was sold by his grandson in 1946. Originally an ornamental lodge, the house was greatly enlarged around 1900. The Manor was later acquired by the University of Southampton, and is now a hotel. The grounds are of particular note. Inside the Field Tent there was an interesting display of ephemera, together with some miniature memory shrines created as part of the Trust's present project to restore the Stoneham War Shrine. We noticed shrines made by Mr Cox, Mrs Verdon, Mrs Hunt, Mrs Bennett, and Mr and Mrs Furlong. After lunch, Harry Willis Fleming made some announcements, and Jane Wildgoose presented the 'Thomas Hopper Memorial Cup' to Mr and Mrs John Furlong, in honour of the latter's help and support during the preceding year. The picnickers were then met by Sarah Kiss, who led a walk through the Conservation Area. Clearing of invasive species (bracken, rhododendron, birch and sycamore) is well underway on the south side of the lake, and this area is now open and light.  Passing through the Azalea Walk we entered the Deer Ring. This unusual feature, seen at its best in the late afternoon sunshine, is a circle of conifers planted in the mid-1890s on part of the site of a deer park known to be there in the 16th and 17th centuries. The overgrown area in the centre of the Ring is to be cleared. Skirting around the edge of the Arboretum, originally planted in the 19th century and which is soon to be extended, we entered the Ancient Woodland, a darker area criss-crossed by streams. This woodland will be managed sensitively by clearing encroaching growth around individual specimen trees such as yews to create a lighter environment. One of the older yew trees will become a focal point in the new scheme. The walk continued through the woodland on the northern edge of the Conservation Area. We returned via the Ecology Meadow, established in the early 1990s - ending back at the Field Tent for a welcome cup of tea.
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