Soberton is a village in the Meon Valley, Hampshire, England, east of the A32 and a few miles south of the village of Droxford. It appears in the Domesday Book as "Sudbertone" or "Sudbertune". For administration, it is in the Hampshire County Council area, headquartered in Winchester.

Soberton
Soberton is located in Hampshire
Soberton
Soberton
Location within Hampshire
Population218 [1]
1,616 (2011 Census)[2]
OS grid referenceSU6120216615
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSouthampton
Postcode districtSO32
Dialling code01489
PoliceHampshire and Isle of Wight
FireHampshire and Isle of Wight
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Hampshire
50°56′45″N 1°07′49″W / 50.945735°N 1.1302°W / 50.945735; -1.1302
Soberton Church

Key features of Soberton include the War Memorial at its centre, the early 16th-century Church of St Peter and St Paul, and The White Lion, a 17th-century public house. The church is part of one of the largest parishes in the United Kingdom.

Soberton White Lion

The village was part of a smuggling route during the 18th century, and a vault beneath the church was used for the storage of contraband.[3]

Soberton Towers from the West

North of the church is a large Georgian manor house, Soberton Towers. This was taken over by the Navy during the 1939-45 war and was used for accommodation for members of the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRENS) until 1971.

Soberton is named in the 18th century peerage of Admiral Sir George Anson (1697-1762) "Baron Anson of Soberton".

The children's writer Barbara Euphan Todd was brought up in the village.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Census data
  2. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  3. ^ Morley, Geoffrey (1983). Smuggling in Hampshire and Dorset 1700 – 1850. Newbury: Countryside Books. pp. 41–42. ISBN 0905392248.
  4. ^ Book Rags biography: Retrieved 18 June 2012.
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