Curdridge Mapped – Ordnance Survey 6 inch map, 1868.

At last, Curdridge is given its correct name, rather than being labelled Curbridge as on earlier maps.

We can see immediately that the modern road layout is now in place – Reading Room Lane, Chapel Lane and the Southern end of Wangfield Lane have all been constructed since the OS 1810s-50s ‘Old Series’ map I wrote about earlier. What was a split track across part of the Common is now Outlands Lane, leaving a line of houses to the East marking where one of the tracks ran previously.

The current map is also later than the Curdridge Common Inclosure Map of 1856 that I wrote about earlier and we can see that what was the open Common has now been divided into a number of fields, much as they remain today.

St Peter’s Church on the map is the Chapel of Ease built in 1835. The present church was not built until 1887. The Plantation triangle is marked as a Recreation Ground, which indeed it was, created as part of the Inclosure. The present Reading Room Rec was not established until 1884. The present Cricketer’s pub was the Land of Promise and what looks like it might have been another pub, the Heart in Hand, was in fact the name of a farm, now the site of Curdridge Grange. A pond, which still exists, is marked beside the road.

Kitnocks house is at last labelled as such on this map whereas previously it had been called Curbridge House. Curdridge House is correctly located on the Bishops Waltham road, East of the Church. Fairthorn House – that is, Manor – is just off the map above but had now been built (in 1854). The estate entrance Lodge is marked. The original Fairthorn, a farm, is now named Fairthorn Grange, as it is still.

Interestingly, the Memorial Stone which is now at the Station is located on this map at what is now King’s Corner/Pinkmead Farm (labelled Botleyhill Farm on this map), whereas it was by the Station on the earlier ‘Old Series’ map. Was it moved and then moved back again for some reason ?

Unfortunately the map I have does not extend to Curbridge.

Kevan Bundell