Ashmansworth

Ashmansworth is a village and civil parish in the Basingstoke and Deane district of the English county of Hampshire.

The ridge overlooks Highclere Castle and Newbury, with views over large areas of Berkshire and North Hampshire.

With heights between 235 and 240 metres above sea-level, Ashmansworth is the highest village in Hampshire and a spot height of 242 metres (794 ft) is at the top of the ridge on the north east side of the village makes it one of the highest points in Hampshire.

St James' Church, Ashmansworth, is believed to have been built around the middle of the 12th century, to which date the nave belongs.

[9] In 934, King Æthelstan (referring to the hamlet as ‘Aescmaeres’) directed that some of the land was to be put under the management of the bishop.

A Black's Guide, published in 1871, described the village as being “among the least trodden districts and most secluded angles of the country, noteworthy only for its early English church”.

[8] In 1901 a spokesman for the Archaeological Society described Ashmansworth as “a long scattered village, neglected and deserted in its aspect, with a rapidly decreasing population”.

[8] Over the course of the 20th century the character of Ashmansworth changed rapidly, largely as a result of the intensive farming practices adopted after the Second World War.

The Plough (former public house), photographed in 2005