Petersfield Info

Early Petersfield

The town of Petersfield was founded in the early 12th century (we don't know the exact year). Originally it was called St Peter's feld. The Saxon word feld meant an area of open land without trees. From the early 12th century a church stood on the feld. It was dedicated to St Peter so the area was called St Peter's feld.

The town was founded by the Earl of Gloucester who owned the land in the area. He began a market by the church and divided the surrounding land into plots for building houses. Once the market was up and running merchants and craftsmen went to live in the new town and it grew.

The following earl granted the people of Petersfield a charter (a document giving them certain rights). The people of Petersfield were given the same rights as the citizens of Winchester.

In the Middle Ages Petersfield flourished. However to us it would seem tiny. It probably had a population of no more than 700. Yet towns were very small in those days. Petersfield was a busy little market town. As well as markets it had 2 annual fairs held in June and November. In the Middle Ages fairs were like markets but they were held only once a year and they attracted buyers and sellers from a wide area.

Around Petersfield people herded sheep. The wool was sent to the town were it was cleaned and thickened by pounding it in a mixture of clay and water. That was called fulling. The wool was fulled by wooden hammers worked by watermills.

In Medieval Petersfield there was also a leather tanning industry. Tree bark was soaked in water to produce tannin for tanning leather. As well there were the same craftsmen found in any town such as bakers, butchers, carpenters, brewers and shoemakers.

The street called the Spain was originally called Le Green. However in Tudor times 'spayne' was the word for a tile. Most houses only had thatched roofs. Perhaps the Spayne got its name because most of the houses there had tiled roofs.

During the 16th and 17th centuries the population of Petersfield continued to grow. By 1600 Petersfield probably had a population of around 1,000. This was despite outbreaks of plague. In those days all towns suffered from periodic outbreaks of plague, which killed many people. Petersfield was struck in 1568 and again 1666. There were also outbreaks of smallpox in 1674 and 1687.

Nevertheless the little town continued to prosper and each time there was an epidemic each time the population recovered. Many of the people in the surrounding villages lived by weaving wool which was taken by packhorse to Petersfield to be woven into cloth.

Petersfield was also on the main road from London to Portsmouth and it was an important stop for stagecoaches. By the end of the 17th century there were 9 coaching inns in Petersfield. Both Charles II and Samuel Pepys stayed in Petersfield while travelling. Samuel Pepys said he was very merry at Petersfield and played at bowls there.

However during the late 17th century the wool trade in Petersfield declined. By the early 18th century Petersfield had dwindled to being a rather small market town. In 1726 Daniel Defoe wrote that Petersfield was 'eminent for little but being full of good inns'.

Meanwhile in 1722 a man named Richard Churcher left money in his will to provide a school where boys could be taught things like navigation so they could become employees of the East India Company. However in 1744 it changed into an ordinary school. The school was originally sited in College Lane but in 1876 it moved to Ramshill.

East of the town was a common where the people had the right to graze their livestock. However part of it was marshy and animals sometimes drowned there. In 1735 some people from Petersfield dredged the marsh and built an earth rampart around it. So they created Petersfield Pond. Soon it became a recreational area. By 1775 a bowling green existed on the site of the tennis courts. The pond was also a popular place for fishing.

Modern Petersfield

In 1801 the population of Petersfield was about 2,100. It had lost some of its former importance. A writer said Petersfield was 'formerly a place of much greater consequence'. Still it was a busy coaching town and by 1830 37 stagecoaches passed through Petersfield every day.

In 1812 a statue of William III was placed in Petersfield Square. Before then the statue stood in Petersfield House, which was demolished in 1793.

For centuries there were two fairs in Petersfield but in 1820 another fair started on the heath by the pond. It was called the Taro fair and it was held in October. It was supposed to have got its name from Welsh drovers shouting Tarw (pronounced taro) as they drove their cattle along the raods. Cattle were sold at the fair but soon there were various sideshows. Eventually the sideshows were more important that the cattle. The last livestock were sold at the fair in the 1950s.

In 1859 the railway connected Petersfield to London and Portsmouth. In 1864 another railway opened to Midhurst.

In the early 19th century the population of Petersfield grew only slowly but at the end of the century it began to grow rapidly. Houses were built in Chapel Street, Station Street and Lavant Street. Yet by 1900 the population of Petersfield was still below 4,000.

In 1836 a workhouse opened in Petersfield in Love Lane. Life inside was made as unpleasant as possible to discourage people from looking to the state for help. A cemetery opened in Petersfield in 1852. The same year Petersfield gained gas street lights. In 1858 a police station opened. In 1866 a corn exchange was opened where grain was bought and sold and in 1871 a cottage hospital opened.

However Petersfield did not have sewers and drains until 1884. In 1894 Petersfield gained an urban district council.

In the 20th century Petersfield continued to change. In 1901 the first festival of music was held. Then in 1902 the two centuries old fairs ceased although the Taro fair continued. In 1911 Petersfield council bought the pond and heath for public use.

In 1936 Petersfield gained a new Town Hall. The town was growing rapidly and a writer said that new houses were 'springing up like mushrooms in the outer area of the town'. By 1939 the population of Petersfield had risen to 5,000. Meanwhile in the mid-1930s the mud on the sides of the pond was removed. An island was created in the middle of the pond.

In 1946 High Meadow was donated to the town. Also in 1946 the Petersfield Society was formed.

After 1945 Petersfield continued to grow rapidly. By 1970 the population of Petersfield had risen to 8,000 and by 1990 the population of the town was about 12,000. Meanwhile in the 1960s the town centre was developed and many historic buildings were destroyed and replaced.

In 1963 a cattle market, which was held in the square since the 17th century closed. However in 1976 Queen Elizabeth Country Park opened. A new library opened in 1981 and a new leisure centre also opened that year. Petersfield Bear Museum opened in 1984. In 1986 the square was refurbished and in 1987 the pond was dredged. Then in 1989 the Physic Garden opened. In 1992 Petersfield was twinned with the French town of Barentin. Also in 1992 Petersfield by-pass opened. The Taro centre also opened that year. In 1993 the Community Hospital opened. Also in 1993 a shopping mall called Rams Walk opened. In 1999 a museum opened in 1999.

Today Petersfield is a flourishing town with a population of about 13,000.