Owslebury, Hampshire

Description
Owslebury, a village and a parish in Hants. The village stands 4 miles from Shawford station on the L. & S.W.R., and 5 SSE of Winchester. It has a post office under Winchester ; money order and telegraph office, Winchester. The parish contains also the hamlets of Baybridge and Hurst Common. Acreage, 5413; population of the civil parish, 764; of the ecclesiastical, 521. There is a parish council consisting of six members. Longwood House belongs to the Earl of Northesk. Marwell Hall is a handsome residence, and contains some fine pictures. It is of historical note, as it was here that Henry VIII. married Lady Jane Seymour, and the tragedy of the " Old Oak Chest" or " The Mistletoe Bough " took place. A residence of the bishops of Winchester was anciently at Marwell Manor Farm, but is now represented by only plain doorways of the 14th and 15th centuries, and a moat. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Winchester; net value, £150 with residence. The church is Early Decorated English, and cruciform; has been restored; has a central tower; and was one of the last churches in Hants in which mass was celebrated. The vicarage of Golden Common is a separate benefice. There is a Methodist chapel at Baybridge.