t the turn of the first millennium, we are still unable to identify individual Limmers but we know they are here, not just in England but particularly in Hampshire44. At the same time as Saxon Chief Woke is established his clan in Wokingham45 and Wokefield, Peter, another Saxon chief, established his clan in Petersfield, Limen (also a Saxon chief), is felling Limpsfield46 for his people - at such a time as this, Limmer, is found clearing woodland near Long Sutton known as Limmerfeald47 . This landmark remained on the manorial map for at least five hundred years and probably longer. In March 1568, the tenth year of Queen Elizabeth I reign, Custody of ' Limmerfealds', which had been assigned to ‘ Limmer and heirs forever subject to the manorial custom’, came to an end. The land consisted of nine acres of land, an orchard and an enclosure between long Sutton and Crondal, was given to John Craystone at a manorial hearing.48 This land had been in the possession of Limmers from the beginning of the manorial system.
This is not the only piece of land occupied by Limmers around Long Sutton. We shall return to Long Sutton when we get to meet and name some of them in the next chapter. But at this point, we can see quite a network of Limmers living in this region. There is no mention of long Sutton church in the doomsday book but there is clear archaeological evidence that a wooden church stood on the present site49, probably being built at the same time that Limmers were felling the trees for the new ' Limmerfealds' round house estate around 950 to 990 AD. Interestingly, we also find a possible introduction of the Limmer family to the See of Winchester at this point. When King Alfred died, he left the kings estates of Long Sutton to his nephew. King Ethelred then granted Long Sutton to Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester. With the church in the back garden of Limmersfeald, it is hard to think there is no connection. One thing we may be grateful for, Limmers did not cut down three magnificent yew trees which, estimated to be between 1800 and 2600 years old, still stand today.
Meanwhile, we move on to our next chronological landmark.- Great Limmer Farm at Booker. The term ‘ Great’ refers to the importance of the farm not its size – although it was one of the larger farms of its day. Once again, we find it owned by the Bishop of Winchester with the rights of possession given to the Limmer family (and heirs forever). The greatness of the farm depended on it being the centre from which the taxes and fines of the neighbouring farms were collected. As these taxes were often in kind, the farm became the grain store and livestock compound of the area. The commoners of Booker also contributed chickens and other such farm produce. This eventually ended up on the table of the friars, monks and other dignitaries under the See of the Bishop in Winchester.
Residents living in Limmer Lane, Booker, before 1950 AD can remember the farm as a working farm. The elderly owner and his unmarried daughter sold the farm for housing and retired to the coast. Great Limmer farm rapidly became a large housing estate through which Limmer Lane runs toward the woodland marking the original track.
Our next landmark, Limmerhill in Basingstoke is less than twelve miles away.51 Limmer Close is less than one mile from Limmerhill.
Limmer Close marks the place of a seven-acre field once belonging to Limmers52. Woose hill, the settlement of another Saxon people, borders Limmer hill on the east side. There is an early windmill marked on the hill but it is close to the border and is unclear if it belonged to Woose or Limmer.
One stronghold for Lymmer was near Newbury. The estates mapped as Lymmer, and the district Lymmer was well established in 1403 AD53 The Limmer family lived in a large dwelling house known a Lymmer's Manor and may have been there before 1265 AD.54 When the Fauconer family took over Kingsclere Manor, it was a recognised area. In 1670, one Thomas Lane, a yeoman of Lymmer, sold his estate for £340.0055. Sometime after this, the name was lost, but the estate was probably at the north end of Kingsclere parish, by the River Enborne.56
The next landmark to which our attention is drawn is Limmer Copse and Limmer Pond. Limmer pond, on the Borders of Wiltshire and Hampshire, originally found itself in Hampshire and under the ' Bishopric of Winchester'. The long-standing boundary dispute between Wiltshire and Hampshire was finally settled around 1500 AD.
Today, you can still take a pleasant stroll from Chute57, through Limmer Copse, to see Limmer Pond. Originally attributed to Saxon builders who needed water on higher ground it is still, in the main, as it was built. Referred to as dewponds or meres, these ponds are often found on or near commons or woodlands with common access.58
A second pond, dug on the falling side of the pond is landscaped to collect the overflow from the original pond, came later when Limmer Copse was overhauled.
Therein lays another Limmer story. Chute is the village bordering this land. Chute has Roman connections and the causeway runs to north of the village. Enclosing Chute at the time of our ditty, was a forest. Chute’s name comes from a word meaning ‘wood’. The whole area around Chute was a vast royal hunting chase.
In 1066, Winchester bishopric held the land of Chute as part of its estate. By the end of the 12th Century, the Bishop of Winchester was active in the clearing forestland for cultivation. The population at nearby villages Burghclere, and Highclere increased considerably59. With the income from increased rents and tithes, the Bishop turned the whole area into an ecclesiastical park. As far as I can ascertain, Limmer copse and Limmer pond were so named during this period of renovation. Travellers travelling the well-worn road from Cirencester to Winchester used a pond marked as being in this vicinity from some time before. Diggers may have put it there in Roman times. Modifications to the pond appear to be carried out during the period of the Bishop William’s improvements. The second pond was landscaped on the southern side so designed for the overflow from the first pond to waterfall into the second to cater for the increased volume of water needed for the development. From this time on its name has been Limmer pond.
Using the hug-a-tree method60 of dating, it would appear that this copse was also renewed or replanted during this period. The replanting would have been necessary in order to have a clear hunting chase from the Bishop’s park to the common while skirting around Upper Chute.
