The Victoria County History of Hampshire
Hampshire Volume I was the very first VCH Red Book volume to be completed, and the only one to be published during the lifetime of Queen Victoria, published on 1st January 1900. The county set was completed in four further volumes published in 1903, 1905, 1911 and 1912.
Nearly a century after the county was completed in 2007, a group of interested organisations came together to seek to revise and update the VCH Hampshire volumes. These partners included Hampshire County Council, the Hampshire Archives Trust, the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society, and the University of Winchester. The new VCH Hampshire intends to update the original volumes and add topics including local government, public services, economy and society, migration, sport and recreation.
The eventual aim is to produce a pair of Red Books about Basingstoke and its surrounding area. Work towards these has produced four VCH Shorts including the very first, Mapledurwell, published in 2012. This was followed by Steventon (2016), Medieval Basingstoke (2018) and Cliddesden, Hatch and Farleigh Wallop (2018). A further VCH Short, Dummer and Kempshott, Two Chalkland Parishes was published in 2022.
Draft material for the 'New Series' of VCH Hampshire is now available. Read draft material for Volume I, Basingstoke and Environs and for Volume II, Old Basing, Steventon and Environs.
Part of Volume II and all of Volumes III, IV and V are available on British History Online. For full access to all volumes, check your local library catalogue or your local archive.
