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Lasham
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Map sources for Lasham at grid reference SU675424
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Lasham is a village in Hampshire, England. It is four miles to the north west of Alton, just off the Alton to Basingstoke road (A339). Lasham Airfield was once famous as a wartime airfield. It is now a well-known gliding centre. The centre of the village still retains much of its original character.
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Until recent times, the name was pronounced 'Lass-ham' but 'Lash-am' now predominates.
Many of the houses have been modernised and extended eg the Old Post Office and Pear Tree Cottage which used to be the home of the blacksmith. In the grounds of Pear Tree Cottage stands an 18th century building which held the forge and blacksmith's shop. The village pond is fed by local springs and is regularly cleaned out, now it is the home of waterfowl and there is a large stock of goldfish.
The village gave its name to a Ham class minesweeper, HMS Lasham.
The airfield was constructed in 1942 for use by RAF squadrons on active operations. A beech avenue that was planted by George Jervoise in 1809 was demolished to make way for it. To build the airfield, the road between Herriard and Lasham was closed and a new concrete road, which is now part of the A339, was built to the west by Italian labourers and Italian prisoners of war. The airfield is now a major centre for the sport of gliding, see also article on Lasham Airfield. The airfield is also used by ATC Lasham Ltd who service Boeing airliners. They are the major employer in the area.[1]
For around 200 years Lasham was part of the Herriard Park estate and until recent reorganisation, Herriard and Lasham were served by the same vicar, with the rectory being in Lasham. Today it comes under the benefice of Shalden, Bentworth and Lasham. The church of St Mary was constructed in 1866 on the site of an old Saxon church.
Church Farm at Lasham was managed by Mrs Beatrice Jervoise during WWI and she was so very concerned over the shortage of water that she brought in a dowser. He was so successful that Major and Mrs Jervoise founded the Herriard and Lasham Water Company and reservoirs were constructed in Lasham Wood to hold the water. Water was then pumped from here to Lasham, Herriard, Shalden, Bentworth, Wield, Tunworth, Weston Corbett, Ellisfield, Medstead, Bradley and Preston Candover.