West Meon

West Meon is a small village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, with a population of 690.

It is situated near to Petersfield and East Meon, on the headwaters of the River Meon.

There are a number of walks around the village and surrounding hills along the South Downs Way.

The Parish of West Meon was possibly in the parcel of land on the Meon River which was mentioned in Anglo-Saxon documents. The Manor of West Meon was listed in the Domesday Book as owned by the Bishop of Winchester, as it had always belonged to the church. A charter of 1205 confirmed the grant of land to the Prior and Convent of St. Swithun, Winchester, in whose hands it remained until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1541 the manor was granted to the Dean and Chapter of Winchester by Henry VIII, and the maintenance of six theology students at each of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge was ordered. In 1544 the king changed this regulation, and the manor was granted to Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, in whose family the manor remained until 1677.

Other lands in West Meon Parish held by the Wriothesley family were the manors of Hall Park, Coombe and Woodlands. Another manor, called Punsholt, was first mentioned in 1341 when it was held by Walter de Ticheborne. Later the manor was combined with that of West Tisted and followed the same descent. Punsholt Farm in the North of the Parish indicates the site of the manor.

During the Civil War West Meon was the scene of several skirmishes prior to the Battle of Cheriton, which was fought on 29th March 1644.