Growth of the Crossroads Hamlet

c. 1820-1860

Following the establishment of the Heroes of Waterloo pub, a small hamlet grew at the crossroads on London Road. A few cottages, a smithy, a general store and a beer house joined the pub, serving travellers on the road between Portsmouth and Petersfield. The hamlet remained tiny throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, with no more than a handful of buildings. The population was measured in tens rather than hundreds. A milestone on London Road marked the distance to London. The hamlet's growth was slow because there was no railway, no industry and no particular reason for people to settle here rather than in the larger villages nearby.