In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Botley like this:
BOTLEY, a village and a parish in South Stoneham district, Hants. The village stands on the river Hamble, ½ a mile S of the Salisbury and Gosport railway, and 4½ SW of Bishop's-Waltham; and has a station on the railway, a post office† under Southampton, and a recently erected market house. A considerable trade is done in flour and timber; a fortnightly market is held on Tuesday; and fairs are held on the Tuesday before Shrove Tuesday, the Tuesday before Whit-Monday, 23 July, the Tuesday before 24th Aug., and 13 Nov. ...
A mock trial at a public-house here, followed by the hanging of a man in jest, with the effect of hanging him to death, gave rise to the proverbial phrase of "Botley Assizes". An act was obtained in 1862 for constructing a railway, 3½ miles long, in connexion with the Southwestern, from Botley to Bishops-Waltham; the works to be completed within three years. The parish comprises 1,817 acres of land and 70 of water. Real property, £4,562. Pop., 860. Houses, 181. The property is subdivided. Botley Grange and Botley Hill are chief residences. A farm here was held by the political writer William Cobbett. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £310. Patron, Rev. J. M. Lee. The church was but in 1835, and enlarged in 1859. There is an Independent chapel.
Botley through time
A Vision of Britain through Time includes a large library of local statistics for administrative units. For the best overall sense of how the area containing Botley has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of Eastleigh. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering Botley and units named after it.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Botley, in Eastleigh and Hampshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/3239
Date accessed: 20th May 2013
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