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Bentley (St. Mary)

BENTLEY (St. Mary), a parish and liberty, in the union of Alton, hundred of Basingstoke, Odiham and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 4 miles (W. S. W.) from Farnham; containing 766 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Wey, which, flowing through a valley in a beautifully meandering course, separates this parish from that of Binsted; the surface is finely varied, and the hills on the opposite side of the river are covered with the royal forest of Alice-Holt. The parish comprises 2125 acres of richly cultivated land, of which nearly 200 are planted with hops; there are also 117 acres of common or waste. The village is pleasantly situated on the north side of the road from London to Southampton. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £106; patron, the Archdeacon of Surrey. The church, an ancient structure in the Norman style, situated on an eminence behind the village, was enlarged in 1835. On the lands of Powderham farm are the remains of a Roman encampment, with a tessellated pavement in good preservation.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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