Wolverton (St. Catherine)

WOLVERTON (St. Catherine), a parish, in the union and hundred of Kingsclere, Kingsclere and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 1½ mile (E.) from Kingsclere; containing 208 inhabitants. It is situated on the road from Basingstoke to Kingsclere, and comprises by computation 1439 acres, of which 772 are arable, 276 pasture, 223 wood, and 88 common. The soil consists in general of clay resting on chalk, alternated with heavy loam, but in some parts is wet and sandy, and well adapted to the growth of timber. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 2. 8½., and in the patronage of the Duke of Wellington: the tithes have been commuted for £290, and the glebe contains 80 acres. The church is an ancient edifice cased with brick, with a tower built about 1717, and contains 170 sittings. A rent-charge of £16 was bequeathed by Sir John Browne, for the poor.