Editing Selborne

{{about|the English village|the suburb in East London, South Africa|Selborne College}}
{{Short description|Village and parish in Hampshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country =                  England
|static_image_name=         Gilbert White's House rear view (1).jpg
|static_image_caption=      Gilbert White's house, ''The Wakes''
|coordinates = {{coord|51.097|-0.942|display=inline,title}}
|official_name=             Selborne
| population = 1,288
| population_ref = (2011 Census including Oakhanger)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11128305&c=Selborne&d=16&e=62&g=6429174&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1481299454468&enc=1|title=Civil Parish population 2011|access-date=9 December 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics |work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref>
 |civil_parish=             Selborne
|shire_district=            [[East Hampshire]]
|shire_county=              [[Hampshire]]
|metropolitan_borough=
|metropolitan_county = 
|region=                    South East England
|constituency_westminster=  [[East Hampshire (UK Parliament constituency)|East Hampshire]]
|post_town=                 [[Alton, Hampshire|Alton]]
|postcode_district =        GU34
|postcode_area=             GU
|dial_code=
|os_grid_reference=         SU741336
}}

'''Selborne''' is a village in [[Hampshire]], England, {{convert|3.9|mi|km}} south of [[Alton, Hampshire|Alton]], and just within the northern boundary of the [[South Downs National Park]].<ref>[http://www.easthampshire.org/2011/04/petersfield-throws-party-launch-the-south-downs-national-park/ East Hampshire web site]</ref> The village receives visitors because of its links with the [[naturalist]] Revd. [[Gilbert White]], a pioneer of [[birdwatching]].<ref name="naturalhistoryofselborne">{{cite web|url=http://naturalhistoryofselborne.com/ |title=The Natural History of Selborne |publisher=naturalhistoryofselborne.com|access-date=12 April 2015}}</ref>

==The village==
[[File:St Marys Church, Selborne (geograph 5690397).jpg|thumb|left|St Mary's Church, Selborne]]

[[St Mary's Church, Selborne|St Mary the Virgin]] is a Grade I listed church<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-143031-church-of-st-mary-selborne-hampshire British listed buildings] retrieved 17 July 2013.</ref> that dates back to the late 12th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astoft.co.uk/selbornechurch.htm|title=Selborne, Hampshire - St Mary's Church|work=Astoft|year=2001–2004|access-date=30 March 2010}}</ref> There is a primary school, and one [[public house]] the "Selborne Arms".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/towns/selborne/hampshire/|work=Pubs Galore|title=Pubs in Selborne|access-date=30 March 2010}}</ref> A bus service that runs through the village links it to [[Alton, Hampshire|Alton]] and [[Petersfield]].

At the back of the village, behind the Selborne Arms and Gilbert White's Field Studies Centre, there is the ''Zig-Zag Path'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/777046|title=The Zig Zag path up Selborne Hanger|date=25 April 2008|author=Hugh Craddock|access-date=30 March 2010}}</ref> which was cut into the hillside in the 1760s by Gilbert White and his brother John, to provide easier access to the Hanger and [[Selborne Common]] on the summit of [[Selborne Hill]].

A complete history of Selborne, from its geology through its establishment as a settlement in the [[Early Middle Ages|Dark Ages]] to the present day, including a study of local architecture, was locally published in March 2009: ''Knights, Priests & Peasants'' was written by Dr. Edward Yates, a retired academic polymath and long-time resident of the village. Its 400 pages include oral histories from the turn of the 19th/20th centuries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.altonbooks.co.uk/index.cfm?dsp=local|title=Local Books|work=Alton Books: The Little Green Dragon Bookshop|year=2003–2010|access-date=30 March 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090507071428/http://www.altonbooks.co.uk/index.cfm?dsp=local|archive-date=7 May 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Gilbert White==

[[File:Gilbert White's house, back view.JPG|left|thumb|Gilbert White's house, ''The Wakes'', now a museum, viewed from the back gardens in 2010]]

Selborne is famous for its association with the 18th-century [[natural history|naturalist]] [[Gilbert White]] (1720–1793), who lived at ''The Wakes'' and wrote ''[[The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://selborne.parish.hants.gov.uk/|title=Selborne Parish Council|date=19 December 2008|work=[[Hampshire County Council]]|access-date=30 March 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926205304/http://selborne.parish.hants.gov.uk/|archive-date=26 September 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Tourism helps to support the local [[pub]], shops and cafes, which the resident population alone would make unviable. Many people combine their visit with one to [[Jane Austen]]’s house in nearby [[Chawton]].

First published in 1789 by [[Benjamin White (publisher)|Benjamin White]] (Gilbert's brother), the book has not been out of print in over 200 years.<ref>Paul F. S. Cornelius, ‘White, Benjamin (c. 1725 – 1794)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/57016, accessed 12 Jan 2013]</ref> White is recognised as being the first ecologist or [[environmentalist]]. Most of his observations on [[wildlife]] remain pertinent, although he did have some strange theories. Most notorious is his belief that not all swallows, martins and swifts migrate, but that some might hibernate instead, although he mocked the peculiar Swedish notion that swallows spent the winter beneath the surface of the local ponds. White was writing before seasonal migration was fully understood. However, White was the first person to discover that swifts mate on the wing.

''The Wakes'' was subsequently home to [[Thomas Bell (zoologist)|Thomas Bell]], FRS, who moved there after retirement circa 1862, studied White's work, and edited a new edition of "The Natural History of Selborne".<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|id=2029|title=Bell, Thomas}}</ref>

The 1957 [[British Transport Films]] documentary ''[[Journey into Spring]]'', directed by [[Ralph Keene]], is a tribute to White and portrays the arrival of spring in Selborne.

===Museum and Field Studies Centre===

''The Wakes'' has been converted into a museum, known as Gilbert White's house. This museum also contains the Oates Museum and family archive. This comprises an exhibition relating to the life of Captain [[Lawrence Oates]], who died on [[Robert Falcon Scott]]'s ill-fated expedition to [[Antarctica]] in the early 20th century, and [[Frank Oates]], his uncle. Frank Oates was an explorer and naturalist, who mounted expeditions in the late 19th century into [[Central America]] and [[Africa]].

In 2002 the Gilbert White Field Studies Centre moved into new premises, a restored and extended 16th-century Hampshire barn, which had been moved from [[Weston Patrick]] near Basingstoke and re-erected in the parkland of Gilbert White's home. This was achieved with financial support from the [[Heritage Lottery Fund]] and Hampshire County Council. It was officially opened by [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince Charles]] on 10 July 2002.

Selborne is still a good base for birdwatching, although White observed some species in the area which are no longer to be found. An example of a bird which disappeared is the [[great bustard]], which became extinct in Britain in the 19th century but is now the subject of a reintroduction project.

''The Wakes'' was substantially refurbished and updated in 2003–04. The costs of £1.3m were covered by a combination of personal, institutional and charity grants amounting to 50% of the total, matched by a grant from the [[National Lottery (United Kingdom)|National Lottery]] Heritage Fund. It is open throughout the year, attracting an annual average of 30,000 visitors. The Museum and Field Study Centre is a [[Charitable organization|registered charity]].<ref>{{EW charity|1159058|GILBERT WHITE & THE OATES COLLECTIONS}}</ref>

==Notable former and current residents==
*[[Gilbert White]]
*[[Thomas Bell (zoologist)]]
*[[Marika Hackman]] Musician, grew up in Selborne
*[[Damian Hinds]]  [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP for East Hampshire and former [[Secretary of State for Education]]

==Local business==
Selborne Pottery, established in 1985, manufactures and sells a range of hand thrown and decorated stoneware pottery using [[Ceramic colorants|rich copper red and cobalt blue glazes]]. Each piece of pottery is hand thrown and turned on a wheel; no industrial techniques or moulds are used in the making process. The pottery has a shop in the village.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.selbornepottery.co.uk/|title=Selborne Pottery - Home|access-date=1 September 2011}}</ref>

Selborne Biological Services, formed in 1974 on a {{convert|100|acre|km2|adj=on}} farm in Selborne, makes animal-derived products for the biotech, pharmaceutical, veterinary, and diagnostics industries. They moved their main production facilities to [[Tasmania]] in 1992 following the [[Bovine spongiform encephalopathy|BSE]] outbreak in the UK in the late 1980s, but maintain a European sales, marketing and distribution centre in Selborne.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.selbornebiological.com/about/about.htm|title=About Selborne Biological Services|year=2006|work=Selborne Biological Services|access-date=30 March 2010}}</ref>

=== Former businesses ===
Tower Brick & Tile Company Limited produced handmade Selborne bricks and roof tiles at their site near Selborne from 1872 until the company went into administration in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Tower Brick and Tile |url=https://www.towerbrickandtile.co.uk/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721071229/https://www.towerbrickandtile.co.uk/ |archive-date=21 July 2009 |website=towerbrickandtile.co.uk |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

Selborne Gallery<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tom Yendell |url=https://www.mfpa.co.uk/the-artists/artist/tom-yendell/ |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=The Mouth and Foot Painting Artists |language=en}}</ref> was the only art gallery in Britain devoted entirely to the work of [[mouth and foot painting]] artists. Formed in 1992, it was visited by [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince Charles]] on its tenth anniversary in 2002.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} The displayed work included painting, printmaking, drawing, textiles, ceramics, glass and jewellery.

==Transport==
The village is on the B3006; and is served by the 38 and 37X bus routes.<ref>[http://www.larnerp.f2s.com/greatham/docs/12-bus-route-72.pdf Bus Time Table] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725114953/http://www.larnerp.f2s.com/greatham/docs/12-bus-route-72.pdf |date=25 July 2011 }}</ref> The nearest railway station is [[Alton railway station|Alton]], {{convert|3.9|mi|km}} north of the village. [[Liss, Hampshire|Liss]] is a little further away to the east, with frequent trains on the [[Portsmouth]]-[[London Waterloo station|Waterloo]] line.

==See also==
*[[Plestor House, Selborne|Plestor House]]
*[[Selborne Common]]
*[[Selborne Priory]]
*[[Earl of Selborne]]
*[[The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne]]
*[[Woolmer Forest]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Selborne}}
*[http://www.gilbertwhiteshouse.org.uk/ Gilbert White's House and the Oates Museum]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040829051448/http://selborne.parish.hants.gov.uk/ Selborne Parish Council]
*[http://www.selborne.net/ Selborne Village Hall]
*[http://www.johnowensmith.co.uk/riot/ Selborne & Headley workhouse riots of 1830]
*[http://www.westgallerychurches.com/Hants/Selborne/Selborne.html St Mary's Church, Selborne, Hampshire]
*{{gutenberg author | id=625| name=Gilbert White}}

{{EastHampshire}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Hampshire]]
[[Category:Birdwatching sites in England]]