In this section of the website we are trying to gain insight into how and why Baughurst has developed into the thriving community that it now is.
This section contains pointers to various pieces of historical information relevant(ish) to Baughurst which you can view on the subsidiary pages.
My Father Before Me by Norman Goodland. This is probably the only novel that has been written based in and around Baughurst and tells the story of Norman’s step-father who was a local thatcher.
Martin Slatford edited the Wolverton Echo newsletter for a number of years from 1971 to 1987. We have uploaded copies of the newsletter to this site to give you some idea on what was of interest over 40-50 years ago!
In 2013 Stan Terrett (a long serving councillor of Baughurst Parish Council) published his book “Baughurst..a history” which provided some fascinating insights into Baughurst and the people who lived here up until around the1940s.
We wanted to pay tribute to this fine work and the earlier “Memories of Baughurst” – a collection of reminiscences – by extracting stories about places and people of Baughurst for you to enjoy.
We hope that you can relate to the places and scenes in these stories, and can share them particularly with our younger readers to provide an insight on where they live and why things are as they are. By visiting the past, we hope to learn lessons for the future – recognising that some parts of our history may seem inappropriate using current thinking, but we should suspend judgement to learn more.
Up to the twelfth century, the Old English spelling of the name Baughurst ranged from Bogust and Bagganhyrst to Bagehurst (in 1451) and then to Baggehurste and then Baggehirste. This was because very few people could write, and when they did, they spelt the name how it sounded. The new spelling of Baughurst arose because in the early 1800s more people were able to read and write and therefore for clarification it was necessary to standardise. Letters from the Duke of Wellington at the time of rioting in 1830 used the modern spelling, as did the new Rector, John Johnstone, in 1842 in his first entry in the parish register.
There is also some dispute regarding the origin of the name. There is little argument regarding the second half as “hurst” has always meant a wood, a wooded hill or land covered in brushwood or thickets. However, the first part could be derived from a Saxon called Baggan, the word “back” (behind the wood), “bog” (as there were many wet areas in the village) or a corruption of “bagger” (an animal which still abounds in the district). Whichever is the correct derivation, “Badgers’ Wood” has caught the imagination of the villagers and has been adopted as the true meaning and as the village symbol.
There are many more insights to come as we delve over time into Baughurst..a history.
2 responses to “Baughurst – A History”
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I’ve been researching my family tree (Boggust) for a few years now and have assumed the family name comes from Baughurst, which is supported by your webpage suggesting that ‘Bogust’ was one of the variations used in the past. I can track the Boggust name back to the Clanfield area in early 1600s but have not made the link back to the Baughurst area yet. Are you aware if there are any Baughurst parish records available from the 1500/1600s that may help me fill in the gaps?
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Hi, this is a response from our local historian Stan Terrett. We hope it helps.
I wrote a history of Baughurst many years ago, and now that I’m aged well into the nineties, I have forgotten exactly where much of the information came from. The very early history came from the Hampshire and Berkshire Record Offices or the National Archives at Kew. Therefore, all I can assist at the moment, is copy some small parts of my book. I trust this is helpful :-
Some of the earliest information on surnames comes from the Lay Subsidy Rolls, those of 1586 include William Deane, George Weethers (Withers), Thomas Harmesworth, William & Richard Dycker (Dicker), Ingram Baghurst, Robert Green (Baughurst); Richard Hulpocke and William Deane (Inhurst & Ham).
Also, the Hearth Tax Return of 1665 includes for Baughurst: Richard and Robert Dicker, Richard Baghurst, Richard, James, John and Robert Green, Richard Potter, Widow Mersh (Marsh), Edward Harmsworth, Joan Spencer, John Payse (Paice), Thomas Deane, James May and Thomas Kent.
Many of these names have disappeared from recent local history, for example:-
Baghurst Robert and John de Bagehurst (old spellings of the village name) were noted in 1300 and in 1542, John Bagehurst was buried in Kingsclere. Ingram owned 30 acres of arable, 3 a. of wood and 1 a. of meadowland in Baughurst in 1575; William, Husbandman, died in 1648; Richard farmed Violet Farm and the Potter Estate (of Quaker fame) on a 10 year lease in 1695, he died in 1713; his son Richard was a Tithingman in 1701 and, despite being a tenant of his, he ordered the restraint of goods of James Potter, he died in 1711. In 1719 James Taylor married Elanor Baghurst; Thomas was a yeoman of Inhurst who died in 1710, another Thomas was the local Blacksmith and occupied Curtis Farm and the Smithy just south of Chapel Lane in 1770 and John Baughurst paid tithes and Poor Relief on his property in 1817.
There is a testimonial to Margaret Baghurst, wife of James a Bricklayer, who was a midwife in Basingstoke and adjacent places, it was signed by Churchwardens, Surgeons and Jane Baughurst [Hampshire Record Office ref. 21M65]. The Basingstoke Directory of 1784/92, states that John Baughurst was a Barber and Charles was a Peruke (wig) Maker; Charles Boggust, born in Baughurst, died in Basingstoke in 1828.
There were still members of the family in Kingsclere and Ashford Hill up to 1914 at least.
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This really is so helpful especially for those in the Woodlands estate.
Hello Colin, I haven’t seen the reply from Stan Terret to myself dated 31/12/25. I have looked several times although…
Hello Colin, I haven’t seen the reply from Stan Terret to myself dated 31/12/25. I have looked several times although…
Hi Ray, Please see the February 2026 issue of Parish News at https://parishnews.uk/. Page 17. Colin
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