East Meon may have started life somewhere between 400 and 600 AD. Then it was part of a Royal Manor belonging first to King Alfred the Great. The Domesday Survey of 1086 shows that the Manor then belonged to William the Conqueror; it records six mills and land for 64 ploughs - it must have had a substantial population.
The lovely church was built after the Norman Conquest, and dates between 1075 and 1150, resembling Winchester Cathedral in style - and like the Cathedral, it contains a black marble baptismal font created at Tournai in what is now Belgium in the XIth Century.
Near the church is the Court House with a mediaeval hall dating from the late 14th century. In the 14th Century, and for many centuries, East Meon belonged to successive Bishops of Winchester. The Court House was its administrative centre and home to a number of monks who played host to the Bishop when he visited East Meon; they also recorded all memorial imports and exports. There are several fine buildings dating from this time, including the cottage at Forge Sound and the Tudor House.
East Meon played its part in the English Civil War in the 1640's; the Roundheads camped near the village before the Battle of Cheriton in 1644 (and stole the lead lining from the font to make bullets), this turned out to be the turning point in the War. During the Second World War, Hitler's Luftwaffe dropped 38 high explosive bombs and an estimated 3,500 incendiary bombs in the Parish - the only casualty was a pig! Freddie Standfiled was a resident of East Meon. A History of East Meon is published by Phillimore Classics.
