Nether Wallop
Information of Interest

Full of history and thatched cottages, Nether Wallop has featured in books and TV programmes as one of the prettiest villages in England.

The name Wallop derives from the old English words 'waella' and 'hop' which mean 'valley of springing water' and is referred to in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Wallope', Nether Wallop is now part of three villages known as The Wallops.

The village was the site of the Battle of Guolph that took place in 440AD.

Dane Cottage, the home of Miss Marple

Dane Cottage in Five Bells Lane was used as the home of Miss Marple in the BBC TV adaptation of Agatha Christies murder mystery novels. The house and surrounding village were used as the setting and feature in many of the Miss Marple TV series.

Many Miss Marple fans visit the village each year.

Miss Marple played by Joan Hickson

The Nether Wallop International Arts Festival 1984

The first seeds of Comic Relief were planted here in this rather quirky Hampshire village.

The first Nether Wallop international Arts Festival was a star studded and riotous event, spontaneous yet orderly (relatively!) and Nether Wallop proved to be the perfect setting.

Stephen Pile (author of The Book of Heroic Failures) felt that the Edinburgh festival had had its time, so it was decided to do a festival in a village that was chosen purely for its quirky name and Nether Wallop fitted the bill!

Staged in someone's living room, a tithe barn, the village hall, a scouts hut and in a marquee on the playing fields, actors and comedians who are now household names, gathered for a weekend of fun .

Hosted by comedy talents including Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Billy Connolly and Rik Mayall and featuring opera singer Jessye Norman and dancers like Lynn Seymour and Wayne Sleep, TV host Bamber Gascoigne, actors Jenny Agutter and Maria Aitken, as well as musicians - Bill Wyman, John Otway, Jools Holland and Andrew Lloyd Webber, who all gave up their weekend for charity.

Despite cameras being present, it never appeared on live broadcast, but LWT made a documentary about it which you can view on YouTube here

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Local residents participated alongside the stars

Wacky Races 2017

And now for something completely bonkers!

In 2017, we sadly celebrated the last of Nether Wallop's Biannual Wacky Races. Eleven daring (or perhaps a bit crazy!) contestants raced their homemade carts against the clock on the quarter-mile downhill course along Five Bells Lane.

Spectators from The Wallops and surrounding villages gathered behind straw bales to enjoy the spectacle of this wild event. Remarkable contraptions were built, though sadly many struggled to make it around the final bend!

The races offered plenty of excitement and, so I've heard, a few broken bones as well!