. Articles etc. below will be amended
or deleted from time to time. Members may submit articles in Word format as attachments to emails. Please
address them to editorporsoc@yahoo.co.uk but allow some editorial corrections to be
made where obviously necessary. We can include photographs submitted on CDs for example. Also on this page
we may display non-society events which members wish to promote although we reserve editorial freedom over this aspect.
Tithe Apportionment Booklet
The Portchester
Society has been gifted a booklet relating to Portchester Parish Tithe Apportionment dated 22 September 1840. The Tithe Commutation
Act 1836 was especially noted for the tithe maps which were needed for the valuation process required by the Act. Tithes were
originally paid as one-tenth of the produce of the land (crops, eggs, cattle, timber, fishing etc.) to the rector, as alms
and as payment for his services. The tithes were often stored in a tithe barn attached to the parish. At the dissolution
of the monasteries some of the land passed out of church ownership, and the tithes were then paid to private landlords.
Inclosure Acts made further modifications, either abolishing tithe payments entirely or replacing them with monetary payments.
Various other arrangements also replaced payments in kind, but not systematically.
By
the time of the Tithe Commutation Act there was considerable discontent over payment of tithes, most notably in the Tithe
War of 1831-1836 in Ireland, in England a dispute over tithes in 1806 led to a double murder in Oddingley, Worcestershire.
A selection of pages from the booklet are replicated below. The booklet itself is held
by our Archivist, Derek Pearce, and can be viewed on request at meetings of the Society held on the first Tuesday of each
month at the Portchester Methodist Church.
The Portchester Society Away Day
On
3 July 2019 The Portchester Society visited the Map Room at Southwick House, HMS Dryad to commemorate the 75th anniversary
of D Day. It was a popular choice and very much enjoyed by all who attended.
JAMES LIND GRAVESTONE RETURNS TO ST MARY'S
After a 3 year period of restoration at Alver-Stones, the gravestone of Dr James Lind has returned to St
Mary's Church, and sensitively positioned in the southeast bastion of the church grounds.
James
Lind (1716-1794) was Physician in Chief at the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar and was buried at St Mary's, recorded by a
distinctive memorial within the church. It is thought that the stone was originally placed on the floor of the church,
above the underlying vault.
"The Life and Legacy of Doctor James Lind" by Professor
Ken Shaw is the next in the "Church" Series of booklets to be published in 2019.
WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL
An unveiling and
dedication service was held at St Mary's Church, Portchester on Thursday, 4 December 2018 to include those killed in World
War II.The unveiling was carried out by Sir Timothy Laurence, KCVO,CB, ADC, Chairman of English Heritage and Vice Chairman
of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Special mention and thanks was made to Richard Andrews for the construction of
the War Memorial and to Stephen Barnsley of Tealwoods for the brass engraving.
The Portchester Award
The Portchester
Award is presented to Graham Allibone by Keith Stockley, the previous winner. Graham was chosen by the Portchester Society
for the outstanding work he and his team have performed in re-opening the Portchester Moat.
A ceremony was held in Castle Street, Portchester to unveil
a plaque in honour of John Towse, a Portchester Society Committee Member for many years. He was one of the original divers
who rediscovered the "Mary Rose" in 1965.
