Monxton, Amport, Grateley

TOP BORDER:The arms of King's College Cambridge - The manor of Monxton was included in the property that Henry VI granted to the college; Bec 1094 AD - After the Conquest in 1066, the manor was granted to Hugh de Grandmesnil, a Norman baron, who then granted it to the Abbey of Bec-Hellouin in Normandy. The abbey held 'Anne de Bec', as it was then called, for the nest 300 years. In 1404 Henry IV gave it to his son John of Lancaster, constable of England, and when John died in 1435 it passed to Henry VI; 1920s: King's College continued to be the corporate lord of the manor of Monxton and to own much property in the village until 1921 when the properties were sold.

MIDDLE SECTION:At the top is the parish church of St Mary. Flying near the church are doves from the dovecot on the right, from the forecourt of Monxton Manor. The row of thatched cottages along the village street are probably 17th century. At the end is the Black Swan Inn. The old water pump stands above one of the old village wells in the front garden of Well Cottage. The house on the other side of the road, with the large window, is Hutchens Cottage. The wall with the mill wheel built into it is outside Monxton Mill. The bridge is at the other end of the village over the Pillhill Brook. A magpie sits on the bridge. Also in the centre section are Canada geese, kingfisher and local plants, leaves and flowers – lily, foxglove, lords and ladies, bullrushes and greater bladderwort.

LOWER BORDER:Duck; swan; water iris; frog, dragonfly; heron.

TOP BORDER:The badge of the RAF Chaplain's Department, based in Amport House; part of the coat of arms of the Sheppard/Routh family; the symbol of the Paulets who were prominent in the village for generations; motto of the almshouses 'for six poor widows AD 1815'; another part of the Sheppard Routh coat of arms.

MIDDLE SECTION:At the top of the panel is Amport House (now the RAF Chaplains' College), originally built by the 14th Marquis of Winchester in 1857, and with a garden designed by Gertrude Jeckyll. On the right of the house is the parish church of St Mary. In the centre typical Amport Cottages lead up to the village school; Amport School pupils dancing round the maypole on the green. By the red telephone kiosk opposite the school is the well-known figure of Mrs Mac and her dog. In the bottom right hand corner is the window of Grateley School, which could not be squeezed into the Grateley panel. This 'overlapping' is an example of happy co-operation between the designers and the embroiderers of the two panels. The flora and fauna around the green are typical of those seen in the village. Snowdrops cover the church grounds in the Spring.

LOWER BORDER:Violets; hazelnuts; ladybirds; primroses; holly and berries; grasses, hedgehog and roses – all to be seen in abundance along the lanes.

TOP BORDER:The legend along the top of the border 'Laws for all England 925' refers to the council (or witanagemot) which the Saxon King Athelstan, self styled 'King of the English' is reputed to have held here in 925, drawing up the first Code of Laws for all England. Quarley's three historic church bells are housed in a roofed, ground-floor frame alongside the church wall and are rung by hand from inside the church; motifs from some of the very old floor tiles, possibly from Clarendon Palace, now in the chancel of the church; the shield is from the coat of arms of the Maudit family, the first prominent land owners in Grateley in the 12th Century; the chain is the symbol of St Leonard, patron saint of prisoners.

MIDDLE SECTION:Top left is Quarley Hill, site of an Iron Age fort, which overlooks the village. Below Quarley Hill are commercial chicken houses representing several hatcheries in the village. A train stands at Grateley station. Above the station is a helicopter on exercise from Middle Wallop. Below the chicken house is St Leonard's Church. Below the station are post-war houses while the barn and grain silo are at Manor Farm. The imposing Plough Inn in the centre of the village is featured in the centre right with its fine specimen of a horse-chestnut tree; one of several planted to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Swallows perch on the wire above the village store and post office, on the right of which is Hope Cottage. Walking their dogs past the two cottages are Mrs Harman and Mrs Holland, familiar figures when the panel was being worked. Farmer Peter Clarke is seen in the bottom right-hand corner with one of his shire horses. Aylesbury ducks swim on the pond while yellow flag irises and lords and ladies grow on the bank and holly blue butterflies flutter above. In the bottom left-hand corner is the entrance and doorway of Grateley School, with part of the building in the Amport panel.