History of Glebe Gardens

Glebe Gardens once formed the lawns and meadows of the original rectory for St Michaels Church, now known as Chute House.

In the early 1900s and through to the 1960s the main summer event of the year was the annual pageant, which was held in these gardens.

The Georgian rectory, Chute House was named after the Rev. Anthony Chute, vicar of St. Michael’s Church from 1938 to 1947. It stands in the north eastern corner of the gardens and dates from 1773 but has been altered and extended since.

In the 1960s it was decided to build a new rectory which now stands close to St Michael’s Church, just outside the gardens.

The Poet, Thomas Warton, (1728-1790), was born at the parsonage which preceded the original rectory. Warton was made Poet Laureate in 1785. He wrote a sonnet "To the River Loddon" recalling his early years.

In the past the River Loddon had a considerable flow in Basingstoke and its water was used in various industrial processes such as fulling cloth, milling and brewing. Records show that fullers were fined for polluting the river with their waste and in 1547 a vicar was ordered by a Basingstoke court to remove the privy he had erected over the common brook.

A Mulberry tree remains in the gardens near the car park entrance, planted in connection with the silk mill which used to be in Brook Street.

In the 16^th century, there was a bridge across the Loddon at the bottom of Wote Street and there was a causeway at the bottom of Church Street. A small footbridge in the garden grounds, which still remains, gave the vicar direct access to the church.

The River Loddon still runs through the gardens, although it is now only a very small stream. During the construction of the town centre in the 1960s, the river was diverted underground and now re-emerges in Eastrop Park.

The gardens and the original rectory were bought by the borough council in the early 1970s.