Enham Alamein

Enham Alamein is a village and civil parish about 2½ miles north of Andover in the north of Hampshire, England. It was named Enham until 1945 and previously Lower Kings Enham.

There are three population areas, in order from north to south, now named Upper Enham (formerly Upper King's Enham), Enham Alamein (formerly Lower Enham and earlier Lower King's Enham) and Knight's Enham. At the 2011 Census the population of the civil parish was 804.

Knight's Enham is now part of the north edge of suburban spread of Andover, about a kilometre south along the A343 road from the current site of Enham Alamein. This is a hamlet of 3 or 4 houses and a church with a first recorded date of 1241.

The village of Enham was one of the original "Village Centres" chosen for the rehabilitation of injured and war-disabled soldiers returning from the front line of World War I. Originally funded by King George V in 1919, the Village Centre became a hub for the care of these soldiers where they were retrained in new trades such as basketry, upholstery, gardening services and other trades. This formed the basis of the charity which still exists today and owns the majority of Enham Alamein village, Enham Trust, providing care for civilians with disabilities.

The spelling Anglo-Saxon "Eanham" is recorded from the year 1008, pointing to ēan-hām = "lamb homestead" or ēan-hamm = "enclosure, for the raising of lambs".

There is a speculation that the "raising of lambs" refers to the rebirth of England under the one Christian God, as decreed in the Enham Codes written in the year 1008 at what later became Kings Enham (Upper and Lower), the royal estate of the 1008 lawcode and known as such in the later Middle Ages.

Of particular interest is the meeting of the Witan including Bishop Wulfstan and King Aethelred II at Upper (Kings) Enham on 16 May 1008. ). This law-making council of 40 nobles and around 360 retainers, put into draft a decree detailing the social ordering of England and to bring England as a whole under one Christian God, One King, and giving all men the right to law. These laws were aimed at bringing the populace together against the Viking raiders and are referred to as "the Enham Codes" According to Cambridge University, the meeting of the Witan was held at what later became Kings (Upper) Enham on the high ground along what is now MacCallum Road (previously Enham Lane) at Home Farm, (previously Kings Enham Farm).

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