Four Marks
| Four Marks | |
|---|---|
 Medstead & Four Marks Station |
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 Four Marks
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| Four Marks shown within Hampshire | |
| Population | 4,799 |
| OS grid reference | SU669351 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ALTON |
| Postcode district | GU34 |
| Dialling code | 01420 |
| Police | Hampshire |
| Fire | Hampshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Four Marks is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 4.4 miles (7.1 km) southwest of Alton, on the A31 road. It is situated on the borders of the South Downs National Park on the Pilgrims' Way that leads from Winchester to Canterbury.
Four Marks was originally settled by veterans of the Crimean War, who were allocated plots for their smallholdings, and was the site of a telegraph.
According to Bartholomew’s Gazetteer, the village of Four Marks is the only so named place in the United Kingdom.
The first mention of it appears in a document c.1550, albeit spelt differently. The heading of the page can be translated as ‘Perambulation of the Manor of Alresford’ and consists of a description of the boundaries. The reference to Four Marks translates roughly as “a certain vacant piece of land called Fowrem’kes near Bookmere and so called Fowrem’kes because iiii adjoining tithings abut there namely the tithings of Medsted Ropley Faryngdon & Chawton”. There were thus borders extending in four directions, called a quadripoint.
The area was well known as Four Marks and even had its own post office and facility for cancelling stamps. The first mention of the post office is a record in the proof books of the General Post Office of the issue of a rubber datestamp on 25 March 1897. (The post office closed in early 2007). Four Marks did not become a parish until 1932 when seven parishes were annexed to create it. It included parts of the above-mentioned parishes i.e. Medstead, Ropley, Farringdon and Chawton, Kitwood, East Tisted and Newton Valence.
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Wikipedia