Of interest…

(1) Queen Edith, the wife of Edward the Confessor, was overlord of Shoddesden. The initial title holder was Aghmund (or Agemund) of Wellow, a Saxon thegn who held nine titles all in Hampshire, before the Normans changed the course of English history. (2) By 1482 it was held by Thomas and Elizabeth Waite, referred to at the time as ‘that wanton wench’, Elizabeth Waite was rumoured to be the mistress of Edward IV. It is also believed that the Lady of Shoddesden was the mother of Arthur Plantagenet; Edward’s illegitimate son. (3) It is Arthur’s large collection of correspondence in the Lisle Letters that makes his life one of the best-documented of his era. (4) By 1561 the limelight had to shifted to Richard Kingsmill a colourful character who was very active in parliament and made Knight of Hampshire.