Cromwell because he was an historical person. Certain it is that
when the well was cleared out about 30 or 40 years ago nothing was found
but two curious old candlesticks, and a great number of pins, which had
been thrown down because they caused those curious reverberations in the
great depth. Another legend is that Merdon Well is connected with the
beautiful clear spring at Otterbourne called Pole Hole or Pool Hole, so
that when a couple of ducks were thrown down the well, they came out at
Pole Hole with all their feathers scraped off.

It was in the time of the Commonwealth, in 1653, that our first parish
register begins. Some parishes have much older ones, so, perhaps, ours
may have been destroyed. The first entry in this old parchment book is
that Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Cox, of Otterbourne, and Anne, his
wife, was born ---. A large stain has made the rest of this entry
illegible. There are only three births in 1653, and seven in 1654, one
of these William, son of Mr. William Downe, of Otterbourne Farm, and
Joane, his wife, is, however, marked with two black lines beneath the
entry, as are his sisters, Elizabeth and Jane, 1656 and 1658, apparently
to do honour to the principal inhabitant.

It is to be observed that all the entries here are of births, not of
baptisms, departing from the general rule of Church registers, and they
are all in English; but in 1663 each child is recorded as baptized, and
the Latin language is used. This looks much as if a regular clergyman, a
scholar, too, had, after the Restoration, become curate of the parish. He
does not sign his registers, so we do not know his name. In 1653 the
banns of William Downe and Jane Newman were published September 17th and
the two Lord's Days ensuing, but their wedding is not entered, and the
first marriage recorded is that of Matthew Dummer and Jane Burt, in 1663.
The first funeral was Emelin, wife of Robert Purser, in 1653.

Also, there was plenty of brick-making, for King Charles II had planned
to build a grand palace at Winchester on the model of the great French
palace of Versailles, and it is said that Dell copse was formed by the
digging out of bricks for the purpose. It was to reach all over the
downs, with fountains and water playing in them, and a great tower on
Oliver's Battery, with a light to guide the ships in the Channel. There
is a story that Charles, who was a capital walker, sometimes walked over
from Southampton to loo