Bed and breakfast availability
Alton b&b, guesthouse and hotel accommodation

Visit Alton and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:

Alton, Hampshire. In summer the fields hereabouts are green with trailing hops to supply Alton's breweries. But the town used also to be famous for the manufacture and sale of such clothes as bombasine and barragon, names you hardly hear nowadays. Long before that Alton, which stood on the Pilgrim's Way, sent two members to Parliament under Edward I.

It is a pleasant old market town, with some attractive Georgian building at the centre. Parts of the red-brick grammar school date back to the 17^th century, and the Curtis Museum is also interesting. Named after the famous l8^th-century botanist William Curtis, the museum has a good collection of pottery, porcelain, archaeological finds and some interesting old farming tools.

The Church of St Laurence is mainly Perpendicular and has two naves and two chancels. The old central Norman tower remains, complete with arches, the capitals lively with crude 11^th-century carvings of dragons, birds and the like. On the north face of one pillar are three interesting wall paintings of saints dating from the 15^th century.

Other parts of the church show bullet marks, for in 1643 Captain Boles, together with 80 Royalists, held out here until finally overwhelmed by Parliamentarians. There is a brass to the captain in the church and another monument to him in Winchester Cathedral.

Nearby cities: Winchester

Nearby towns: Basingstoke, New Alresford

Nearby villags: Abbotstone, Bramdean, Cheriton, Four Marks, Ichen Stoke, Northington

Have you decided to visit Alton or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:

• a Alton bed and breakfast (a Alton B&B or Alton b and b)
• a Alton guesthouse
• a Alton hotel (or motel)
• a Alton self-catering establishment, or
• other Alton accommodation