Medlicott Way
Memories of Revd Walter Medlicott
Medlicott Way is named after the Reverend Walter Edward Medlicott who was Vicar of Swanmore from 1871 to 1907.
Walter Medlicott was one of Swanmore’s most influential vicars. During his tenure he launched the first Swanmore parish magazine, oversaw the building of the south aisle at St Barnabas church, as well as a new vestry and tower with eight bells. He introduced choir pews in the chancel and in 1880 accepted the the alabaster pulpit, designed by the architect Alfred Waterhouse, as a gift from the Myers family of Swanmore House..
In those days, the church was the main source of welfare support, and the vicar oversaw a “Clothing Club,” which helped to provide clothes and blankets to the needy and a “Coal Club”. The Reverend Medlicott was also treasurer of a “Penny Bank”, which was a savings scheme for Swanmore residents: every shilling saved was rewarded with a penny with the total being invested in government bonds.
The Reverend Medlicott accompanied the church choir on its annual summer outing, usually to Hillhead, and he held an annual Christmas party for up to 60 church workers. In 1896 the parish marked his silver jubilee (25 years) as vicar with the presentation of a pair of silver bowls, a silver loving cup and an illuminated address. At that time illuminated addresses were a popular way to thank prominent individuals for their contributions. Typically, they would be highly illustrated texts that were hand painted and ornate.
The Medlicotts were originally from Ireland. Walter’s father Reverend Joseph Medlicott (1798–1871) was born in Dublin and ordained in 1827 at Salisbury Cathedral. In 1837 he became Vicar of Potterne in Wiltshire and would remain there for the rest of his life. In 1838 Joseph married Dionysia Meliora Long, sister of the Wiltshire MP Walter Long, in Steeple Aston. The couple had two sons: Henry Edmonstone Medlicott (1840–1916), who became a lawyer and later an estate agent in London, and Walter Edward Medlicott (b. 23rd June 1841).
Walter was educated at Harrow and Christ Church Oxford, becoming a curate firstly in Stoke next Guildford and then at Buriton near Petersfield. He was ordained priest in 1867 and the following year he married Edith Louise Sumner, grand-daughter of a Bishop of Winchester and daughter of Buriton’s rector Robert Sumner. Three years later Walter, Edith and their two young children, Robert Sumner (1869–1941) and Margaret Edith (1870–1940), moved to Swanmore when Walter became vicar of St Barnabas. Initially they lived in the original parsonage (now Jervis Lodge) where their third child, Grace Katherine (1871–1951), was born soon after their arrival.
 Rev. Walter Medlicott |
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 The Vicarage c.1962 |
If you have any family memories of the Reverend Walter Medlicott, please send them to deo@swanmorepc.org.uk so that they may be included in future updates of this information page.
Walter Medlicott wanted to be closer to the church and the expanding village and in 1872 bought land in Peke Lane – now known as Vicarage Lane – from Richard Goodlad, the owner of Hill Place. The new Swanmore Vicarage was built within a year. It was a large Victorian dwelling with two wings: one had five bedrooms and the other, the staff wing, had four with more room in the attic. There was a large cellar, a coach house and stables, and 1½ acres of gardens: from the drawing room it was possible to look across open fields to the church. A fourth child was born in the same year – Walter Barrington Medlicott (1872–1921).
Sadly, Edith Medlicott died in 1876 at the age of 29. Walter never remarried but lived in the large new vicarage with various servants to look after his growing family. The 1881 census reveals a household of governess and nurse for the children as well as live-in cook, parlour maid and housemaid. There would also have been outdoor servants to look after the garden, coach and horses.
Walter Medlicott resigned as incumbent on 3rd November 1907 and retired to Whingarth, Shedfield. He retained an interest in the parish however, dedicating the lych gate on the east side of the churchyard in 1911 and formally opening the Parish Rooms in 1922. He died on 18th March 1926 and is buried in Swanmore churchyard.
Of his children, Robert also became a priest and was a vicar in Portsmouth before becoming Rector of Kingsclere from 1915 to 1928. Walter Barrington Medlicott became an architect and then served in the First World War. He was working in Cilica in Turkey when he was captured by Mustapha Kemal's forces and held prisoner until his death from fever on 18th September 1920. Margaret, a Justice of the Peace, was killed in an air raid in Shedfield in 1940 and is included on the Commonwealth War Graves website. Neither Margaret nor Grace married and both are remembered with plaques on the lych gate at Shedfield church.