History

The earliest mention of a chapel at Hinton goes back to the 12th century in King Stephen's time. It then belonged to the Canons of Christchurch who still had it in 1419. Hinton is the village and Hinton Admiral is the name of Sir George Meyrick's house, the history of the church being very much connected with the Meyrick family, bearing the name of Tapps Gervis Meyrick. In fact the name "Hinton Admiral" is a corruption of "Hinton Albermarle" after their ancestor the Duke of Albermarle, famous for his support of King James II, his part in defending the Thames against the Dutch in the 2nd Anglo Dutch War of 1665 - 67, and his role in controlling the Great Fire of London in 1666.

The nave of the present church was built as a chapel of ease for the residents of Hinton and Beckley, the foundation stone being laid by Joseph Jervis Clarke on 2nd April 1772. The chapel was completed in 1774. When Joseph Jervis Clarke died in 1778, he provided in his will for the land and the chapel building to be given to the church authorities.

The succession to Hinton Admiral was by Mr. Clarke's great nephew George Ivison Tapps who was made the first baronet in 1791. In accordance with the wishes expressed in the will, Sir George I. Tapps and the Vicar of Christchurch (The Rev. William Jackson) petitioned the Bishop of Winchester that, because the Christchurch parish was so big, and Hinton Admiral three miles away, the chapel at Hinton be consecrated. This was granted by a document of 15th July 1786 when the church (that is the present nave, a small belfry and a graveyard to the north) with an access from the Hinton turnpike, now the A35, was transferred and the chapel consecrated on 3rd August 1786. Sir George Tapps and his successors were the patrons.

Sir George I. Tapps died in 1835 and was succeeded by Sir George William Tapps who took the additional name of Gervis. It was his son, Sir George E.M.Y. Gervis who, in the 1870's completely restored and re-modelled the church under the direction of the famous Victorian architect G.E. Street who was in Bournemouth at that time (supervising the reconstruction of St Peter's church). A new roof was put on, the old roof being retained under the new, and the chancel, sanctuary and bell tower added. New solid oak pews were provided with a box pew, each with five stalls, on either side at the back, for the Meyrick family and their guests. Almost all this cost was met by Sir George. His children Fanny, Clara, Emma and George gave the reredos which is of Portland stone which extends the full width of the sanctuary. The reredos has thirteen arches, the central five behind the altar depicting angels, four playing instruments - Irish harp, tambourine, cymbals and a rebec. The final act of reconstruction was to hang five bells.

Hinton School

Details were provided by Mr. R.G. Durham in the form of some notes by Reg. Kitcher concerning the choir and village school at the end of World War 1. In those days the church choir consisted of four tenors, six basses and eight boys. Occasionally, girls were recruited to assist the boys. It is difficult to imagine how the choir vestry could possibly accommodate such a large choir or indeed, how the chancel could seat them. With the large number of employees on the Hinton Admiral estate, it is not surprising that there were forty-five pupils in 1915 at the village school, with three teachers, but the number of pupils had fallen to twenty-eight by 1920.

The school had been founded in 1846 and the building which had stood near the estate entrance gates was burnt down in 2001. It has not been re-built. The pupils were provided with reading books, pens and ink, but had to pay for slates, pencils and other books. Girls were provided with needles and cotton also. The older girls had to light the fires and take turns at cleaning the school on Fridays.