Following his successful publication, The Story of Alresford, Arthur Stowell has turned his attention to the village of Selborne.

Arthur, who lives in Alresford is a retired headmaster while Selborne's main claim to fame is that it was the home of Gilbert White, who wrote The Natural History of Selborne.

Arthur reveals that there were people living in the Selborne area 10,000 years ago and he looks at the archaeological evidence before going on to cover its mention in the Domesday Book.

After the Norman Conquest, Selborne church was given to the monastery of St Michael in Normandy. Arthur describes religion as "almost the politics of the time".

Ownership of the church returned to this country in 1233 when James de Norton gave it to the Priory of Selborne.

Although not a large book, The Story of Selborne and The Cult of the English Countryside is full of fascinating facts.

In 1270, Henry III granted to the priory a market every Tuesday. Medieval people worked hard from dawn to dusk and virtually the only alleviation of this toil was the many religious festivals, religion thus playing a part in the secular life of the village a well as the religious.

Selborne Priory claimed to possess the little finger bone of St John the Baptist as well as a piece of bone of St Richard of Chichester.

Arthur has traced Selborne's long connection with the building industry and he has looked not only at the life of Gilbert White but others who also wrote about gardening and natural history.

He touches on a one-day riot during Queen Victoria's reign.

Several hundred peasants gathered in Selborne on November 22nd, 1830, to demand a reduction in tithes.

After confronting the vicar, they attacked the Poor House in Gracious Street. Punishment was hard in those days. Two were publicly hanged while others were transported to Tasmania and New South Wales.

Arthur Stowell was a trustee of the Gilbert White Museum for 10 years and his meticulous research has given him a wide knowledge of the village.

It was not until after the World War II that people woke up to the fact that Gilbert White's house ought to be preserved.

In 1953, The Wakes was purchased and became a museum.

The Story of Selborne is published by Stobooks, price £8.