Beech

One of the first examples of the village name Beech is in Greenwood's map of Hampshire dated 1826, which shows a "Beech Farm" between "Wivelet" (the current Wivelrod) to the west, and "Wellhouse" to the east, now Wellhouse lane in the current Civil Parish of Beech. Modern Beech started to take shape in the 1890s when the landowner began to sell off parcels of land for housing - much of it in the low-cost "colonial" style of wood and corrugated iron construction. This process accelerated after the First World War inspired by Lloyd George's "Homes for Heroes" programme. The small church building on Wellhouse Road dates from 1902 and the village hall at the east end of Wellhouse lane was…

The village is now an affluent residential area with little commercial activity within the village boundary. The 2015 electoral roll for Beech lists 457 people living in 217 different addresses. By year 2000 the Village Hall, although well used, was in need of modernisation. Thanks to the generosity of local inhabitants in an appeal for funding, supported by the National Lottery, a programme of expansion and refurbishment began in 2008. In 2010 the new Village Hall was officially opened by broadcaster, writer and gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh, a former resident of the village.