Tidgrove boasts  a wealth of history, from well before the Bronze Age until more recent times.

Evidence of pit dwellings and ancient field systems can be seen and one of our bronze age round barrows has been excavated by Southampton University, as has the Romano-British settlement half a mile south west of the house, it was here that the only known British hoard of Celtic gold staters, still  hidden within a large flint stone, were uncoverd in the 1980's. One of these coins, given by Raleigh Place to Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,  can be viewed  close up in  the Royal Collection online

The estate was the site of a Royal residence in the medieval period, in 1176 King Henry II  held a large party at Tidgrove,  probably to celebrate the birth of a son, in 1212 King John, whilst staying here to hunt, paid a bounty of five silver shillings for the  last wolf killed in Hampshire. A poem written by Bertran de Born, the french troubadour, around 1190, refers to  Tidgrove as a favourite haunt  of King Richard. 

The rabbit warren that the Norman Kings created  subsequently came into the hands of the Prior of Sandleford, and  during the time of King Henry VII was vested in St. Georges Chapel, Windsor where it remained until 19th. century, then being sold  to help pay for works on Kingsclere Church.

The present family have managed the land for the last hundred years, firstly as part of a larger arable enterprise and for the last 25 years as  a stand alone conservation project.