Newnham formed part of the manor of Mapledurwell until 1198, when it was given to Hugh de Arundel; it is not known how long it continued in the Arundel family. However, in 1275 Newnham had passed to Adam de St. Manefeo and remained with his descendants for a century and a half. For some time after this the descent of the manor is obscure, but by 1428 it had passed to Thomas Stukeley. The exact date at which Newnham passed from the Stukeleys is uncertain, but William Paulet, third Marquis of Winchester, held most of it at the time of his death in 1598. Newnham continued with his descendants for over two centuries until it was purchased in 1833 by the third Lord Dorchester.
Lyde Mill, now a private house, was once a flour mill worked by the River Lyde and may be identified with one of two mills mentioned in the Domesday Book in the then parish of Mapledurwell. In the seventeenth century there were five mills at Newnham, two of which were water-driven corn mills and three were fulling mills, used for the preparation of cloth.
The twelfth century church of St. Swithun at Nateley Scures is one of only three of its kind in the country. Built of flint and rubble with dressings of Binstead stone, the aisle less apsidal church has only one entrance. The roof dates from 1786 and the church was restored in 1865.
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