Ashlett is a small settlement in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Fawley. It is at the end of Ashlett Creek, a tidal inlet of

Southampton Water Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, where the estuaries of the River Test and River Itchen meet. Along its salt marsh-fringed wes ...

. Ashlett is known for having a well-preserved

tidal mill A tide mill is a water mill driven by tidal rise and fall. A dam with a sluice is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary is made into a reservoir. As the tide comes in, it enters the mill pond through a one-way gat ...

(currently a sailing club clubhouse), which is next to a free slipway and landing stage. Although the creek is only accessible at high tide, the historic mill and free landing stage make it a popular destination for dinghy sailors from around Southampton Water.

Ashlett Creek

The name 'Ashlett' may be derived from the Viking custom of planting an ash stave in the ground where their ships first landed and 'flete' from a creek or stretch of salt water.https://newforest.gov.uk/media/496/ashlett-creek-conservation-area-character-statement/pdf/ashlett-creek-conservation-area-character-statement.pdf?m=637242985712370000 Ashlett is a natural creek, located down a lane leading from the village of Fawley.Victoria County History, (1912), ''A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 5'', Fawley
/ref> Victoria Quay was built in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee and to provide a more efficient way of loading and unloading the barges which came into Ashlett Creek. At the beginning of the 20th century ships of 100, or even 150 tons, were brought up here at high tide, and unloaded at Victoria Quay. It was used extensively to bring in construction materials when the first refinery was built at Fawley in the 1920s. There was a large mill pond behind Ashlett Mill which once served to regularly clear the silt from the creek. In the early 1990's there was controversy as the mill pond had an artificial island built at its centre which dramatically reduced the amount of water sluiced through the mill. The creed silt levels have been steadily rising since. There is a pub at Ashlett called the Jolly Sailor. This was originally a beer house in the days when anyone who paid the poor rate and the two pound excise fee could sell beer.

Ashlett Mill

Ashlett Mill is a brick building with a tiled mansard roof.Hampshire Treasures, Volume 5 (New Forest), Page 125
It was built in 1816, replacing an earlier mill.
, Ashlett Sailing Club Milling at the mill stopped in 1902. It served as a meeting and club house of the Waterside Sports and Social Club and the Ashlett Sailing Club until 2019.

Jolly Sailor

Jolly Sailor is a pub currently run by Mark Cox & Jo Sweeny. Built over 150 years ago this staple of the Ashlett brings in cliental from the Fawley Village, located up the hill running straight down into creek.

Governance

The

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Ashlett is part of the

of Fawley, and part of the Fawley, Blackfield and Langley

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, fea ...

council.

References

External links