Bank is a village in the English

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 ...

. The settlement is within 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 Lyndhurst in 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 ...

, and is located approximately from both Ringwood and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. It has one inn and approximately 30 distinct dwellings.

Overview

Bank is southwest of Lyndhurst and south of the main

A35 road The A35 is a major road in southern England, connecting Honiton in Devon and Southampton in Hampshire. It is a trunk road for some of its length. Most of its route passes through Dorset and the New Forest. It originally connected Exeter and So ...

through the

.New Forest National Park Authority, ''Draft Character Appraisals. Conservation Areas, Lyndhurst, Swan Green and Bank''. October 2008.
, page 108, retrieved 12 July 2011 It is bounded by woodland or wood pasture except on the east where there are arable lands, and former parkland of the Cuffnells Estate.New Forest National Park Authority, ''Draft Character Appraisals. Conservation Areas, Lyndhurst, Swan Green and Bank''. October 2008.
, page 137, retrieved 12 July 2011 The hamlet is an eclectic mix of former workers cottages together with higher status buildings constructed by 19th century cultured owners seeking country retreats. The hamlet has no community facilities, other than the Oak Inn.

History

The village of Bank seems to begin in the 16th century, as a settlement encroaching on the Forest.
New Forest Explorer's Guide, retrieved 11 July 2011 The original name was apparently "Annis' Bank". The oldest surviving building is Japonica Cottage, which dates from the 16th century.New Forest National Park Authority, ''Draft Character Appraisals. Conservation Areas, Lyndhurst, Swan Green and Bank''. October 2008.
, page 121, retrieved 12 July 2011 Old Cottage dates from the 17th century, although it is nowadays dominated by a 20th-century wing. To the east of Bank were the large 18th-century estates of Cuffnells and Wilverley, and the inhabitants of Bank may have been involved in servicing these two large estates and their associated farms. The Oak Inn is a two-storey late 18th century building of painted brick,New Forest National Park Authority, ''Draft Character Appraisals. Conservation Areas, Lyndhurst, Swan Green and Bank''. October 2008.
, page 116, retrieved 12 July 2011 which may have been a

cider house A cider house is an establishment that sells alcoholic cider for consumption on the premises. Some cider houses also sell cider "to go", for consumption off the premises. A traditional cider house was often little more than a room in a farmhouse or ...

in the 18th century. Nearby is a small cluster of cottages which go by the name of Gritnam. It is likely that Gritnam is the place recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

of 1086 under the name "Greteha". It was one of the 51 manors held by

Waleran the Hunter Waleran the Hunter (floruit 1086) (Latin: ''Waleran Venator'') was an Anglo-Norman magnate who held 51 manors as recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, including Whaddon in Wiltshire and several in Hampshire, including West Dean, within the New F ...

as recorded in the

of 1086. Prior to 1066, Bolla had possessed it from King Edward. Gritnam is also mentioned in 1300 as "Grettenhamdune" (i.e. Gritnam down).Gritnam, Lyndhurst
Old Hampshire Gazetteer The name might mean "the gravelly place," or "the great homestead." The famous New Forest "snakecatcher" Brusher Mills was reported living in an old charcoal burner's hut by the boundary of nearby Gritnam Wood in around 1895. The

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MP, Robert John Price, was a resident of Bank, as was the Liberal M.P.

John Fletcher Moulton John Fletcher Moulton, Baron Moulton, (18 November 1844 – 9 March 1921) was an English mathematician, barrister, judge and Liberal politician. He was a Cambridge Apostle. Early life Moulton was born in Madeley, Shropshire, England, as ...

, who, when he entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

in 1912, took the title "Baron Moulton of Bank". Several literary figures have stayed in Bank.

Mary Elizabeth Braddon Mary Elizabeth Braddon (4 October 1835 – 4 February 1915) was an English popular novelist of the Victorian era. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel ''Lady Audley's Secret'', which has also been dramatised and filmed several times. ...

, author of the

sensation novel The sensation novel, also sensation fiction, was a literary genre of fiction that achieved peak popularity in Great Britain in the 1860s and 1870s.I. Ousby ed., ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (1995) p. 844 Its literary forebears i ...

, ''

Lady Audley's Secret ''Lady Audley's Secret'' is a sensation novel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon published in 1862. John Sutherland. "Lady Audley's Secret" in ''The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction'', 1989. It was Braddon's most successful and well-known novel. ...

'', built Annesley House, with her husband, in the 1880s.Annesley, Miss Braddon and the History of Bank
New Forest Explorer's Guide, retrieved 11 July 2011 They used it as a country home, whilst retaining a main residence in

Richmond, Surrey Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Comm ...

. Her son, the novelist W. B. Maxwell, also stayed here as a young man. The house was later used as a

Barnardo's Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each year running around 900 local services, aimed at helping these same group ...

children's home. In Christmas and New Year, 1904–05,

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

stayed at Lane End House in Bank with her sister and two brothers. Later, Rupert Brooke stayed at a cottage called "Beech Shade" in Gritnam.Mike Read, (1997), ''Forever England: the life of Rupert Brooke'', page 67. Mainstream He would later write to his friend, Bryn Olivier, about his recovery from depression in Bank:

Then there was Bank, Bryn. For three whole months I'd been infinitely wretched & ill, wretcheder than I'd thought possible. And then for a few days it all dropped completely away, and — oh! how lovely Bank was! — I suppose I should never be able to make you see what beauty is to me, — physical beauty — , just even the seeing it in spite of all the hungers that come.Nigel Jones, (2003), ''Rupert Brooke: life, death & myth'', page 291. BBC Worldwide

Notes

External links

Bank and Gritnam – what’s in a name?
New Forest Explorer's Guide

New Forest Explorer's Guide

New Forest Explorer's Guide {{authority control Villages in Hampshire New Forest