Bickton is a

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 ...

in the New Forest District of

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. It 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 ...

Fordingbridge Fordingbridge is a town and broader civil parish with a population of 6,000 on the River Avon in the New Forest District of Hampshire, England, near the Dorset and Wiltshire borders and on the edge of the New Forest, famed for its late medieva ...

and is situated by the River Avon.

Overview

Bickton is a hamlet in the

, next to the River Avon. The most notable buildings in the hamlet are the 15th-century manor house (with a 17th-century facade), and the 18th/19th century mill buildings.

History

Bickton is 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 when it was held by Hugh Maci from

Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester Hugh d'Avranches ( 1047 – 27 July 1101), nicknamed ''le Gros'' (the Large) or ''Lupus'' (the Wolf), was from 1071 the second Norman Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. Early life and career Hugh d'Avra ...

.Domesday Map - Bickton
/ref> Before 1066 the manor had been held by "Ketil the steersman" from King Edward. As a settlement of 18 families it was at that time bigger than the manor of Fordingbridge.Bickton, NFDC
The overlordship in the 13th century, when it is next mentioned, belonged to the

Earl of Salisbury Earl of Salisbury is a title that has been created several times in English and British history. It has a complex history, and is now a subsidiary title to the marquessate of Salisbury. Background The title was first created for Patrick de S ...

, and as late as 1641 the manor was said to be held of the king as of the earldom of Salisbury. Victoria County History of Hampshire: Fordingbridge
/ref> In the 13th and 14th centuries the manor was in the hands of the Fitz Aucher family, and in the 15th century it was held by the Romsey family. The manor descended to the Bartholomews, but a dispute arose in the 16th century when Thomas Bartholomew and his wife Anne complained that Arthur Bulkeley and others had entered their manor-house of Bickton, broken down their hedges and gates, driven away their cattle and taken away "a greate bell hanging in the roffe of the said manor-howse wyche of a veri long tyme hadd hanged there and used as a warnyng bell when any daunger of enemyes fyer or theves were abought the seid howse." In 1632 the manor was sold to

John Davenant John Davenant (20 May 1572, in London – 20 April 1641, in Salisbury) was an English academic and bishop of Salisbury from 1621. He also served as one of the English delegates to the Synod of Dort. Life He was educated at Queens' College, Ca ...

who was at that time the

bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...

, and the manor stayed with the Davenants throughout the 17th century. It was purchased by

Sir Eyre Coote Lieutenant-General Sir Eyre Coote, KB (1726 – 28 April 1783) was a British soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1768 to 1780. He is best known for his many years of service with the British Army in India. His victory ...

in 1766, being joined to the West Park estate in

Rockbourne Rockbourne is a village and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire, close to Fordingbridge. Overview Rockbourne is a village of thatched, brick and timber houses, next to a stream now known as Sweatfords Water. A mill has existed at Bickton since the time of the ''

''. In the 19th century the mill employed about 25 people.

Notes

External links

{{New Forest towns Hamlets in Hampshire Fordingbridge