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Brockenhurst is the largest village by population within 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 ...
in Hampshire, England. The nearest city is
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 ...
some to the North East, while Bournemouth is also nearby, South West. Surrounding towns and villages include Beaulieu,
Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a car ferry service operated by Wightlink. It is within the ...
, Lyndhurst, and Sway.


History

The earliest signs of habitation in Brockenhurst date back 4,000 years to the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
: the area is dotted with burial mounds – called
tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...
. Beyond that, few signs remain of other habitation during the subsequent 3,000 years.


Middle Ages

The Saxon period was brought to an end by the events of 1066.
William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...
created his Nova Foresta traditionally in 1079, a vast hunting area lying south and west of his capital at
Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
; it stretched south to the coast at
Barton on Sea Barton on Sea (often hyphenated as Barton-on-Sea) is a cliff-top village in Hampshire, England with close connections, physical, governmental and commercial, to the inland town, New Milton which is its civil parish to the north. As a settlemen ...
and west to what is now
Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...
. In 1086, 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 manusc ...
recorded that there were four small Saxon manors in the Brockenhurst area, ''Mapleham'', ''Hincelveslei'', ''Brochelie'' and ''Broceste''. ''Mapleham'' no longer exists, probably being subsumed within Brookley; the name ''Hincelveslei'' has become ''Hinchelsea'' which lies to the west of Brockenhurst. The third manor, ''Brochelie'', gives the modern name, Brookley, which was granted a regular weekly market and an annual fair, lasting several days, in 1347. Brochelie had forest rights to graze sheep on the open forest, but only between Wilverley and what is now Rhinefield Road, this right is usually associated with religious houses and was probably attached to the medieval estate which Christchurch Priory held at Brookley. The manor house of ''Brochelie'' was situated on the plot now occupied by the Watersplash Hotel. The Watersplash Hotel closed in or about 2017 and now building work is going on to provide high quality apartments due to open in 2019. Its manor itself extended over the lands on the western side of the A337 Lyndhurst-Lymington Road. The fourth Saxon manor of the area was ''Broceste'' which gives the village its name. It was the most important manor, being a grand-serjeanty held by providing accommodation for the King when hunting in the area. Royden to the south of Brockenhurst was a medieval grange belonging to
Netley Abbey (Happy Place), Lieu-Saint-Edward, Letley , order= Cistercians , established= 1239 , disestablished= 1536/7 , mother= Beaulieu Abbey , diocese= Diocese of Winchester , founder= Peter des Roches and Henry III , dedication= Virgin Mary a ...
and was set up by a grant made by Henry III in 1253. St Nicholas' Church, at that time, was no more than an outlying chapel linked to Twynham – later
Christchurch Priory Christchurch Priory is an ecclesiastical parish and former priory church in Christchurch in the English county of Dorset (formerly in Hampshire). It is one of the longest parish churches in the country and is as large as many of the Church of E ...
.
William Rufus William II ( xno, Williame;  – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third so ...
visited Brockenhurst, possibly worshiping in St Nicholas' church, as at least two writs were issued by him from here.


Early modern era

By the 18th century, nearby Lymington was a thriving town, due to its port and the manufacture of salt from sea water. In 1765, the Lymington road became a turnpike, under the Lymington, Lyndhurst and Rumbridge Turnpike Act, and a regular route for the mail coaches from Lyndhurst and the north. During this time, Brockenhurst grew in size, with dwellings and inns strung along the main road. In 1745, Henry Thurston, a local man who left to make his fortune in London, died, leaving a bequest to set up a school in the village. After being held in a number of houses it became fixed in a cottage on the corner of what is now Mill Lane and the A337. A tower was added to St. Nicholas' Church between 1758 and 1763. In 1770, Edward Morant, using some of the vast wealth that flowed from the family estates in Jamaica, purchased Brockenhurst House – a late Stuart farmhouse – for £6,400. He rebuilt it as a large Georgian mansion, while he and his heirs laid out avenues in the grounds and acquired adjacent land, eventually peaking at some 3,000 acres (12 km2). In the 19th century the railway station was introduced to Brockenhurst, increasing a large number of holiday visitors and the local population. Brockenhurst gained its second Church of England church in 1903 in the form of St Saviour's. The reason for its construction was that Mabel Walker-Munro didn't wan't to use the same church as members of the Morant family.


First World War

In the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, Brockenhurst hosted the Lady Hardinge Hospital for Wounded Indian Soldiers. The name
Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...
Road recalls the Indian troops of the Meerut and Lahore Divisions who fought on the Western Front in the war and were patients at Brockenhurst. Specialist sections were also established in the Balmer Lawn and Forest Park Hotels. The hospital was later transferred to the New Zealand Army and, as No. 1 New Zealand General Hospital, continued in use until 1919. Auckland Avenue and Auckland Place commemorate the stay of the New Zealanders.


Interwar

Cass Gilbert Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and ...
, the noted American architect of the
Woolworth Building The Woolworth Building is an early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1930, with a ...
and many other structures, died in the town in 1934. The Roman Catholic church of St anne was built between 1937 and 1939.


Second World War

In the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, what is now The Balmer Lawn Hotel was often used as a Divisional HQ and was the location of many of Generals Montgomery and Eisenhower's meetings, away from their headquarters in
Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...
, as they planned the D-Day Landings in
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. In early 1944, Brockenhurst also became a secret training area for troops preparing to do battle in Normandy. The area's ancient oak trees were ideal for concealing military vehicles. The
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that saw distinguished service in the Second World War. Pre-war, the division was part of the Territorial Army (TA) and the two ''Ts'' in the divisional in ...
, the core of Assault Force "G", tasked with storming
Gold Beach Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. Gold, the central of the five areas, was ...
on D-Day, had its HQ at the Carey's Manor Hotel. Afterwards, the Eastern Warfare School, near Brockenhurst, taught jungle infantry tactics suited to the Asian and Pacific campaigns, to personnel from the
Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry and also one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighti ...
and shore units of the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
.


Since 1945

The western part of the village greatly expanded in the 1970s and, in the early 1990s, Berkeley Homes built Ober Park, which is now known as The Coppice, this despite having been known as Clerks (or variations thereof) from the 13th to 19th centuries. More construction of the village still continues today by Pennyfarthing Homes.


Sport and leisure


Football

Brockenhurst F.C. was founded in 1898 and plays at Grigg Lane, the current manager is Patrick Macmanus. In season 2012/13 the club returned to the Wessex Premier Football League as Division One champions and reached the final of both the Southamption DFA Senior Cup and the Wessex league Cup. During a Hampshire Senior Cup match Brockenhurst (and Andover Town) set a new record when they scored 29 consecutive penalties in a shoot-out after the tie had finished 0–0. After 29 successful attempts (a total confirmed by the Football Association as an English record) Andover missed and 'The Badgers' won the tie.


Cricket

Brockenhurst Cricket Club was founded in 1797 and has been situated on the Balmer Lawn for over 150 years. Brockenhurst Cricket Club has two senior Saturday teams that compete in the Hampshire Cricket League, a Friendly Sunday XI team, and a junior section that play in the New Forest District Cricket league.


Transport

Brockenhurst railway station Brockenhurst railway station serves the village of Brockenhurst in Hampshire, England. It is located on the South West Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth. It is also the junction of the Lymington Branch Line with the main line. It ...
offers frequent South Western Railway services to
Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...
,
London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station o ...
,
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 ...
and Weymouth.
CrossCountry CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the Cross Country franchise. The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT ...
express services also run to
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
via
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
. The station is the junction where the branch line to Lymington Pier connects to the mainline. The "Lymington Flyer" services connect with the ferry to Yarmouth on the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...
. The branch line is a heritage line and its self-contained nature permitted the use of slam-door rolling stock, until this was withdrawn in 2010. In 1967 it was the last standard-gauge branch line in the south of England to cease using steam haulage.Swanage Railway News Gallery – Page 106
Bus transport is provided mainly by Bluestar service 6 to Lymington and Southampton (Previously the Wilts & Dorset 56 and 56A, the 6 now runs the route of the 56A). In the summer, the
New Forest Tour The New Forest Tour is an open-top bus service in the New Forest, running three circular routes around various towns, attractions and villages in the protected forest. It is run by morebus and Bluestar in partnership with Hampshire County Counci ...
serves the village and station.


Twinning

Brockenhurst is twinned with Pont St Martin, in
Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population ...
, France.


Places of interest

*
Brockenhurst College Brockenhurst College is a large tertiary college situated in Brockenhurst, Hampshire. Co-educational since the 1920s, Brockenhurst College accepts students over the age of 16 or year 12 students, whichever occurs first due to safeguarding polic ...
*
Brockenhurst railway station Brockenhurst railway station serves the village of Brockenhurst in Hampshire, England. It is located on the South West Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth. It is also the junction of the Lymington Branch Line with the main line. It ...
* Lymington Flyer – Heritage line * New Forest Show * St. Nicholas' Church * Setley Lodge


Gallery

File:Brk98.JPG, The Rise File:Brk25.JPG, Thatched cottage and pub File:Brk087.JPG, East Bank Road File:Brk51.JPG, Brookley Road


References


External links


Visit Brockenhurst
- Local Information
Parish Council

Village website

Brockenhurst Church of England (Controlled) Primary School

Brockenhurst College

Photographs and Information from Strolling Guides

Rex Nan Kivell Collection of negatives ca 1917–19 held in Pictures Catalogue, National Library of Australia, Canberra
* {{authority control Villages in Hampshire