Colbury is a small village in the

New Forest National Park 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, featu ...

, in

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

, England. The village lies along Deerleap Lane, near the modern village of Ashurst.

History

The name Colbury is derived from

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

for "Cola's manor",Colbury, Old Hampshire Gazetteer
/ref> and near Colbury is an estate called Langley which was held by "Cola the Hunter" 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 manusc ...

of 1086. The manor of Colbury was given to the Abbot of Beaulieu by Robert de Punchardon sometime in the 13th century. A grant of

free warren A free warren—often simply warren—is a type of franchise or privilege conveyed by a sovereign in medieval England to an English subject, promising to hold them harmless for killing game of certain species within a stipulated area, us ...

in the manor was made in 1359–60 to the Abbot and convent of Beaulieu. Successive abbots remained in possession of the manor until the

dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

of the abbey in April 1538, when it passed to the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

. It was purchased in 1544 by John Mill and his son John. The elder John died in 1551 and the younger John was succeeded by his son Lewknor. He died in November 1587, and his son Lewknor died in the following month, leaving John his brother and heir. John was created a baronet in 1619, and the manor descended with the Mill Baronets until the death of the last baronet in 1835. The site of the Colbury Manor House is about a mile to the northeast of Colbury village, close to the village of Eling. The house which is now there is modern, and no trace of ancient buildings survive. Colbury was for centuries a

tithing A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or s ...

in Eling parish. Its population in 1870 was 341 people. The church in Colbury, called Christ Church, was built in 1870 by

Benjamin Ferrey Benjamin Ferrey FSA FRIBA (1 April 1810–22 August 1880) was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic Revival. Family Benjamin Ferrey was the youngest son of Benjamin Ferrey Snr (1779–1847), a draper who became Mayor of Christc ...

. 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 authority ...

of Colbury was one of the parishes created out of the ancient parish of Eling in 1894. Colbury parish was abolished in 1934 when 4722 acres were transferred to the parish of

Denny Lodge Denny Lodge is a large civil parish in the New Forest in Hampshire, England. It covers a large area of heathland and woodland encompassing much of the eastern side of the New Forest, but contains no towns, villages, churches, or schools. Ove ...

and 750 acres were transferred to

Totton and Eling Totton and Eling () is a civil parish in Hampshire, England, with a population of about 29,000 people. It contains the town of Totton and is situated between the eastern edge of the New Forest and the River Test, close to the city of Southampto ...

.Relationships / unit history of COLBURY
www.visionofbritain.org.uk The modern parish of Ashurst and Colbury was created in 1985, but administers a much smaller area than the old Colbury parish. The village has a hall built in 1928 as a memorial to the First World War.

References

External links

Ashurst and Colbury Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Hampshire New Forest