Hardley is a suburb of the village of

Holbury Holbury is a village in Hampshire, England. It is part of the parish of Fawley. Overview Historically a small and scarcely populated village, Holbury and the adjoining hamlet of Hardley now has a sizeable population and a considerable number of ...

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 authority ...

of Fawley 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.

History

The name Hardley means "hard clearing", presumably in relation to the soft marshlands which surround the area. Hardley is listed 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, when it was considered part 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, featu ...

. It is mentioned again in the 14th century, when William Chippe held lands there.Victoria County History, (1912), ''A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 5'', Fawley
/ref> In the 16th century the estate assumed the title of a manor in the hands of William Buckett, who held it from at least 1531 to 1579. After this it changed hands rapidly until finally conveyed to Richard Pittis, attorney of the

King's Bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of commo ...

in 1628. There is no further trace of Hardley as a separate manor, but lands there were among the possessions of the Stanleys of the Paultons estate in 1693, 1745, and 1781. A curious incident occurred in the 16th century when Thomas Tracie held the lease of Hardley Farm from William Buckett. Peter Kembridge and a man named Oglander wishing to rob Tracie of some of his possessions, arrested him, Oglander impersonating the sheriff's bailiff. Carried by force to an alehouse at Dibden, Tracie, who describes himself as "a poor plain simple creature," was compelled "to seal and deliver certain writings, but to what effect he himself knoweth not." Tracie's wife meanwhile followed her husband, and "made moan" for him outside the chamber. On gaining his freedom, Tracie appealed to the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

Notes

External links

{{New Forest towns Hamlets in Hampshire