Marchwood is a village and

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 ...

located in

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, United Kingdom. It lies between Totton and Hythe on the western shore of

Southampton Water Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, where the estuaries of the River Test and River Itchen meet. Along its salt marsh-fringed wes ...

and directly east 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, fea ...

. The population of the village in the 2011 census was 6,141.

History

Marchwood has seen human activity since

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

times. The Roman road from the

Calshot Calshot is a coastal village in Hampshire, England at the west corner of Southampton Water where it joins the Solent.OS Explorer Map, New Forest, Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey B4 edition (2013). History In 1539, Henry VIII order ...

/ Lepe area passed through here on its way to

Nursling Nursling is a village in Hampshire, England, situated in the parish of Nursling and Rownhams, about north-west of the city of Southampton. Formerly called Nhutscelle (in an 8th-century life of Saint Boniface), then Nutsall, Nutshalling or Nutshu ...

(''Onna'' as it was called). Roman coins have been found at Bury Farm. The name "Marchwood" is most probably from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

"''merecewudu''" meaning "smallage wood" ("smallage" is a term for wild

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, ...

). It is mentioned 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 as "Merceode", when the manor was held by Alwin, whose father Wulfgeat held the manor before 1066.Domesday Map – Marchwood
/ref> The manor of Marchwood eventually became known as Marchwood Romsey.Victoria County History, (1912), ''A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 5'', Eling
/ref> John de Romsey held the

vill Vill is a term used in English history to describe the basic rural land unit, roughly comparable to that of a parish, manor, village or tithing. Medieval developments The vill was the smallest territorial and administrative unit—a geographical ...

of Marchwood in 1316. He was succeeded by Sir Walter Romsey of

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. The manor then passed in the same way as the manor of Romsey Horseys, until the death of Thomas Horsey in 1477. John Romsey of Tatchbury died in 1494 holding the manor from John Horsey, as did his son, another John Romsey who died in 1503. His son William Romsey sold the manor to Henry White. The manor passed from Robert White to his son William in 1564–5. In 1587 William White sold the manor to Nicholas Venables. William Rickman died in possession of the manor in 1599, leaving his daughter Katherine wife of David Urry his heir. A hundred years later, David Urry, described as of St. James, Westminster, sold the manor to Gilbert Serle of Leghorn, and it subsequently passed to Sir William Oglander. The manor afterwards passed into the Saunders family. One other manor close to Marchwood was called Bury (also Newton Bury). It occurs in a deed of the 13th century as the "manor of Eling called Burylond." In the 16th century it was absorbed into

Colbury Colbury is a small village in the New Forest National Park, in Hampshire, England. The village lies along Deerleap Lane, near the modern village of Ashurst. History The name Colbury is derived from Middle English for "Cola's manor", and near Co ...

manor, and it is now represented by Bury Farm just north of Marchwood. Marchwood was at one time in the parish of Eling, and is situated in that part of the ancient parish which lies low at the mouth of the

River Test The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for to Southampton Water. Settlements on the Test include the towns of Stockbridge and Romsey. Below the village of ...

, southeast of Eling village. Cracknore, in Marchwood, was the landing place of the ferry from

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 ...

long before the

Hythe Ferry Hythe Pier, the Hythe Pier Railway and the Hythe Ferry provide a link between the English port city of Southampton and the Hampshire village of Hythe on the west side of Southampton Water. It is used both by commuters and tourists, and forms a ...

. There was an important

beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

site here at Beacon Hill, receiving and sending messages to both ends of the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

. Marchwood became a separate

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

in 1843, and a

in 1894. The church was built and endowed by Horatio Francis Kingsford Holloway in 1843. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were Government

gunpowder magazine A gunpowder magazine is a magazine (building) designed to store the explosive gunpowder in wooden barrels for safety. Gunpowder, until superseded, was a universal explosive used in the military and for civil engineering: both applications ...

s and a Metropolitan Police barracks in Marchwood. Marchwood Military Port was built here during

World War II 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 opposing ...

, which played a vital role in the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

."Marchwood: An unknown hero"
BBC News, 16 April 1999 The Royal Navy Ordnance Depot was where the famous Mulberry harbours were made. The port continues to service Britain's overseas military interests.

Demographics

Industry

Despite being a village, Marchwood is the home of a refuse incinerator known as

Marchwood Incinerator Marchwood ERF (or Marchwood Energy Recovery Facility) is a waste incineration plant in Marchwood, near Southampton, England. It is situated beside the estuary of the River Test where it meets Southampton Water, opposite the Port of Southampton. ...

(the remains of a previous incinerator, closed in the 1990s were finally pulled down in 2012), a

sewage works Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envir ...

, a large military port and a natural gas fuelled combined cycle

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

known as

Marchwood Power Station Marchwood Power Station is an 898.1 MW gas-fired power station in Marchwood, near Southampton, England. It is situated beside estuary of the River Test where it meets Southampton Water, opposite the Port of Southampton. It is built on th ...

. replacing an older station which was dismantled during the 1980s. The 842 megawatt facility is one of the most efficient generators of electricity in the UK at 58% fuel efficiency. Until privatisation, Marchwood was home to one of the three principal research facilities of the

Central Electricity Generating Board The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s. It was established on 1 Janua ...

(CEGB), concentrating on heavy plant – the other facilities were at

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leathe ...

and at Berkeley.

Education

Marchwood has two schools, an

infant school An infant school is a term used primarily in England and Wales, for the education of children between the ages of four and seven years. It is usually a small school serving a particular area. It is sometimes a department in a larger primary school ...

situated in Twiggs Lane and a

junior school A Junior school is a type of school which provides primary education to children, often in the age range from 8 and 13, following attendance at Infant school which covers the age range 5–7. (As both Infant and Junior schools are giving Primary ...

in the village centre. The nearest secondary schools are Applemore College in

Dibden Purlieu Dibden Purlieu () is a village situated on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, England. The village merges with the nearby town of Hythe. It is in the civil parish of Hythe and Dibden. The approximate population is around 4000 people. The r ...

and Hounsdown School in Totton. The village does not have a public library. Nearby libraries are in Totton and Hythe.

Transport

Road

Marchwood is most easily accessed by road via the A326 road (Marchwood Bypass) which runs from the

M27 motorway The M27 is a motorway in Hampshire, England. It is long and runs between Cadnam and Portsmouth. It was opened in stages between 1975 and 1983, providing the largest two urban areas in Hampshire ( Southampton and Portsmouth) with a direct m ...

, past Totton, Marchwood and Hythe, as far as the village of Holbury. This then lets down the Access roads of Jacobs Gutter Lane, Staplewood Drive and Twiggs Lane. The main point of access from the south (towards Hythe) is Hythe Road. Bluestar operates one daytime bus route through Marchwood every hour Monday to Saturday. The 8 service goes to

via Totton in one direction and to Hythe and Calshot in the other. There is limited public transport from the village in the evenings.

Rail

Marchwood railway station opened on the Fawley Branch Line beside Main Road on 20 July 1925. The station was closed by the Beeching Axe on 14 February 1966 and has remained closed since. Freight trains still operate on the line and a set of manual

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

gates are still used on Main Road.

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier of ...

have agreed to fund a study into reopening the Waterside line between Totton and Hythe, with a stop at Marchwood.Daily Echo: Move to reopen former rail line
/ref>

Religious sites

Marchwood has four Christian churches. The Parish Church of St. John's; The Gospel Church; New Forest Community Church; and Fijian church, which meets in the army estate, mainly for those from Fiji posted in the military houses and barracks. The churches are active in the community: The New Forest Community Church run a local coffee shop in the village centre, the "sweet soul cafe"; The Gospel Church runs a Friday afternoon cafe "refreshers", ladies' and men's social groups, and various youth and children's clubs, meeting on Sundays at 10.30am at the Infant school; and the Parish church has strong links with the local schools.

Sport

Marchwood is home to Staplewood Training Ground the training facilities of

Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play i ...

There is also Lloyds recreation ground which is home to a host of football clubs, as well as two tennis courts.

Twin settlements

* Saint-Contest, near Caen, Normandy, France.

References

External links

Marchwood Parish CouncilMarchwood FeteMarchwood in the Domesday BookBBC News – Marchwood: An unknown hero

Marchwood Guides
{{authority control Villages in Hampshire