Ossemsley is an extended

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 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 ...

National Park of

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. It lies close to the village of Bashley. The nearest town is

New Milton New Milton is a market town in southwest Hampshire, England. To the north is in the New Forest and to the south the coast at Barton-on-Sea. The town is equidistant between Lymington and Christchurch, 6 miles (10 km) away. History Ne ...

, which lies approximately 1.7 miles (2.4 km) to the south.

History

The name Ossemsley probably means "Osmund's wood/clearing". A. T. Lloyd, J. E. S. Brooks, (1996), ''The History of New Milton and its Surrounding Area, Centenary Edition'', page 14 An estate called "Oselei" appears twice 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 ...

'', but it is listed with places in the

Boldre Boldre is a village and civil parish in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is in the south of the New Forest National Park, above the broadening (estuary) of the Lymington River, two miles (3 km) north of Lymington. In the 20 ...

area, so it is thought unlikely to refer to Ossemsley. In 1670 Thomas Stevens is known to have been in possession of "Osmondsley". Ossemsley has never developed into a village, and today it is a scatter of houses in a mix of farmland and woodland. Ossemsley Manor House changed hands a few times during the 19th century before being rebuilt in 1908 for Sir Alfred Cooper (1846-1915). Ossemsley Manor was one of the houses in which

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both describ ...

's wife,

Hester Gatty Hester is both a female given name and a surname. As a given name Hester is a variant of Esther. As a surname it is of Germanic origin and uncertain meaning, possible roots being the Middle High German ''heister'' beech tree indicating residence ne ...

, spent her childhood. Sassoon himself is known to have visited Ossemsley Manor in the 1930s. In the lead up to the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

invasion of 1944, the battalion of the 2nd Glosters were stationed (in tents) at Ossemsley manor. It is also reported that there was a

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

at Ossemsley, but its precise location is not certain.Prisoner of War Camp 624
Pastscape, retrieved 14 January 2012 The manor house was later sold to Harold Walker, chairman of Bournemouth Football Club. The manor house earned some notoriety in the 1960s and 70s as a

country club A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offer ...

run by the professional golfer

Bunny Millward Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit species ...

. The house has since been sold and subdivided into

flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

References

{{New Forest towns Hamlets in Hampshire