Picket Post is a road junction and

service area Service area may refer to: * Rest area A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary r ...

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It lies on the

A31 road The A31 is a major trunk road in southern England that runs from Guildford in Surrey to Bere Regis in Dorset. Route of road The road begins in Guildford at the start of Farnham Road near Guildford Station, coming out of the town and passing ...

Facilities

Picket Post is located on the A31

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

which passes through the

. It is situated 2.5 miles from the A338 at Ringwood and 8 miles from Junction 1 of the M27 at

Cadnam Cadnam is a village situated in Hampshire, England, within the boundaries of the New Forest National Park. The village has existed since the medieval period, when it was (and still is) an important crossroads between Southampton and the towns of D ...

.Norman Henderson, (2007), ''A Walk Around the New Forest: In Thirty-Five Circular Walks'', pages 145. Frances Lincoln Ltd A

minor road A side road is a minor highway typically leading off a main road.Main road — definition

to the village of Burley joins with the A31 at Picket Post. There is a roadside service area on both sides of the dual carriageway. Picket Post is the location of a

cricket ground Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by strikin ...

for Ellingham cricket club, and there is a

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

training pitch next to it.Ellingham Cricket
at play-cricket.com

History

Picket Post was once an important junction of the

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

with the road to Burley and

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 ...

.Norman Henderson, (2007), ''A Walk Around the New Forest: In Thirty-Five Circular Walks'', pages 141-2. Frances Lincoln Ltd The name derives from a picket (i.e. a post) which marked the spot, but it may have acquired a second meaning from a picket of soldiers stationed at a strategic point on the smugglers's route. There was an inn here for most of the 19th century, which around 1900 became a tea house whose sign was a large golden kettle - it was demolished in 1969.

References

External links

{{New Forest towns Road junctions in England