South Charford is a

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 district New Forest is a local government district in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Lyndhurst. The district covers most of the New Forest National Park, from which it takes its name. The district was created on 1 April 1974, under the Loca ...

, 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. It is 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 ...

Breamore Breamore ( ) is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish near Fordingbridge in Hampshire, England. The parish includes a notable Elizabethan English country house, country house, Breamore House, built with an E-shaped ground plan. T ...

on the west bank of the River Avon.

History

South and North Charford are usually identified with the "Cerdic's ford" which appears twice in the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...

''. It first is mentioned under the entry for the year 508 when we are told that following a battle to the east "the land as far as Cerdic's ford was named ''Natanleaga''" For the year 519 we are told that "

Cerdic Cerdic (; la, Cerdicus) is described in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' as a leader of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, being the founder and first king of Saxon Wessex, reigning from 519 to 534 AD. Subsequent kings of Wessex were each cla ...

and

Cynric Cynric () was King of Wessex from 534 to 560. Everything known about him comes from the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. There, he is stated to have been the son of Cerdic, who is considered the founder of the kingdom of Wessex. However, the 'Genealogic ...

succeeded to the kingdom f the West Saxons">West_Saxons.html" ;"title="f the West Saxons">f the West Saxons and in the same year they fought against the Britons at a place called Cerdic's ford". If a battle really did take place here then it is possible that the boundary of Hampshire was first established here.Charford, Old Hampshire Gazetteer
In the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, South Charford (''Cerdeford'') was a fairly large settlement of around 24 households. The manor was held of Hugh de Port by William de Chernet, and it remained in the Chernet family for over 200 years.British History Online, Victoria County History, North Charford with South Charford
/ref> In 1293 Iseult de Chernet was dealing with the manor, which passed by inheritance or purchase to Oliver de la Zouche. Sometime before 1428 it was evidently sold it to

Sir John Popham Sir John Popham (1531 – 10 June 1607) of Wellington, Somerset, was Speaker of the House of Commons (1580 to 1583), Attorney General (1581 to 1592) and Lord Chief Justice of England (1592 to 1607). Origins Popham was born in 1531 at Hunt ...

, who served in France under

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

and the

Duke of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, in favour of Henry IV's third so ...

. It then came into the possession of the Bulkeley family and followed the descent of

Burgate Burgate is a small village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about south-west of Diss in Norfolk. The church, dedicated to St Mary and dating from the 14th century, was restored in 1864 and is a Grade II* listed ...

Fordingbridge Fordingbridge is a town and broader civil parish with a population of 6,000 on the River Avon in the New Forest District of Hampshire, England, near the Dorset and Wiltshire borders and on the edge of the New Forest, famed for its late medieva ...

until 1600, when John Bulkeley conveyed it to Hugh Grove. Sir William Dodington was holding it in 1624. His son Herbert died childless in 1633, and his father, who survived, held the manor until his death in 1638, when it passed to his younger son John. South Charford passed by sale or settlement to

Fulke Greville, 5th Baron Brooke Fulke may refer to: *Fulke d'Aunou, also written Fulco and Foulques (1004-1080?), Baron of Aunou-le-Faucon, Normandy. Second cousin of William of Normandy and one of 30 knights named as present with William at the Battle of Hastings (1066), he was a ...

, and remained in his family until 1747–8, when Francis Greville, 8th Baron Brooke sold his Hampshire estates. South Charford passed to Henry Archer and then followed the descent of North Charford. A chapel is said to have been built by Sir John Popham with the consent of the Prior of Breamore, and was dedicated in 1404. The chapel was in ruins by the mid 18th-century when Thomas Archer made use of the material for enlarging and rebuilding of the church of

Hale Hale may refer to: Places Australia *Hale, Northern Territory, a locality *Hale River, in southeastern Northern Territory Canada *Hale, Ontario, in Algoma District United Kingdom * Hale, Cumbria, a hamlet near Beetham, Cumbria *Hale, Greater Man ...

. The site is in a field near South Charford Farm, and is now occupied by a large

yew tree Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew (''Taxus br ...

.Hampshire Treasures Volume 5 (New Forest) Page 36
/ref> South Charford was long a separate parish, although for a period in the early 19th-century it was reckoned as 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 ...

of the parish of North Charford. The population of South Charford in 1870 was 70 people living in 13 houses. The

of South Charford was abolished in 1932,Relationships / unit history of South Charford
A Vision of Britain through Time, retrieved, 11 October 2011 and South Charford is now part of the

. There is no village today — just a few farm buildings.

Notes

External links

British History Online, Victoria County History, North Charford with South Charford
{{authority control New Forest Villages in Hampshire