Woodgreen is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

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 ...

within 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 ...

district of

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 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 ...

Overview

Woodgreen lies between

Breamore Breamore ( ) is a village and civil parish near Fordingbridge in Hampshire, England. The parish includes a notable Elizabethan country house, Breamore House, built with an E-shaped ground plan. The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary h ...

and

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 ...

to the east of the River Avon.Hampshire Treasures Volume 5 (New Forest) Page 321
retrieved 2 October 2011 It is located due south of the city of

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

, its nearest town is

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 ...

lying to the southwest. In the

2001 UK Census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

the parish was home to 537 people in 220 households. Its nearest railway station is

Dean railway station Dean railway station, also shown as Dean (Wilts), serves the village of West Dean in Wiltshire, England. The station is on the Wessex Main Line, from . Whilst the station building is in Wiltshire, the platforms straddle the county boundary ...

. The village has one pub called The Horse and Groom. In 2006 the village shop and post office was threatened with closure, but the village pulled together and acquired the lease for five years. On 14 May 2011 a new Woodgreen Community Shop was opened after more than four years of campaigning and fundraising by the local community. Two thirds of the parish is an area of woodland, heathland, acid grassland, scrub and valley bog, supporting a richness and diversity of wildlife.Hampshire Treasures Volume 5 (New Forest) Page 323
retrieved 2 October 2011 One mile to the south of the village are the earthwork remains of Castle Hill, comprising an oval ring motte with an outer bailey.Godshill Castle Hill, Woodgreen
a

retrieved, 2 October 2011 The castle may have been a siege castle recorded in 1148.

History

Woodgreen was originally an extra-parochial area of the

, reckoned as part of

Godshill Godshill is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, England, with a population of 1,459 at the 2011 Census. It lies between Newport and Ventnor in the southeast of the island. History Godshill is one of the ancient parishes that exis ...

tithing.Victoria County History of Hampshire: Fordingbridge
/ref> The settlement has been known as Woodgreen since the mid 17th century.Woodgreen, Old Hampshire Gazetteer
/ref> The "Wood" is Godshill Inclosure which separates the village from the rest of the New Forest; "Green" is a common name in southern England for a secondary settlement. The

of Woodgreen consisting of just 47 acres was created in 1858.Relationships / unit history of WOODGREEN
A Vision of Britain through Time, retrieved, 2 October 2011 In 1932 the parish was much enlarged with the addition of 166 acres from

parish and 175 acres from

parish. When the village hall was built in 1930–1, two students from the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

(Robert Baker and Edward Payne) were commissioned by the

Carnegie Trust The Carnegie United Kingdom Trust is an independent, endowed charitable trust based in Scotland that operates throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Originally established with an endowment from Andrew Carnegie in his birthplace of Dunfermline, ...

to decorate the walls entirely with murals, depicting village life as it was then.Hampshire Treasures Volume 5 (New Forest) Page 324
retrieved 2 October 2011 The mural shows poachers looking down from Castle Hill; the Sunday School in the Methodist Church; folk dancing; fruit picking; the Horse and Groom; the village flower show; making cider; and the caretaker lighting the stove. The building that is now the village church dates from 1913 and was originally a church reading room.St Boniface, Woodgreen
Avon Valley Partnership, retrieved 2 October 2011 In 1949, it was dedicated as a church with the name of Saint Boniface and was extended to its present size in 1963. Since 1927, Woodgreen has been part of the

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 ...

of Hale and Woodgreen, sharing the same clergy and with shared services.

Governance

Woodgreen parish council has seven members. The parish forms part of the Downlands and Forest Ward which is represented on the New Forest District Council by a single seat, currently occupied by Edward Heron of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. Woodgreen is within the New Forest West parliamentary constituency, represented by another Conservative,

Desmond Swayne Sir Desmond Angus Swayne (born 20 August 1956) is a British Conservative politician serving as the Member of Parliament for the constituency of New Forest West since 1997. Before going into politics, Swayne was a teacher, and then a manager a ...

References

External links

Woodgreen Community Shop
{{authority control Villages in Hampshire