Brockhurst 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 Staffordshire, England, 1 mile sorth-west of

Blymhill Blymhill is a village in Staffordshire, England. It is a joint parish with Weston-under-Lizard. For population details taken at the 2011 census see Blymhill and Weston-under-Lizard See also * Listed buildings in Blymhill and Weston-under-Lizar ...

. It is part of Blymhill and Weston-under-Lizard civil parish within

South Staffordshire district South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

. Today the hamlet consists of Brockhurst farm, a red brick 18th farmhouse, and two blocks of semi-detached houses built in 1954. The buildings rest on the site of a much earlier settlement, as evidenced by medieval earthworks. These include a square moat to the south-eastern side of the farmhouse, with raised mound within, and the line of a second moat seventy-five yards to the south-west. Raven speculates on the origin of the name 'Brockhurst':

'Broc' in a place name usually means either stream or badger. 'Hurst' can mean either a wood or a hill, or a wooded hill or even a sandbank in a river. As there are no streams, hills or sandbanks here it might be fair to interpret the name 'Brockhurst' as meaning 'the wood (or clearing in the wood) which has a
badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...

sett A sett or set is a badger's den. It usually consists of a network of tunnels and numerous entrances. The largest setts are spacious enough to accommodate 15 or more animals with up to of tunnels and as many as 40 openings. Such elaborate setts ...
'.

References

{{reflist South Staffordshire District Hamlets in Staffordshire