Lepe is a

linear Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...

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 ...

on the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay t ...

in south-west

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 ...

. 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 authorit ...

Exbury and Lepe Exbury and Lepe is a civil parish in the New Forest in Hampshire, England. It is bounded to the west by the Beaulieu River, to the south by the shore of the Solent and to the east by the Dark Water. To the north it extends to the New Forest hea ...

, It is beside the Dark Water, and has Lepe Country Park, which runs from Stanswood Bay to the mouth of the

Beaulieu River The Beaulieu River ( ), formerly known as the River Exe, is a small river draining much of the central New Forest in Hampshire, southern England. The river has many small upper branches and its farthest source is from its -long tidal estuary. ...

Overview

Lepe is a

on north-west shore of the

. It is part of the

, which in turn is part of 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 Lo ...

. That parish (with minor powers) is emulated in the Church of England which maintains one church, as since early medieval times, at Exbury. The east side is Lepe Country Park, with a mile of beach, pine-fringed cliffs,

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

remains (see below), year-round café-and-shop, and wild flower meadows; From the cliffs above the beach, part of the view of the Western Solent is used by Solent Rescue Independent Lifeboat station. Inchmery Quay lies to the west.

History

Lepe may have been a port of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

times due to an apparent route of a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

, down the eastern side of the New Forest, from Shorn Hill, Totton to Lepe.Arthur Clarke, (2003), ''The Roman road on the eastern fringe of the New Forest, from Shorn Hill to Lepe.'' Proceedings of Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society, 58, 33-58. Lepe is first recorded in the 13th century.Lepe, Old Hampshire Gazetteer
The name may refer to a human leap over the Dark Water. For the centuries when manorial rights were the parent form of estate in most land, it was long part of Exbury manor, which in latter decades was frequently called the "manor of Exbury and Lepe."Victoria County History of Hampshire: Exbury
/ref>

Oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

ascribes a populous seaside hamlet to Lepe washed away by a great storm before the early 1700s; a ruined harbour, Stone Point, is spoken of.History of Lepe
, Hantsweb Old maps shows the Dark Water mouth was more easterly, near Stone Point.Lepe Beach and Stone Point, Hampshire
Geology of the Wessex Coast by Ian West An estate map of 1640 shows a tidal mill there, and the tidal pond is still identifiable.Hampshire County Council, (2005), ''Archaeology and Historic Buildings Record'' The change may have been from the

Great Storm of 1703 The great storm of 1703 was a destructive extratropical cyclone that struck central and southern England on 26 November 1703. High winds caused 2,000 chimney stacks to collapse in London and damaged the New Forest, which lost 4,000 oaks. Ships wer ...

when the south coast of England was ravaged for five days. Lepe harbour survived, and in 1744 shipbuilder Moody Janverin was asked by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

to create a shipyard there. Among ships built there were: *

HMS Greenwich (1747) HMS ''Greenwich'' was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built during the War of the Austrian Succession, and went on to see action in the Seven Years' War, during which she was captured by the French and tak ...

HMS Fowey (1749) HMS ''Fowey'' was a sixth-rate warship of the Royal Navy. Built in 1749, the ship was sunk in action with the French during the Siege of Yorktown in 1781. Mark Robinson was appointed to the Fowey, a 6th Rate of 24 guns, on the 13th June 1767 ...

HMS Europa (1765) HMS ''Europa'' was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 21 April 1765 at Lepe, Hampshire. She was renamed HMS ''Europe'' in 1778, and spent the rest of her career under this name. Completed too late to see ser ...

. It had silted up by 1825.Timeline, Coastal Communities
Hantsweb Around this time Lepe was involved in the

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...

trade, large heaps being stacked here to purify. A wooden quay was built at Lepe to serve the local brickyards until the coastal trade dropped given the advent of railways.Hampshire Treasures Volume 5 (New Forest) Page 118
A Lepe coastguard station to combat west Solent smuggling. Completed in 1828, the Coastguard Cottages and the Watch House remain largely unchanged today. In the 18th century, Lepe House was an inn, The Ship Inn. It was later enlarged and beautified to become a grand country house. In 1943, it was requisitioned by the Royal Navy, hosting the J.1 Assault Group for the D-Day landings to restore Normandy to free French rule in June 1944.Lepe House
Pastscape Localised flooding has occurred in 2004, 2005 and in 2014.

Lepe and D-Day, 1944

Lepe was used as a secret manufacturing site. Six massive concrete caissons (type B2

Phoenix breakwaters The Phoenix breakwaters were a set of reinforced concrete caissons built as part of the artificial Mulberry harbours that were assembled as part of the preparations for the Normandy landings during World War II. They were constructed by civil eng ...

) were built here then towed across the Channel where they formed part of the Mulberry harbours used after

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 ...

. Lepe was also one of the many places of embarkation of troops and equipment. Concrete mats shaped like big chocolate blocks reinforced the shingle beach for heavy vehicles. Some remain, as do pier remnants and concrete and brick structures. Lepe beach was where

PLUTO Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

(Pipelines Under The Ocean) left the mainland: carrying fuel across to the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

and under the English Channel to the Allied forces in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

and beyond.

Notes

References

*"D-Day at Lepe" - Pamphlet. Hampshire County Council. *

External links

Hampshire County Council: Lepe Country Park
{{New Forest towns Hamlets in Hampshire New Forest Operation Overlord Populated coastal places in Hampshire Beaches of Hampshire