Beaulieu ( ) is a village located on the southeastern edge of 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 ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England. It is home to both

Palace House The National Horseracing Museum (NHRM) is a museum in Newmarket, Suffolk dedicated to the history of horseracing. It covers a 5-acre site on Palace Street in the centre of the town, having previously been housed in the Jockey Club Rooms on New ...

and the National Motor Museum. In 2020, it was named the fifth most beautiful village in the UK and Ireland by ''

Condé Nast Traveler ''Condé Nast Traveler'' is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine published by Condé Nast. The magazine has won 25 National Magazine Awards. The Condé Nast unit of Advance Publications purchased ''Signature'', a magazine for Diners Club me ...

''.

History

The name "Beaulieu" comes from the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

''beau lieu'', which means "beautiful place". It is derived from

Beaulieu Abbey Beaulieu Abbey was a Cistercian abbey in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1203–1204 by John of England, King John and (uniquely in England in the Middle Ages, Britain) populated by 30 monks sent from the abbey of Cîteaux in France, the ...

, which was populated by 30 monks sent from the French abbey of Cîteaux, the mother house of the

Cistercian order The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

. The medieval Latin name of the monastery was ''Bellus Locus Regis'' ("the beautiful place of the king") or ''monasterium Belli loci Regis''. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Beaulieu Estate of Lord Montagu in the

was the site of group B schools for agents operated by the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

(SOE) between 1941 and 1945. One of the trainers was

Kim Philby Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1 January 191211 May 1988) was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963, he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring that had divulged British secr ...

, who was later found to be spying for the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

. In 2005, a special exhibition was installed at the Beaulieu Estate, with a video showing photographs from that era as well as voice recordings of former SOE trainers and agents. The village has remained largely unspoilt by industrial progress and is a favourite stop for tourists in the area, as well as birdwatchers seeking local species like the

Dartford warbler The Dartford warbler (''Curruca undata'') is a typical warbler from the warmer parts of western Europe and northwestern Africa. It is a small warbler with a long thin tail and a thin pointed bill. The adult male has grey-brown upperparts and is d ...

European honey buzzard The European honey buzzard (''Pernis apivorus''), also known as the pern or common pern, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Taxonomy The European honey buzzard was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in ...

, and

Eurasian hobby The Eurasian hobby (''Falco subbuteo'') or just hobby, is a small, slim falcon. It belongs to a group of similar falcons often considered a subgenus '' Hypotriorchis''. Taxonomy and systematics The first formal description of the Eurasian hobby ...

Transport

The nearest railway station is Beaulieu Road, about away on the London-Weymouth main line. While the station previously had infrequent service, 20 trains a day now stop there.

Wilts & Dorset Wilts & DorsetCompanies House extract company no 1671355
Wi ...

bus service 112 serves the village on its way between

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a hamlet in Canada England *The ...

and

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest (district), New Forest district of Hampshire, England. The town faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a Roll-on/roll-off, car ferry s ...

. In the summer, Beaulieu is served by the

New Forest Tour The New Forest Tour is an open-top bus service in the New Forest, running three circular routes around various towns, attractions and villages in the protected forest. It is run by morebus and Bluestar (bus company), Bluestar in partnership with ...

, an hourly open-top bus service.

Palace House

, not to be confused with the

Palace of Beaulieu 350px, Beaulieu Palace circa 1580 The Palace of Beaulieu ( ) or Newhall is a former royal palace in Boreham, Essex, England, north-east of Chelmsford. The surviving part is a Grade I listed building. The property is currently occupied by New Ha ...

in Essex, overlooks the village from across 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. ...

and began in 1204 as the gatehouse to

. It has been the ancestral home of a branch of the Montagu family since 1538, when it was seized from the monks and sold during

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

's Dissolution of the Monasteries. The house was extended in the 16th century, and again in the 19th century; today, it is a fine example of a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

country house. Although still home to the current Lord and Lady Montagu, parts of the house and gardens are open to the public every day. It is a member of the

Treasure Houses of England The Treasure Houses of England group is a heritage consortium. It was founded in the early 1970s by nine of the foremost stately homes in England still in private ownership, with the aim of marketing and promoting themselves as tourist venues. Ho ...

consortium.

Culture

The village is home to the National Motor Museum, opened in 1952 as the Montagu Motor Museum before becoming a charitable trust in 1972. It contains an important collection of historic motor vehicles, including four world

land speed record The land speed record (LSR) or absolute land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. By a 1964 agreement between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de M ...

holders: Sir

Malcolm Campbell Major Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a 1 ...

's 1920

Sunbeam 350hp The Sunbeam 350HP is an aero-engined car built by the Sunbeam company in 1920, the first of several land speed record-breaking cars with aircraft engines. Design The car was fitted with a purpose built 18.8-litre V12 engine based on a hybrid ...

, his son

Donald Campbell Donald Malcolm Campbell, (23 March 1921 – 4 January 1967) was a British speed record breaker who broke eight absolute world speed records on water and on land in the 1950s and 1960s. He remains the only person to set both world land a ...

's 1961 Bluebird-Proteus CN7, the 1927

Sunbeam 1000hp The Sunbeam 1000 HP ''Mystery'', or "''The Slug''", is a land speed record-breaking car built by the Sunbeam car company of Wolverhampton that was powered by two aircraft engines. It was the first car to travel at over 200 mph. The car's la ...

(the first

motor car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one bil ...

to reach ), and the 1929 Irving-Napier Special ' Golden Arrow'. The latter two were both driven by Major

Henry Segrave Sir Henry O'Neal de Hane Segrave (22 September 1896 – 13 June 1930) was an early British pioneer in land speed and water speed records. Segrave, who set three land and one water record, was the first person to hold both titles simultaneou ...

. In the late 1950s, Beaulieu was the surprising location for one of Britain's first experiments in

pop festival Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

culture, with the annual Beaulieu Jazz Festival, which quickly expanded to become a significant event in the burgeoning jazz and youth pop music scene of the period. Camping overnight, a rural invasion, eccentric dress, wild music and sometimes wilder behaviour; these now familiar features of pop festivals happened at Beaulieu each summer, culminating in the so-called 'Battle of Beaulieu' at the 1960 festival, when rival gangs of modern and traditional jazz fans indulged in a spot of what sociologists went on to call 'subcultural contestation'.McKay 2004, 2005

In popular culture

Palace House was featured in the comedy-drama film '' Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont'' (2005).

References

Bibliography

* Lord Montagu of Beaulieu (2000) ''Wheels Within Wheels: An Unconventional Life.'' London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. * George McKay (2004) '"Unsafe things like youth and jazz": Beaulieu Jazz Festivals (1956–61) and the origins of pop festival culture in Britain'. In Andy Bennett, ed. ''Remembering Woodstock'' (Aldershot: Ashgate). * George McKay (2005) ''Circular Breathing: The Cultural Politics of Jazz in Britain'', chapter one 'New Orleans jazz, protest (Aldermaston) and carnival (Beaulieu azz Festival 1956-61'. Durham NC: Duke University Press.

External links

{{Authority control Villages in Hampshire Tourist attractions in Hampshire New Forest District