Brockenhurst, a wonderful place to stay for your walking and rambling holiday

Brockenhurst is old English for Badger of which there are plenty around here.

The history of Brockenhurst goes back some four thousand years to the Bronze age. The surrounding area is dotted with Tumuli, burial grounds, but even though it existed in Saxon times it was not until after William the Conqueror had won the Battle of hastings in 1066 did he create his Nove Forest(New Forest) in 1079.

It was a vast hunting area stretching from Barton -on-sea west to what is now Bournemouth up to his capital Winchester

In 1083 the Domesday book recorded that there were 4 Saxon Manors in the Brockenhurst area, Mapleham which no longer exists, Winchelsea to the west. Brochelie now called Brookley but by 1348 during the time of the black death all mention of Brochelie ceased to exist.

The fourth Saxon manor was called Broceste pronounced Brockerste from which the village got it's current name.

St Nicholas' Church during this early time was a chapel to the Twynham, now Christchurch, Priory and it was here that William Rufus (Rufus so called because of his red face) who was the third son of William the Conqueror and became William second 1087 - 1100 worshiped and issued two writs from here.

Later whilst hunting a few miles away William was shot through the lung, in an accident, by Walter Tyrrel and there is a Rufus stone commemorating the spot where he is alleged to have fallen.

By the eighteenth century the village had grown as it was on a Toll road (Turnpike) leading to the coastal port of Lymington where regular mail coaches ran.

Around 1770 Edward Morant whose family made vast sums of money in Jamaca and after whom a number of roads and places were named in honour of him purchased Brockenhurst House and rebuilt it as a large Georgian mansion.

During the second world war all of the New Forest sheltered and gave succor to troops home and from our allies prior to the invasion of Northern France in 1944 and the whole area around here was naturally was a key assembly point.

In the grave yard of St. Saviours Church can be found the resting bodies of nearly 100 New Zealanders who died in that terrible war. Also there lay the remains of Brusher Mills a man imortalised with photos and tales in the museum ot Lyndhurst telling of his Snake Cattching exploits.

When the Railways passed through enroute to the west a station was built and is still in use, bring more life to the village.

Today Brockenhurst is a thriving village with the College situated on the road from Lyndhurst to Lymington and only yards from the railway station, repudted to be one of the finest Colleges in the country.

It is a must place to visit and stay for walking and rambling holidays due to it being in the heart of the forest. Being within easy reach of coastal resorts and easily acceessable from the M27 motorway making it only 90 minutes from London it is really is worth a visit.

The main street has a delightful selection of individual shops and at the western end is one of two streams that flow over the road in Brockenhurst.

Twinned with the French Village of Pont St Martin, Loire Atlantique in France, both villages exchange cultural interests parties throughout the yeargiving a wider looking aspect to the residents of this delightful New Forest Village.

In fact it has become a bit of a watering hole for the animals that roam the forest and the residents who live or visit here. Return to New Forest Villages

Back to the to of Brockenhurst