History
North and South Charford are usually identified with the "Cerdic's ford" which appears twice in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . It first is mentioned under the entry for the year 508 when we are told that following a battle to the east "the land as far as Cerdic's ford was named Natanleaga [1] " For the year 519 we are told that "Cerdic and Cynric succeeded to the kingdom [of the West Saxons]; and in the same year they fought against the Britons at a place called Cerdic's ford". If a battle really did take place here then it is possible that the boundary of Hampshire was first established here. [2]
In the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, North Charford (Cerdeford) was a fairly large settlement of 29 households. [3] The lands were split between the Earl of Salisbury and "Alwy son of Turber". [3] That which Alwy owned may subsequently have become the manor of Hale. [4] Richard II was overlord of North Charford in 1397, but subsequently the Bulkeleys claimed the overlordship, asserting that the manor was held of them as of their manor of Nether Burgate and their hundred of Fordingbridge. [5] This was denied by Edward Abarowe, lord of North Charford in 1563, but seventy years later Sir William Bulkeley was stated to be the overlord. [5]
In the beginning of the 13th century Hamo de Bachamton and Geoffrey son of John held the manor conjointly. [5] Around 1280 William Gerberd held the manor, which passed to his heir John Gerberd. [5] Alice was holding it in 1316. Her son William Gerberd sold the manor before 1353 to Walter Abarowe, on whose death it passed to his widow Isabel. [5] She subsequently married Hugh Tyrell, and died in 1370, leaving a son and heir John Abarowe. [5] The manor remained in the Abarowe family down to the 17th century. [5] It was purchased in the 18th century by Thomas Archer, or his nephew Henry Archer, who was holding it at the time of his death in 1768. [5] It then followed the same descent as Hale until the 19th century, when it was sold to John Coventry of Burgate manor. [5]
A chapel was built by the beginning of the 14th century. It is said to have been founded for one priest "to sing in the same chapel for the ease of the inhabitants of the manor of North Chartforde." [5] The chapel with its tithes is mentioned in 1628, but before 1727 it was in ruins, and there is no trace of it at the present day. [5]
North Charford was an ancient parish, usually considered separate from that of South Charford. [5] The population of North Charford in 1870 was just 70 people living in 15 houses. [6] By the beginning of the 20th century North Charford consisted of only a few scattered houses and the old manor-house, converted in 1880 by Professor Wrightson into an agricultural college. [5] The civil parish of North Charford was abolished in 1932. [7]
Today, the old manor of North Charford is located in the civil parish of Breamore, on the west bank of the River Avon. The Ordnance Survey though, also marks North Charford about one mile to the east in the village of Hale. The ancient parish having comprised land on both the west and east sides of the River Avon.
Cerdic is cited in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as a leader of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, being the founder and first king of Saxon Wessex, reigning from 519 to 534 AD. Subsequent kings of Wessex were each claimed by the Chronicle to descend in some manner from Cerdic. His origin, ethnicity, and even his very existence have been extensively disputed.
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 to the Dorset and Wiltshire borders and on the edge of the New Forest, with museum and a late medieval 7-arch bridge. It is 81 miles (130 km) southwest of London, and 10 miles (16 km) south of the city of Salisbury. Fordingbridge is a former market town. The Avon Valley Path passes through the town. The town excluding linear settlement Sandleheath has a density of 30.2 persons per hectare.
Hordle is a village and civil parish in the county of Hampshire, England. It is situated between the Solent coast and the New Forest, and is bordered by the towns of Lymington and New Milton. Like many New Forest parishes Hordle has no village centre. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Tiptoe and Everton as well as part of Downton. The parish was originally much larger; stretching from the New Forest boundary to Hurst Castle.
Brimpton is a mostly rural village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England. The village occupies a few square miles of land between the Kennet and Avon Canal, a long tributary the Enborne which is used as part of the Hampshire boundary and the winding slopes of an escarpment in the far south-east, beyond the Enborne which is almost contiguous with the larger settlement of Baughurst a wood-buffered part of Tadley post town. This high common field contains five round barrows from the period of the Heptarchy in Anglo Saxon England.
Rockbourne is a village and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire, close to Fordingbridge.
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 has an Anglo-Saxon rood.
Godshill is a village and civil parish and in New Forest National Park in Hampshire, England. It is about 1 1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) east of the town of Fordingbridge and 10 miles (16 km) south of the city of Salisbury.
Hale is a small village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It lies on the border of the New Forest, overlooking the valley of the River Avon. The village is about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north-east of the town of Fordingbridge, and about 8 miles (13 km) south of the city of Salisbury. Within the parish stands Hale House, a large 18th-century mansion which was the country house of architect Thomas Archer, who also rebuilt Hale church in 1717.
South Charford is a hamlet in the New Forest district, in Hampshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Breamore on the west bank of the River Avon.
Natanleod, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, was a king of the Britons. His inclusion in the Chronicle is believed to be the product of folk etymology.
Bickton is a hamlet in the New Forest District of Hampshire, England. It is within the civil parish of Fordingbridge and is situated by the River Avon.
Netley Marsh is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, close to the town of Totton. It lies within the New Forest District, and the New Forest National Park. It is the alleged site of the battle between an invading Anglo Saxon army, under Cerdic and a British army under Natanleod in the year 508.
Sopley is a village and civil parish situated in the New Forest National Park of Hampshire, England. It lies on the old main road from Christchurch to Ringwood, on the east bank of the River Avon. The Parish extends east as far as Thorny Hill and borders the parishes of Bransgore and Burton to the south and west respectively. It lies down the road from a small hamlet called Ripley. It includes the hamlets of Shirley, Avon and Ripley. The area is mainly rural with less than 300 dwellings.
Burgate is a hamlet situated on the western edge of the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, England. The hamlet is situated on the A338 road. The nearest town is Fordingbridge, which lies approximately 0.5 miles (1 km) to the southwest.
South Gorley is a hamlet in the New Forest National Park of Hampshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Ellingham, Harbridge and Ibsley. Its nearest town is Ringwood, which lies approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) south-west of the hamlet.
North Gorley is a hamlet in the New Forest National Park of Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Fordingbridge, which lies approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the hamlet.
John Doddington was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640.
Hale Manor is a manor house on the Isle of Wight, situated in the parish of Arreton. It forms the south-eastern portion of the parish adjoining Newchurch, and comprises the high ground to the south of the River Yar above Horringford.
Sir William Doddington (1572–1638) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1622.
Avon Tyrrell is an historic manor within the parish of Sopley, Hampshire. It is situated within the New Forest, near Christchurch. The present manor house was built in 1891 by John Manners-Sutton, 3rd Baron Manners (1852–1927).
