Placenames
Buckler’s Hard
Buckler’s Hard, a place that launched at least three of the warships commanded by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar The hamlet of Buckler’s Hard, with its two neat rows of brick terraced cottages running out to the Beaulieu River are all that remains today to remind us of the once famous shipyard that used…
Read MoreThe Point Portsmouth
The Point Portsmouth consists of just a few acres around the camber in Old Portsmouth but is bursting with history and character at every step The Point is also known as the Spice Island, the origins of its name lost in the dim past. Maybe it referred to the smell of spices being unloaded or…
Read MoreItchen Abbas Church
Itchen Abbas church of St John the Baptist, is a fine Victorian building that hides a much earlier church Alas the old church placed a great burden on the parish as its ancient walls and tower fell into decay and became unsafe. The church has some architectural remains that suggest it was built in the…
Read MoreAvington Park
Avington Park is a beautiful C18th house whose history is much older than that. It was the lodging house of Nell Gwynne, mistress to King Charles II.
Read MoreThe Incredible Gospel Oak of Avington
The incredible Gospel Oak of Avington has two historic tales to tell. It barely clings to life but it leaves behind it a story of kings and bishops and saints, all wrapped up in the history of Hampshire
Read MoreThe Church in the Woods Bramdean Common
The Church in the Woods at Bramdean Common is one of the most delightful and moving churches in Hampshire. This simple building was erected to serve an itinerant working community in the late C19th.
Read MoreChesapeake Mill
Chesapeake Mill in Wickham is a fine example of a building whose timbers were once creaking across the worlds oceans Outwardly Chesapeake Mill is a grand brick built building, standing tall and dominating the corner in which it sits. It is now an emporium of antique, brik- a- brak and craft units with a tea…
Read MoreDame Mary Donaldson
Dame Mary Donaldson, born in Wickham, was the first female Lord Mayor of the City of London in 800 years Dame Mary Donaldson was a remarkable woman. She was born in her father’s ironmongers shop in Wickham on 29th August 1921 and baptised Dorothy Mary but was called Mary for most of her life. Her…
Read MorePetersfield War Memorial
The Petersfield War Memorial was designed by Harry Inigo Triggs who lived at the house he designed, Little Boarhunt in Liphook Hampshire
Read MoreSt Mary and St Michael Stoke Charity
The church of St Mary and St Michael Stoke Charity was described by John Betjeman ‘This gem like little church is a veritable treasure house of beautiful things and in itself it is also of great beauty’. Enough said….
Read MoreRoyal Navy Submarine Museum Gosport
The Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport provides a unique opportunity to explore a part of maritime history that most of us know little about, operating deep beneath the oceans surface, submarines are hidden from the world. Across the water from Portsmouth, take a walk through the streets of Gosport and it doesn’t take long…
Read MoreDame Alice Lisle
Damo Alice Lisle was the first to be tried by Judge Jeffreys during the court trials in Winchester that became known as the Bloody Assizes
Read MoreHurst Spit Lighthouse
The Pristine Form of the Hurst Spit Lighthouse is just the last of a series of lights to guide mariners through this narrow part of the Solent Hurst Spit lighthouse cannot be accessed directly by car but a walk along the spit to Hurst Castle gives a lovely view of its slender form. A lighthouse…
Read MoreHurst Castle
A Bracing walk along Hurst Spit is rewarded with the chance to explore one of King Henry VIII’s strategically built castles, Hurst Castle Hurst Castle was built in the perfect location from which to defend the western approach to the Solent. The castle was just one of a chain of castles built to defend the…
Read MoreSt John the Baptist Church Boldre
St John the Baptist Church, Boldre has possibly been a site of worship for over 2000 years St John the Baptist Church, Boldre occupies a beautiful location, standing aside the valley of the River Boldre as it cuts its way through the New Forest. It seems to be the perfect setting to foster the literary…
Read MoreBugle Street Southampton
Bugle Street Southampton has some wonderful old merchants houses It is not just the Tudor House or the Medieval Merchants House that are worth looking at in the area around St Michael’s Square in Old Southampton. Cast your eyes around many old merchants houses to get a full flavour of the area when it fizzed…
Read MoreThe Tudor House Southampton
The Tudor House Southampton The Tudor House is one of the oldest and most spendid, buildings in Southampton built in approximately 1495 when King Henry VII was on the thrown and was commissioning the world’s first dry dock in nearby Portsmouth. The site originally belonged to John Whytegod, a wealthy merchant and property owner, who,…
Read MoreSt Mary the Virgin Church Greywell
St Mary the Virgin church in Greywell, is a peaceful C12th sanctuary that sits back from it is a pretty village alongside a pasture full of cows. Its rood-loft only one of two in Hampshire that survived the Reformation.
Read MoreEdward Thomas Poet
Edward Thomas walked the beautiful Hangar country in the vicinity of Petersfield and wrote his moving poetry in sight of the chalk, wood covered slopes
Read MorePriors Dean Church
The church of Priors Dean in Hampshire sits splendidly in its isolation with only an attendant manor house for company.
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