Ashley, New Forest
Ashley | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | New Milton | |
Postcode district | BH25 | |
Dialling code | 01425 | |
Police | Hampshire and Isle of Wight | |
Fire | Hampshire and Isle of Wight | |
Ambulance | South Central | |
New Forest West | ||
Ashley is a village located in the southwest of
History
Prehistory
Humans have lived in the Ashley area for thousands of years. Two
Early history
The name Ashley means "ash wood/clearing".
Ashley Arnewood
At a later date the manor of Ashley was joined with part of another manor to the east called Arnewood, the combination of the two being known as the manor of Ashley Arnewood.
The manors of Arnewood and Ashley remained in the Compton family up to the 17th century, but by 1632 it was in the possession of Roger Tulse.[5] In 1670 it belonged to George Stanley,[5] and an estate in north-east Ashley is still called Stanleys.[7] In 1803 William Ireland and his wife Betty transferred the manor of Ashley Arnewood to Richard Randell.[5] In 1845, the politician John Arthur Roebuck purchased Ashley Arnewood, which is described as having 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land attached to it.[8] Because of his engagements in London, much of the actual farming at Ashley Arnewood was conducted by his wife until they chose to sell the estate in 1854.[8] The estate was later purchased by the political philosopher and author Auberon Herbert in the 1870s and he lived there until his wife's death in 1886.[9] The old manor house of Ashley Arnewood still survives on the western side of Ashley,[10] although today it is a nursing home.[11]
Ashley Manor Farm
Another manor at Ashley still exists as a farm to the southwest of the village. Ashley Manor Farm, on Lymington Road, is an 18th-century farmhouse.[12]
Ashley Clinton
Another estate centre, dating from the 19th century, was that of Ashley Clinton, to the south of the current village, it was the residence of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Renebald Clinton.[13] The house, which still stands, dates from the early 19th century.[14]
The village
A
Ashley Great and Little Commons were inclosed in 1862.[13] The population of Ashley in the 1860s was just over 500 people.[19] William Charles Retford, who became a maker of violin bows, was born in Ashley in 1875. He would later publish his memories of growing up in Ashley:
I was born (June 1875) in a cottage in what is now Ashley Road; situated south of the lane at the base of the hill by the brook. This spot was known as "Litchford". As a tiny tot it had the elements of a fairyland to me. Fern Hill woods were west of the lane, east were a narrow meadow and Ashley Arnewood woods. In the spring these were a carpet of bluebells through which I waded; they were shoulder high to me. We never entered Fern Hill Woods; they were a game reserve and there were notices saying "Beware of Spring Guns." On the north edge of the lane from the top of the hill to Ashley Cross Road wild daffodils grew by thousands, none to the south but primroses and violets. . . . Mrs Corbin kept a little shop at the Cross Road, where we bought our sweets, a parrot on the counter. This was furze or common ground and a bog with water lilies. The railway was built over this and opened 1887-8.[20]
Mrs Corbin's little shop at the cross roads described by William Charles Retford has now been Restored to a Victorian looking Barbershop and soon the rear of the shop will be open at an old school gym, the Barbershop has all the original tongue and groove wood from when it was built.
A school was built at Ashley in 1879, at the west end of Hare Lane. In its final years it was used as a
Writers Laurence Housman and his sister Clemence Housman, who lived at Ashley between 1913 and 1924.[23][24]
In World War II, two fortified bunkers known as pillboxes were built in Ashley to defend against a possible German invasion by sea. One of these pillboxes can still be seen in a field in Lower Ashley today.[25] One other relic from World War II is visible on the northeastern corner of Ashley Crossroads. The car repair workshop there was originally one of the aircraft hangars at RAF Beaulieu.[26]
For decades a major industry in the area has been gravel extraction. New Milton Sand and Ballast[27] has been extracting gravel from gravel pits in south Ashley since before 1950.[28]
Because Ashley has no defined boundary the modern population of Ashley can only be estimated, but the population in the
Amenities
A parade of shops, containing a convenience store, pharmacy, four Take-Away food restaurants, two hairdressers, and a physiotherapy store, is located next to Ashley Crossroads, the original Ashley shop is now a traditional Barbershop and strength and conditioning gym. A large recreation ground is located close to the centre of Ashley, and is home to New Milton and District Rugby Club.[29] Two primary schools are located in Ashley, and are known as Ashley Infant school and Ashley Junior school.
The village had two
References
- ^ a b Population for West Ashley = 1419. Population for East Ashley = 1,539. But there is also a substantial population in North Ashley (1, 2) of around 1000 to 2000 people.
- ^ a b "Hampshire Treasures Volume 5 (New Forest), page 258". Archived from the original on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
- ^ a b Old Hampshire Gazetteer
- ^ a b "Domesday Map: Ashley". Archived from the original on 8 September 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j William Page (editor), 1912, A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 5 (1912), pp. 110–115
- ^ a b William Page (editor), 1912, A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 5 (1912), pp. 635–638
- ^ A. T. Lloyd, J. E. S. Brooks, (1996), The History of New Milton and its Surrounding Area, Centenary Edition, page 28
- ^ a b Robert Eadon Leader, (1897), Life and letters of John Arthur Roebuck, page 155
- ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 2. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ British Listed Buildings – 32, New Milton
- ^ Care Home Guide South East England, 2008, page 112
- ^ British Listed Buildings – Ashley Manor Farmhouse, New Milton
- ^ a b William Page (editor), 1912, A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 5 (1912), pp. 124–127
- ^ British Listed Buildings – Ashley Clinton, New Milton
- ^ a b A. T. Lloyd, J. E. S. Brooks, (1996), The History of New Milton and its Surrounding Area, Centenary Edition, page 38
- ^ 2nd Ashley Baptist Church – New Milton, an Online Record
- ^ a b St Peter's Church, Ashley—a brief history Archived 29 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ A. T. Lloyd, J. E. S. Brooks, (1996), The History of New Milton and its Surrounding Area, Centenary Edition, page 26
- ^ John Marius Wilson, (1870–72), Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–72)
- ^ Reminiscences of William Charles Retford, Published in Hampshire Magazine, Vol. 20, No. 3, January 1980
- ^ A. T. Lloyd, J. E. S. Brooks, (1996), The History of New Milton and its Surrounding Area, Centenary Edition, page 37
- ^ A. T. Lloyd, J. E. S. Brooks, (1996), The History of New Milton and its Surrounding Area, Centenary Edition, page 86
- ^ A. T. Lloyd, J. E. S. Brooks, (1996), The History of New Milton and its Surrounding Area, Centenary Edition, page 66
- ^ "Hampshire Treasures Volume 5 (New Forest), page 268". Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
- ^ "Hampshire Treasures Volume 5 (New Forest), page 267". Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
- ^ Beaulieu Airfield Archived 26 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Hampshire Airfields, retrieved 10 July 2011
- ^ New Milton Sand and Ballast
- ^ Edward Molloy, (1950), Highway Engineers' Reference Book: For local government and civil engineers and contractors, 1950–51, page 452
- ^ New Milton & District RFC
- ^ "The Ashley Hotel ... to be turned into a convenience store". Southern Daily Echo. 13 March 2015.
External links
- Ashley in the Domesday Book
- Old photographs of Ashley
- Article containing the reminiscences of Charles William Retford, at The Cooper Collection
- Ashley Infant school
- Ashley Junior school