Ringwood

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Ringwood is a picturesque traditional market town of the New Forest and Avon River Valley. It is located at the South West of the county of Hampshire, in southern England.  It is at the county border between Hampshire and Dorset.

 

The New Forest

The New Forest is noted for it’s, mainly unspoiled, heath land, bogs, and forest.  It covers about 376 sq. km (145 sq. miles). The name first appears in documents in about 1079, when it was designated a royal hunting ground by William of Normandy (reigned 1066 to1087) following his conquest of Britain which began with his victory over King Harold (reigned 1066 to 1066)at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.  He and many of his royal successors hunted deer there up to the 16th century both as a recreation and to feed the royal retinue. Thereafter the importance of the area, to the crown, was more as a source of timber for construction and ships.  Including ships to fight the Spanish armada in 1588!

Under Queen Victoria (reigned 1837 to 1901) it ceased to be a Royal Forest.

Today the importance of the New Forest is recognised by its new status as one of only 8 British National Parks. The New Forest National Park was created in March 2005 and the New Forest National Park Authority took up its full powers in April 2006 .  You can find out more from the official website of New Forest National Park Authority.  Currently around 48% of the area is used for commercial timber production and around 24% is managed as wild forest. The balance of the area is used for farming and housing.   Ringwood and most of the Avon river is just outside the National Park Boundary! 

Many visitors come to the area see the ponies and wild animals such as deer badgers and foxes, the unique traditions, the fascinating blend of ancient and modern, the unrivalled natural history resources and preservation of unique traditions.  The ponies like those in the picture roam freely and can be a hazard to the unprepared motorist, as they have no traffic sense!  They are not wild as some people suppose but are owned by Commoners who have rights to let their horses and cattle graze on the forest.  Officials chosen from among the commoners called Verderers supervise this arrangement. Forest main roads have a sensible speed limit of 40 miles per hour and other roads 20 miles per hour.  There are many well signposted Forest car parks which are good for exploring the area, they marked on the OL22 ordnance survey map, obtainable from many local filling stations. 

Under the Forestry Commission Bylaws Act of 1982 this government agency has defined powers to "protect" the new Forest and other forest areas under its control such as Ringwood Forest. 

The River Avon

It forms part of the Western boundary of the New Forest.

A A navigation was begun in 1670 and in 1684 two 25 ton barges were able to pass Ringwood on route from the sea at Christchurch to Salisbury.  Severe floods soon destroyed the works and in 1699 a bill was presented to parliament to compensate those whose property had suffered damage. A number of later attempts to reopen the navigation failed, owing to the likely cost of the works. In consequence the river was saved from becoming a "polluted avenue of commerce" like the Severn or the Trent.

The waters were once used use to power up to three water mills in Ringwood.  These were principally used for corn grinding. The waters also once powered the Ringwood Hydro electric plant.  All good examples of the way our ancestors used renewable energy!

The poet Robert Southey (1774-1843) described the river near Ringwood:

"Nor fraught with merchant wealth,
 nor famed in song,
 this river rolls an unobtrusive tide,
its gentle charms may satisfy thy feelings"

A little History

The name Ringwood comes either from the Saxon "Rimuc Wude" (mentioned in a 955 land grant to Wilton Abbey) meaning at the forest edge or from the 1086 Domesday book "Rincvede" relating to the ford (vede) over the river Avon.  One source suggests that the Rincvede was an error by the Norman scribe in writing the Saxon name. I like to imagine the Saxon locals, resentful of their conquest, giving the French speaking Normans some misdirection over the place names!  Just to add to the confusion Wikipedia has the Domesday version as "Rincewed"; meaning 'the wood of the Regni' an ancient people of Britain.

 

The market charter was granted by King Henry lll in 1226 to the then Lord of the Manor Richard Marshall third earl of Pembroke for a weekly market held on Wednesdays.  It is still held to this day although the original purpose as cattle market has changed to consumer goods and local farmers produce.  The car parks fills up very early, evidence of its ongoing popularity.

A plaque on the wall of a house by the parish church in Ringwood states the following:  " James Duke of Monmouth the eldest son of Charles II, defeated in revolt against his uncle James II and captured in a ditch near Horton, was brought to this spot on 8 July 1685 and was interrogated in the vicarage, which stood near here. He was held for two nights in the house in West street, which bears his name, he was then  taken to London  where he was beheaded a week later."
Monmouth House

The King's retribution for Monmouth's rebellion was the Bloody Assize conducted by judge Jeffrey's.  This left the local people unscathed with the exception of the unfortunate Dame Alice Lisle who harboured fugitives in her house Moyles Court, 3 miles to the North of Ringwood, and paid for it with her life.  Moyles Court is now a school, of the same name. In the Second World War, 1939/45, the house served as station headquarters for the air base RAF Ibsley. and the airfield was within the grounds. 

Ringwood Today

Parking in Ringwood used to be free, now only the Waitrose car park is free with a time limit.  Residents can obtain a money saving pass for time limited parking in the main car park and some other places.  This charge upset local traders at the time as motorists have a choice of shopping with free parking in Ferndown and at some places on the periphery of Bournemouth with a wider choice of shops.  On the credit side there are independent and competitive fishmonger butcher and greengrocer which we support.

Those watchers of the popular TV series "The Brittas Empire" may not be aware that Ringwood sports centre was used as the location for the series.  Debbie and our two daughters Juliet and Rebecca enjoyed one or two moments of glory as extras! Ringwood Sports Centre Entrance

The area is very accessible by footpath and public road.  For the walker a notable facility is the Avon  valley path which follows the river Avon through Ringwood on its way from Christchurch (9.5 miles) to Salisbury (24.5 miles).  This provides unique views of the beautiful river particularly just south of Ringwood. North of Ringwood the path passes first by some interesting  lakes and then the historic Moyles Court before turning West to join the river.  These lakes are flooded gravel extraction sites with names like Blashford Kingfisher and Rockford. The photograph was taken on Bickerley common. 

From the west Ringwood can be approached on foot or 2 wheels via the Castleman Trailway this in many places follows the disused “Southampton & Dorchester Railway”.  The railway was opened in 1847 as part of a connection between Dorchester and Southampton and closed in the 1960's as part of the controversial modernisation under Dr. Beeching later Lord Beeching.  I once had lunch with Lord Beeching  when he was chairman of Redland PLC and was advised not to mention railways!!

Castleman was one of the original Promoters of the railway and in its day it was referred to as Castleman's Corkscrew owing to the tortuous route. The Trailway runs from Poole to just East of Ringwood. It also intersects the Avon Valley Path at Ringwood making for some interesting walks. The  Trailway has been extended once from Ashley Twinning to its current position.  The photograph was taken  Ashley Twinning before the Right of Way issue was resolved.  I would like to encourage Hampshire County Council to facilitate the extension of the Trailway towards the point where the railway joined the current rail network.

 In addition to the New Forest there are other nearby areas of heath land that have public access.  Notable are the Avon Heath and Moors Valley Country Parks.  Each has a visitor’s centre and excellent parking although the latter makes a charge.  It is noteworthy that these parks are across the border in the County of Dorset.   The sign posting of a safe cycle route joining these parks was completed in 1999.  

For the car driver the Moors Valley car park and visitors centre , both get very  ,busy in the school holidays despite the high car entry prices as there are a lot child related activities such as the steam railway, swings and a path through the tree tops.  For the cyclist, walker and horse rider there is lots of space at all times and free access.  The Castleman Trailway runs along part of its southern boundary and is an excellent way of accessing the park.

Ringwood and Fordingbridge Footpath Society

This society, of which we have been members for 13 years, exists to promote and preserve the interests of footpath users.  For those interested in learning more about the Society they can be  can be contacted via the website www.rffs.org.uk/ .  Members of the society regularly lead very interesting walks of generally  between 4 and 10 miles in length and within Hampshire Wiltshire and Dorset.  These are announced on the website. 

Here is a picture of us on one of the walks. Debbie and Philip on footpath walk

Ringwood Beer

There is a fine tradition of brewing in Ringwood. The beer is mentioned in the records of the celebrations in the town of Monmouth's defeat. "Ringwood ale flowed merrily and long".  The last traditional brewery Carters closed in 1923.  Fortunately a new brewery  opened in 1978 , originally a microbrewery, at the southern end of the town and, in my opinion, has grown to produce some real ale of excellent character although sometimes served a little too cold for my taste. My favourite is "Ringwood Best" often drunk at "The Fish Inn". Recently this ancient building has received some necessary reconstruction. This has been done sensitively and the building has kept its charm.  When it reopened the local paper gave it an excellent review in which the food received justified praise.  For a fuller range of Ringwood the Brewery shop sells bottled versions and their tied house such as the Inn on the Furlong.

The modern brewery and tied houses can be contacted via their web site.  From personal experience I recommend a tour.   http://www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk/. 

The Parish Church

At the time of the market charter in 1226 a Saxon church was in use.  Thereafter a new church was  constructed.  Sources indicate that it was complete except for the tower by 1290. This church was pulled down and rebuilt during the ministry of Charles Henry Maturin m.a. 1845-1862. The present chancel is not only a replica of the former one but retains, from the original building, all the surviving Purbeck marble shafts, "heads" over the 16 narrow (lancet) windows, the remaining pillars and capitals of these windows and the double stone basin (Double Piscina) used for washing communion vessels.  These features were recovered from a coating of Georgian whitewash applied in a period, 1714-1830, when they must have been regarded somewhat differently!

In the 1930's when it became necessary to construct a road bypass to Ringwood some of the church land was used.  In consequence the modern A31 trunk road passes very close to the church, as you can see from the picture. Today the church take advantage of the situation to give, on occasions, a Christian thought to passing motorists via prominent sign board. My recent favourites: "Travel Safely go with God" and at the time of the eclipse of the sun "Our Son Jesus Christ cannot be eclipsed". Not to mention the millennium messages:

 

Adjacent Villages Ashley Heath

Ordnance Survey Map of Ringwood today

Ordnance Survey map of Ringwood 1872

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