history week

The Hamble Valley area has a rich history; within a few miles of the Centre you can find a Roman Road, Anglo Saxon earthworks, Norman churches, two 13th century abbeys, a 15th century wreck (the oldest naval wreck in British coastal waters), 16th century castles, - plus evidence of more recent history such as the early 20th century aircraft industry and, right around the Centre, a top secret D-Day encampment called HMS Cricket.

history matters

Exploring the local area on foot and by boat can bring history to life.  Classroom learning is not for everyone; getting out into the woods, onto the river, walking down ancient trackways, looking at old buildings, helps people understand history. There is much to visit in the neighbourhood from local fishing and shipbuilding villages to the remains of Tudor castles and medieval monastic buildings.

HMS Cricket left its mark on the topography of Manor Farm woods.  Explore the woods and you may find the bases of army huts, Brylcreem bottles discarded by off-duty soldiers half a century ago and empty jars of "Haywards Military Pickle". 

Nearby villages include Botley: a small market town, with buildings dating back to Tudor times, chimneys that point towards the sea, a farm museum displaying farmhouse life of a century ago and two churches - with parish records going back to 1690.  It's possible to match up gravestones in the churchyard with entries in the parish registers - and then find the homes of the people concerned.

Netley: at one end of Netley village is the remains of a Cistercian Abbey; at the other end is Britain's first Military Hospital, where Queen Victoria was a regular visitor.  There's a castle that Elizabeth I is said to have stayed in (Baden Powell certainly did - he came to Netley for his honeymoon!).  Visitors to the Abbey include  Constable, Jane Austen and many others. In between the bookends of the Abbey and the hospital is a pretty Victorian village.

Hamble, Bursledon, Swanwick and Warsash, on the lower part of the river, are shipbuilding villages, responsible between them for over 50 Royal Navy ships built between 1693 and 1813.    Traces of the shipbuilding sites can still be seen and there's tales of smugglers and pirates, shipwrecks and sea battles.

Bishops Waltham Palace is one of a number of ancient monuments in the area worth exploring as is Portchester Castle: an English Heritage site; this started as a Roman castle to keep out the Saxons - the longest unbroken stretch of Roman wall in Europe, incidentally - until the Romans moved out and, you guessed it, the Saxons moved in.  The Normans built a new castle within the old Roman walls -  and the castle served English kings for the next few centuries.  There is a spiral staircase to the top of the tower - and there's a wonderful view from the top of Portsmouth Harbour.

As the eminent Victorian novelist Charlotte Yonge (who actually wrote a poem about the woods around here!) said "a little investigation brings to light, in countless other places, much that is well worth remembrance."