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Top Attractions in New Forest

Knightwood Oak

The Knightwood Oak is a pedunculate oak and the largest, and perhaps most famous, oak tree in the New Forest in southern England. It is also known as the Queen of the Forest. It is over 500 years old and has a girth of 7.38 metres . The tree is still growing. It was pollarded when about 200 years old and thought to have been last pollarded about 150 years ago. The tree is located about 2.4 miles WSW of Lyndhurst and just north of the A35 road at grid reference SU265065. There is a carpark nearby and a gravel path, suitable for wheelchairs, leads to and around the tree. An interpretative panel explains the trees history. A fence encircles the tree to protect its roots from soil compaction due to foot traffic. The tree has been popular with visitors for a long time and at the height of its fame, in Victorian times, people would come from far and wide to see it. It is even reputed to have been visited by Henry VIII during a hunting expedition in the forest. In February 2006 the Forestry Commission harvested twigs from the tree to produce new ‘Knightwood’ oaks with identical genes. Some will be planted near the original tree, while others will go to New Park, near Brockenhurst.

Southampton Water

Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point. Along its salt marsh-fringed western shores lie the New Forest villages of Hythe and "the waterside", Dibden Bay, and the Esso oil refinery at Fawley. On the slightly steeper eastern shore are the Southampton suburb of Weston, the villages of Netley and Hamble-le-Rice, and the Royal Victoria Country Park. Together with the Solent, Southampton Water is world-renowned for yachting. It served as one of the sailing and motorboating venues for the 1908 Summer Olympics. Geographically, Southampton Water is classified as a ria, or drowned valley, of the English Channel. It was formed by the rivers Test, Itchen and Hamble which flow into it, and became an inlet of the sea at the end of the last ice age when sea levels rose, flooding many valleys in the south of England. In particular, it is likely that Southampton Water formed partly due to the submerging of the River Solent which previously flowed through the area, and of which the River Test, River Itchen and River Medina are thought to be tributaries. Southamptons emergence as a major port, and particularly as a port handling very large vessels, depended partly on certain geographical features of Southampton Water. Its depth, even in its undeveloped state, was generous; this depth of water has been increased over the years with comparative ease since the soft silt of the river-bed allows for easy dredging. An additional factor is the phenomenon of the "double tide", which results in unusually prolonged periods of high water. This greatly facilitates the movements of very large ships. Southampton Water is an estuary with major potential for land use conflicts. An area of urban development runs in the narrow band of land between Southampton Water and the New Forest National Park. Villages such as Marchwood, Hythe, Dibden Purlieu, Holbury and Fawley have all experienced significant growth.

Exbury Gardens

Exbury Gardens is a famous garden in Hampshire, England, which belongs to a branch of the Rothschild family. It is situated in the village of Exbury, just to the east of Beaulieu across the river from Bucklers Hard. It is well signposted from Beaulieu and from the A326 Southampton to Fawley road in the New Forest. Exbury is a 200-acre informal woodland garden with very large collections of rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias, and is often considered the finest garden of its type in the United Kingdom. Exbury holds the national collection of Nyssa and Oxydendrum under the NCCPG National Plant Collection scheme run by the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens. Other features include the Hydrangea Walk, the Rock Garden, Iris Garden, the Sundial Garden which follows an exotic planting, and a Camellia Walk .

Beaulieu River

The Beaulieu River , formerly known as the River Exe, is a small river flowing through the New Forest in the county of Hampshire in southern England. The river is some 12 miles long, of which the last 4 miles are tidal. Unusually, the entire river, including its bed, is owned by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. The Beaulieu River rises near Lyndhurst in the centre of the New Forest, and flows east and then south across the forest heaths to the village of Beaulieu. At Beaulieu the river becomes tidal and once drove a tide mill in the village. Below Beaulieu the tidal river continues to flow through the Forest, passing the village of Bucklers Hard and entering the sea through the Solent . The tidal river below Beaulieu village is navigable to small craft. Bucklers Hard was once a significant shipbuilding centre, building many wooden sailing ships, both merchant and naval and including Nelsons Agamemnon. Since 2000 the navigable channel at the entrance to the river has been marked by a lighthouse known as the Millennium Lighthouse or the Beaulieu River Beacon.

Hurst Castle

Not to be confused with Hearst Castle, a resort built in the US by wealthy newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst. Hurst Castle is an artillery fort established by Henry VIII on the Hurst Spit in Hampshire, between 1541 and 1544. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended the western entrance to the Solent waterway. The early castle had a central keep and three bastions, and in 1547 was equipped with 26 guns. It was expensive to operate due to its size, but it formed one of the most powerful forts along the coast. During the English Civil War of the 1640s, Hurst was held by Parliament and was used briefly to detain King Charles I before his execution in 1648. It continued in use during the 18th century but fell into disrepair, the spit being frequented by smugglers. Repairs were made during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars with France, and the castle was modernised to enable it hold 24-pounder guns. Fresh fears of invasion followed in the 1850s, leading to heavier, 32-pounder armament being installed and new gun batteries being laid out on both sides of the castle. Technological developments rapidly made these defences obsolete, however, and a fresh phase of work between 1861 and 1874 created sixty-one gun positions in two long, granite-faced batteries alongside the older castle. These held very heavy weapons, including massive 12.5 inch, 38 ton rifled muzzle-loading guns. As the century progressed, these too became outdated and lighter, quick-firing guns were installed at the castle to replace them. The castle formed part of a network of defences around the entrance to the Solent during the First World War, and was re-armed again during the Second World War. The military decommissioned the fort in 1956 and it passed into the control of the Ministry of Works. In the 21st century, it is run jointly by English Heritage and the Friends of Hurst Castle as a tourist attraction, receiving around 40,000 visitors during 2015. Coastal erosion has become a growing problem despite government intervention to protecting the spit. Four lighthouses have been built at Hurst from the 18th century onwards, one of which, a high lighthouse first opened in 1867, remains in active service.

Calshot Castle

Calshot Castle is one of Henry VIIIs device forts, built on Calshot Spit at the Solent near Fawley to guard the entrance to Southampton Water . Also known as a Henrician Castle, Calshot was built as part of Henrys chain of coastal defences to defend Englands coast from foreign invasion especially during the turbulent times after his break from the Roman Catholic Church. It was built as a circular blockhouse with a three storey central keep in 1540 using stone from Beaulieu Abbey. The castle was subject to a number of alterations in 1584. The outer walls were lowered in 1774 and the gatehouse was rebuilt in order to provide more living space. The poet Caroline Anne Bowles spent childhood summers there when it was owned by a military uncle, Sir Harry Burrard. The south east battery was added in 1895 but has since been demolished. The castle was in use until 1956. It is now owned by English Heritage and visitors to the castle can park in the adjacent leisure centre car park.

Avon Water

Avon Water is a small river in the south of England, flowing through the New Forest in Hampshire to the sea. It should not be confused with the larger River Avon, which also flows through Hampshire. Along with the Beaulieu River and the Lymington River, Avon Water is one of the three main rivers which drain the New Forest southward directly into the Solent, although it is smaller than the other two rivers. It rises in the south-western part of the New Forest, near Holmsley, and flows south-eastward, in a fairly straight course for about 9 miles . It flows into the Solent at Keyhaven, close to the shingle bank that leads to Hurst Castle. The name "Avon Water" is considered modern, although it certainly dates from at least the 18th century. It is labelled on Thomas Milnes map of Hampshire published by William Faden in 1791. Carys New Itinerary of 1810 also refers to "Avon Water" but confounds it with a stream immediately to the west .

Latchmore Brook

The Latchmore Brook is a significant stream in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It rises from the elevated gravel plateaus in the north of the Forest, north of Fritham, and drains into the River Avon north of Ibsley. The streams catchment is open heathland, deciduous woodland, silvicultural inclosures and, in its lower reaches, small scale pastoral farmland; as such there are no consistent sources of pollution and the streams course and character has largely remained free from artificial modification. Historically, the greatest human impact on the brook was connected to the Schultze Gunpowder Factory which was established in the 1860s at Eyeworth Lodge near Fritham. The factory required large volumes of water and this demand was met by damming the brook to create a reservoir . The problem of sulphuric and nitric acid discharges contaminating the river, killing fish, only ended when the factory closed in the 1920s.

RAF Beaulieu

Royal Air Force Beaulieu or more simply RAF Beaulieu is a former Royal Air Force station in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It was also known as Beaulieu airfield, Beaulieu aerodrome and USAAF Station AAF 408. It is located next to the village of East Boldre, about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the village of Beaulieu and 5 miles (8.0 km) east-northeast of Lymington. During the First World War there was a Royal Flying Corps training airfield, RFC Beaulieu, at East Boldre that was closed in 1919; the new RAF Beaulieu was built on the opposite side of the road.[] Opened on Saturday 8 August 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and then later United States Army Air Forces. During the war it was used as a bomber and fighter airfield. After the war, it was used for experimental work before it was closed in 1959. Today the remains of the airfield are on heathland managed by the Forestry Commission. Areas of the old airfield are now designated as a flying area for model aircraft.
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