Lyndhurst, Hampshire

The name "Lyndhurst" is an Old English name, meaning 'Wooded hill with lime-trees growing'. The name comprises the words lind ('lime-tree') and hyrst ('wooded hill'). The first mention of Lyndhurst was in the Domesday Book of 1086 under the name 'Linhest'. It was part of the royal lands of the New Forest, with the exception of 1 virgate which was held by Herbert the Forester. The manor passed to Henry III in 1270, and together with the wardenship of the New Forest, which invariably accompanied the manor, it formed part of the dowry of four consecutive queens: Eleanor of Castile, Margaret of France, Isabella of France, and Philippa of Hainault. In 1299 it covered an area of , the profits from the honey gathered there amounting to 2 shillings per annum. It was actively worked during the 14th and 15th centuries when payments were made for the fencing and repairing of the palings. The "old Park" of Lyndhurst is where the Lime Wood (formerly Parkhill) Hotel now stands, the new park being on the A337 Brockenhurst road. ==Geography==

Lyndhurst is in the New Forest National Park, in Hampshire, England. The village is the administrative capital of the New Forest, with the district council based in the village. The Court of Verderers sits in the King's House in Lyndhurst. The local headquarters of the Forestry Commission, the body that handles the maintenance of the softwood plantations, forest roads and paths, and controlling the spread of invasive plants, such as rhododendrons and gorse is also based in the King's House. The church of St. Michael and All Angels is a major landmark, built of many different colours of brick, on one of the highest points in the village. Glasshayes House (also known as the Lyndhurst Park Hotel) is a Georgian "Gothick" villa, and after its 1912 alterations was the only surviving example of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's forays into architecture. In local tradition it was haunted by the ghost of Richard Fitzgeorge de Stacpoole, 1st Duc de Stacpoole. It has recently been demolished and replaced by a housing development designed to reflect the architecture of the hotel and existing high street. The site sits adjacent to Bolton's Bench, a picturesque hill to the east of the village which, according to local folklore, was originally the corpse of a dragon; Other local landmarks include a row of much photographed thatched cottages on the road to the neighbouring hamlet of Emery Down, and the New Forest Centre, which includes the New Forest Museum and New Forest Gallery. Also situated towards the outskirts of the village is Foxlease, formerly one of the training and activity centres of Girlguiding UK and now run by a local charitable group. The site has been the scene of several internationally important Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting events. It was established in February 1922 following the marriage of president Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood. The headquarters of the privately owned British chemicals company Ineos is located in the village. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bank and Emery Down. Lyndhurst is surrounded by varied "forest", from the heathland of Parkhill to the bog of Matley, and the open forest with its ancient oak and beech to the enclosures of softwoods. ==The King's House==

The most important building in Lyndhurst is the King's House, which has also in the past been called the Queen's House, for the name changes according to the gender of the monarch. It is the principal building owned by the Crown in the New Forest, and contains the Verderers' Hall, home of the ancient Verderers' Court. The last monarch to stay here was George III who visited the New Forest in June 1789. Frances Burney, who was Second Keeper of the Robes to Queen Charlotte, described the house as "a straggling, inconvenient, old house, but delightfully situated, in a village—looking indeed at present like a populous town, from the amazing concourse of people that have crowded into it." The building today is a rambling two-storey structure in brick. The prisoners' dock, tables and chairs of considerable age are preserved in the hall. Also to be found within is the so-called "Stirrup of Rufus", which was used to measure dogs. ==Religious sites==

The village's Anglican church, St Michael and All Angels, is on a mound overlooking the village. It was built between 1858 and 1870, and is the third such building on the site. The church was designed by William White. The interior has yellow, white and red exposed brickwork, and a nave roof decorated with life-size supporting angels. The village also has a Baptist church. ==Education and culture==

Saint Michael and All Angels Infant School is the main village school. Lyndhurst Pre-School is located next to the Infant School. New Forest Small School is an independent school for children aged 3 to 16. In 2020, Hampshire County Council announced plans to close Lyndhurst library. A small children’s library is now run by Lyndhurst Community Centre. ==The Bisterne Dragon==

Lyndhurst is notable in English folklore for being the supposed location of a dragon-slaying. The local tradition is that a dragon had his den at Burley Beacon in Burley. There are several versions of the tale, one being that the creature "flew" every morning to Bisterne, where it would be supplied with milk. To kill the dragon, a valiant knight (usually named Berkeley) built a hide, and with two dogs lay in wait. The creature came as usual one morning for its milk, and when the hut door was opened the dogs attacked it, and while thus engaged the knight took the dragon by surprise, the dogs dying in the affray. The fight raged throughout the forest, with the dragon finally dying outside Lyndhurst, its corpse turning into a great hill (now known as Boltons Bench). Though the knight had defeated the dragon he had been mentally broken by the battle, and after thirty days and thirty nights he went back to Boltons Bench to die alone atop it, his body turning into the yew tree which can still be seen today. ==Transport links==

The village is the meeting point of the A35, which runs northeast to southwest between Southampton and Bournemouth, and the A337 which runs north to south between Cadnam on the M27, and Lymington, a ferry port for the Isle of Wight on the south coast. To deal with the large volume of traffic through the village, there is a one-way system. This in effect turns the major roads of the village into a roundabout. It has long been mooted that the solution to Lyndhurst's traffic problem is to build a bypass through the surrounding National Park forest land. In 1947 the Government's Baker Report accepted that a bypass might be necessary, and provision was made in the New Forest Act 1949 to construct roads through the forest with the consent of the Verderers. Public inquiries were held in 1975 and 1983. On both occasions the various routes proposed by the county council were opposed by the Verderers as being detrimental to the environment. In 2006 Lyndhurst Parish Council again called for a bypass, and proposed that the road followed the route suggested in 1983 but with a cut-and-cover tunnel. Although Lyndhurst itself does not have a railway station, it is served by Ashurst New Forest railway station, three miles () away, which was for many years named Lyndhurst Road railway station. It is also only four miles () from Brockenhurst and under 4 miles from Beaulieu Road station – all these stations are on the South West Main Line to London and Weymouth, serving Bournemouth and Southampton. Bus services operated by Bluestar run frequently to Southampton and Lymington. There are also two daily National Express coach departures to London Victoria. The New Forest Tour, an open-top bus tour run in the summer, starts and finishes in Lyndhurst. ==Notable residents==

• Arthur Phillip • Richard Fitzgeorge de Stacpoole, 1st Duc de Stacpoole • Charles Castleman • Sir James William Ronald Macleay • Lina Arbuthnot (née Macleay) • Brusher Mills • Charles Hamilton Aide • John Maxwell • Mary Elizabeth Braddon • Reginald Hargreaves • Alice Liddell • Keith Harris • Nigel Eaton, hurdy-gurdy player ==Twin towns==

Lyndhurst is twinned with: • La Chevrolière, France File:Christ Church, Emery Down - geograph.org.uk - 1508646.jpg|Christ Church, Emery Down, Grade II listed building erected in 1864 File:Thatched Cottages at Swan Green - geograph.org.uk - 94230.jpg|Thatched cottages at Swan Green File:Alice Liddell grave in Lyndhurst1.jpg|The grave of Alice Liddell in Lyndhurst File:Bolton's_Bench,_Lyndhurst,_Hampshire.jpg|Bolton's Bench on the edge of the village ==See also==