| Winchester is the administrative capital of | | | | from old English, meaning 'broken wooded |
| the county of Hampshire. It is without doubt | | | | hill'. The village has a mainline railway |
| one of the most beautiful towns in all of | | | | station and it is possible to catch a train |
| England. However, if you tire of town life, | | | | from London - and Winchester - to the |
| you could take a short drive to the New | | | | village. The local parish church is called St |
| Forest and visit some of the most beautiful | | | | Nicholas's and has a fine Norman doorway in |
| villages England has to offer.The New Forest | | | | the south porch. Beside the church the |
| was set aside as a Royal hunting ground at | | | | visitor may be surprised to find the 'New |
| around 1079 by William the Conqueror. It is | | | | Zealand war cemetery'. Neat rows of |
| now the biggest area of largely unspoilt | | | | tombstones commemorate over one hundred |
| countryside in the lowlands of southern | | | | soldiers who died in a nearby hospital during |
| Britain and one of the few medieval forests | | | | World War I. The village also has many fine |
| remaining in Europe. Against all the odds, an | | | | old pubs and it is not unusual to see forest |
| ancient landscape of majestic woodlands, | | | | ponies meandering down the villages roads. |
| gorse-covered heathland and boggy valleys has | | | | The village is also the starting point of the |
| survived into the twenty-first century. But | | | | New Forest Cycle Experience.As the name |
| the forest is not a desolate place. People | | | | suggests, Fordingbridge gets its name from |
| have been living in the forest well before | | | | the fact that the village has a bridge that |
| its creation as a Royal hunting ground. | | | | spans a river, the river Avon. In fact, the |
| Indeed, the original inhabitants were allowed | | | | most photographed aspect of the town is the |
| to remain in the forest. Today, the Forest is | | | | ancient seven-arch Great Bridge, best seen |
| home to a collection of some of the most | | | | from the recreation ground. Just outside the |
| quintessential of English villages; quaint | | | | village you can visit the Rockbourne Roman |
| Norman churches, small, cosy pubs, greens and | | | | Villa. Excavated in the 1950s by a local |
| idyllic thatched cottages.Although a village, | | | | enthusiast, A T Morley-Hewitt; over fifty |
| Lyndhurst has always been considered the | | | | rooms were discovered. The museum displays |
| 'capital of the New Forest'. It is in this | | | | some of the artefacts found in the digs and |
| village that you can find the New Forest | | | | shows many aspects of life in a |
| Museum. It tells the story of the New Forest | | | | Romano-British villa of the second to fourth |
| through a seventeen minute audio-visual show | | | | centuries. The village of Rockbourne is |
| and a series of well-arranged displays and | | | | considered by many to be one of Hampshire's |
| dioramas. Visiting the museum is recommended | | | | prettiest villages. Thatched cottages line |
| as the first stop for the visitor, in order | | | | both sides of the village street, with a |
| to gain an oversight of the history of the | | | | clear chalk stream running along one |
| Forest and what it has to offer. The village | | | | side.Beaulieu is one of the most visited |
| church, St Michael and All Angels, is a | | | | villages in the New Forest. The village is |
| modern building, built in the 1860s. The fine | | | | extremely picturesque, with thatched cottages |
| east window contains a superb stained glass | | | | and the scenic backdrop of the tidal estuary |
| window, designed by Edward Burne-Jones and | | | | of the Beaulieu River. It is not unusual to |
| William Morris. Near the parish church is | | | | see a group of donkeys walking down the main |
| Queen's House - always known as King's House | | | | street, where several of the Georgian |
| when a king is on the throne. This was | | | | red-brick cottages are tastefully adapted as |
| formerly the residence of the Lord Warden of | | | | souvenir shops or tea-rooms. The Palace House |
| the Forest, but now houses the offices of the | | | | and its grounds form one of the most popular |
| Forestry Commission. Lyndhurst has two | | | | sites in the south of England. A single |
| cricket pitches. Near the Beaulieu road, | | | | entrance fee covers not only the House but |
| Bolton's Bench cricket pitch has a thatched | | | | also the remains of Beaulieu Abbey and the |
| pavilion. It is overlooked by Bolton's Bench, | | | | National Motor Museum. If Beautiful cars of |
| a hillock crowned with a distinctive yew, | | | | the past are your thing, then the Motor |
| with seats beneath. The other pitch is called | | | | Museum is a must see.There are many more |
| Swan Green and gets its name from the Swan | | | | pretty, smaller villages in the New Forest. |
| Inn which overlooks it. This green is | | | | Each has its own charms and is worth |
| considered to be one of the most picturesque | | | | exploring. Once a visitor enters the Forest |
| village scenes in Hampshire.Lyndhurst may be | | | | he or she is hard pressed to leave. Its |
| the 'capital' but Brokenhurst is the largest | | | | gentle, beguiling beauty has been appreciated |
| of the New Forest villages. The name comes | | | | by visitors for hundreds of years. |