| Ashurst & Colbury |
| A favourite area of the webmaster as a child was
Colbury and its rural setting, especially the top of Hunters Hill on the
main Southampton to Lyndhurst Road just before entering Ashurst. Here
there is a left turn off of the dual carriage way and a few hundred
yards in on the left side of the road is Colbury Church, further down
was Longdown Farm open to the public and many a happy hour was spent
here just watching the animals. Carry on down this lane and where it
enters the tree was the Butterly Farm later an Otter Sanctury. But the main road from the top of Hunters Hill is straight and has a large estate on the right with several dwellings opposite including the New Forest Inn and later the shops of the village set just off of the road. Here there were two restaurants one either side of the road wish quaint names, The Happy Cheese and opposite was The Angry Cheese! Ashurst Railway station can be found here and almost next door is the first campsite you come across for the New Forest. But drivers beware, though this stretch of road seems safe despite recent traffic calming measures it is a favourite haunt of the local police looking for the speeding "grockels"! On the right of the main road at the top of Hunters Hill can be found Whartons Lane which leads to the other 'village' of Foxhills now a vast estate of mainly bungalows with a few cottages and farms dotted around. Carry on along the main road to Ashurst and just past the shops in the service road can be found Ashurst Hospital which started off as the New Forest Poor Law Institution. In 192 it consisted of 13 offices and over 110 patients or inmates. Later it became a haven for the local tramps who were often shown hospitality with a bed for the night. Later it became a Military Hospital for those injured on the beaches of Dunkirk in World War Two Ashurst and Colbury parish was formed in 1986 and includes all of the camp sites etc.
Once upon a time the four villages of Colbury, Foxhills to the right of the main Southampton Road, Ashurst and Longdown made up the parish and Ashurst became the parish name in the 1920s, where before it was known after Lyndhurst Road and the Railway Station still carries that name, built in 1847 it is set on the main London to Weymouth line and was a circular route that was constructed to accommodate the gentry that used the overnight hotels in the nearby village of Lyndhurst. As described earlier Colbury Church is just off the main road and is situated next to the memorial hall. The church itself is said to have come form the 13th century after the monks at Beaulieu Abbey were given money to construct a chapel here. A local family the Barker-Mills were the main benefactors and helped with the construction itself their descendants are still living in the locality.
Today's church was built by Frank Ibbotson in 1870, and he is renowned for the construction of schools at Colbury (on the main road just before Hunters Hill to the left by the roundabout) and the other at Longdown. The memorial hall was built by his daughter Marriane Vaudrey in 1928j and is a memorial to her son Claude and other local men who gave their lives in the First World War. She also built Langley Manor for her own use and is reputed to have 'ruled the estates with charity and charm'. Marriane also started a fund for clothing the estate workers and used to organise a tea party and fete every year in a field at Foxhills and on Good Fridays the local children were rewarded by the Barker-Mills ladies handing out hot cross buns!
St Joseph's House of Prayer is also to be found at the top of Hunters Hill and is a large residence which was once called The Dene and constructed for a Mr Wharton after whom the lane is named. It is presided over by Dominican Sisters and a chapel has been added. The land the bungalows mentioned above was once owned by St Josephs.
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