Dibden Purlieu was just a small scattered hamlet at the beginning of the 20th century and most of the inhabitants were employed at Fawley by AGWE which later became the Esso Refinery and the largest employer in the area but there are a lot of smaller industries in the area of The Waterside. And not too far away are Beaulieu and Exbury where others worked on these large estates, another employer being the shipyards at Bucklers Hard during the 18th century.

The church at Dibden Purlieu is modern and this can be seen in the strange octagonal shape of the building, dedicated to St Andrew it has a spire made of copper and was dedicated by the Bishop of Winchester in 1970. A Methodist church is also here as well, opened in 1923 it was built to hold the congregation as they used to meet in an old tin hut called the Tin Tab in the early part of the 20th century.

There is also a good shopping complex here, car sales and garage and originally most of these were also of tin construction. A  Roman Road runs parallel with the edge of the New Forest and is covered in gorse which is a great concern as nearly every summer a heath fire occurs here. There is a local saying that "kissing is out of fashion when the gorse is not in bloom" but then the golden yellow blooms are found all year long! Years ago the blossoms were boiled up to become an aid to washday, as the lemony liquid was used to 'cream' the net curtains.