| Ellingham | ||||
Ellingham Parish is found just north of Ringwood and extends towards Fordingbridge and is divided on this north/south axis by the River Avon and the A338 the Poole and Bournemouth road to Salisbury. To the west of the river can be found the pretty area of Harbridge and the Somerley Estate which is the home of Lord Normanton, and further west the parish enters Ringwood Forest and ends at the county boundary with Dorset. To the east of the river is Ibsley and still further east is Linwood and its scattered community. In between and all around there are large areas of open land which form part of the New forest and at the eastern end the parish joins up with the A31 road to Southampton. The parish may seem a large area and its population is more modest with 1201 persons living in 474 dwellings. The relation between the area and population means that houses are spread very sparsely in the parish with Ibsley being the only place where the houses are grouped together and here there is a General Shop, a village hall and a garage. Turning off the A338 to the left you are met with the striking little church of St mary, and the first thing you notice is the large blue and gold sundial above the porch and is one of the unusual features of this tiny church hidden away in a small lane.
The sundial was checked for accuracy in 1930 by the Royal Observatory and found to be only about five or six minutes out! Next to the porch is the grave of Dame Alice Lisle of Moyles Court who was executed in 1685. She appeared before Judge Jeffreys the hanging judge, charged with sheltering supporters of the Monmouth Rebellion. The Alice Lisle Inn was once the village school at Rockford and lies a mile to the east of Ellingham
Inside the church the roof is embossed with gold corbels and another unusual feature is a canopied pew. The Lords Prayer, the Commandments and the Creed are depicted in paintings that hang above the 15th century screen
The village of Ibsley is on the main road to the north of Ellingham and has a well known thatched pub, The Old Beams which is now mored famed as a restaurant and nearby can be found the old church of St Martin which was an elaborate little Georgian church that had a beautiful monument to Sir John Constable who died in 1627 and to his wife. The heads of their five children can be seen on a vine. But today this little church is a shop of curios, a font that gushes smoke, artificial flowers fill every nook and cranny and ornaments abound! It is worth going there just to see this, while all around are the memorial tablets still on the walls and when we visited that pulpit was decorated with paintings and flowers and the organ was still there.
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