During excavations here some Stone Age tools were found and Bronze Age barrows that held funeral urns.

When coming to Sway the first thing you see will be a tower rising high above the trees, this is Peterson's Folly and was probably built as a tomb. A light was originally set in the top but this caused such a commotion with the shipping in the Solent that the Admiralty requested that it was removed and since then it has never been lit.

Peterson's Folly, Sway
A much smaller tower lies over the road from the folly

Forest Heath Hotel		Sway School building
St Lukes Church

A Glimpse into the Early Nineteenth Century

Mention of an English village conjures up a picture of pretty houses and cottages round, a village green graced by an historic church and Vicarage, with the Big House, the home of the squire, hidden behind a belt of trees,

The village of Sway "hears no resemblance to this idyllic picture. There is no village green, neither has there been a resident squire nor, before 1859, an established church. Sway was part of the parish of Boldre where the church is three or four miles distant from the homes of Sway people. Until the arrival of the railway later in the century and the subsequent grouping of shops near the station, there was no clear cut centre to the village, Dumstown, near the present Meadens Garage, and Pitmore - then known as Fetmore Pond - where stood an inn called the Three Horseshoes in the 18th century, and Bowling Green, around the old Rose Inn, were the most populated parts of a straggling community,

Of course Sway had a history before the ecclesiastical parish was formed in 1849 by carving 2208 acres from the extensive parish of Boldre, Normally much history lies in the books locked away in the vestry chest and, when there has been the domination of a resident land owner, in the estate records. But not so with Sway. The fact that Sway, lacking the ingredients that make up a classic English village, existed and flourished, is in itself interesting. "What did the people do? Why were they here? What manner of people were they? These are some of the questions that come to mind, questions about ordinary people, not of land owners, dignitaries of the Church, nor even of ancient men who battled in the area giving rise to the old barrows in the vicinity,

This article does not seek to answer these questions but to enquire a little into the inhabitants of the village in the first half of the 19th century.

As the records of Sway people are intermingled with many others in the parish registers of neighbouring parishes, a look at the census returns for 1841 and 1851 and at the tithe map of about that period is informative. In themselves these records are quite inadequate for the period under review but, the parish of Boldre had the good fortune to be served by a Curate, the Rev, H. Comyn, who compiled his own detailed census between 1811 and 1817. He noted each householder and listed his family. Not only did he give the Christian name of the wife but added her maiden name. He named the children, frequently adding the date of birth,, and against the names of those who had left home, he noted where they lived. Furthermore for married daughters, he noted the new surname. A most valuable record for his own use and that of his successors on their parish rounds. Had he known the use to which his notes would be put l60 years later he would surely have included more about the occupations of his parishioner and some remarks about their characteristics and personalities.  But he did leave a quite remarkable series of sketch maps of the area on which he marked the houses and cottages as well as the names of the occupants.

There can be no proof of the accuracy of Mr. Comyn's records of the Sway area. On the face of it he was a meticulous man and did not confine himself to his own flock, as he provides in detail the, family of Joseph Rickman, with the comment that he was a dissenter. Bearing in mind that his private census was not made on one particular day as were the official returns for 1641 and 1851, a rough comparison of population can be made;

Those figures indicate considerable growth, unusual for a village with no particular industry, but are not out of proportion to the population explosion in the United Kingdom which rose from 10 million in 1811 to almost 18 million in 1851.

Comyn recorded 43 different family names. By 1841 and 1851 there were 66 and 76 different family names. This does not mean that, by simple arithmetic, 33 new families arrived during the forty year period as, perhaps surprisingly, only 25 of the family names recorded in 1811/17 still appeared in the 1851 census i.e. 59%. The influx of new blood was considerable. People like the Bartletts, small farmers at Mead End and North Sway and others, including the Coles, Hawking, Minterns, Tarrants to name a few, had left the parish.

Of those that remained throughout the period the three largest families were the Gates, the Rickman's and the Kitchers. Indeed, during that time these families provided between them to some. In modem terminology, one suspects that many should have been classified as self employed. Unfortunately, prior to 1854 , records of those who exercised forest rights and to what extent they did so, are not available. Valid forest rights were registered and the decisions on claims published in 1858. Many claims had been refused and the valid rights admitted vested less in the smaller men of Sway than might be expected. But that does not tell us what use, legal or otherwise, was made by them of the forest in previous years.

It is of importance to note that, according to the tithe map and its papers, fifty villagers owned and occupied their houses or cottages in Sway. 40 of these owner occupiers were agricultural labourers or their widows. They owned more than two acres. A further 18 rented land considerably larger than a garden plot i.e. two acres or more. Consider James Earley of Pitmore Pond, who rented nine acres, or Richard Scammel, who rented seven acres and others, like Henry Gates and Isaac Gates, with over two acres each - plots large enough to hold stock in a hard winter, stock that normally ranged the adjacent forest?

As for the farms, the largest was North Sway, rented in 1851 by J. J. Richards from the Rev. Nathaniel Bond. He employed an assistant and six labourers on the 146 acres and came from Stoborough, Dorset, not far from the Bond family home at Creech. Thomas Mills, of Scandlands, rented 120 acres from Mrs. Lys and he was born at Staunton St. Bernard, in Wiltshire. John Frarmpton was at King's Farm, 108 acres rented from Mrs. Lys but he was a relatively local man from Milton. The only other farm over 50 acres was Flexford, 84 acres, famed by Richard Hunt who was a Romsey man. These four farmers arrived in Sway after 1841, as had seven of the smaller farmers and only two, James Hopkins, owner occupier of 25 acres and James Smith of Mount Pleasant, were born in the parish. Another employer of labour was Mark Elford at Flexford Mill, who farmed 20 acres in addition to being a miller. He was born at Winterbourne Stickland and rented the mill from the Rev. Bond.

It is interesting that these men, the larger farmers and the miller, were in the main foreigners to the parish, as was the case with a number of the craftsmen and shopkeepers in 1851. Ayles, the grocer, born at Ringwood; Baker, the butcher, from Simley, in Dorset, and Pike, the wheelwright, from Gussage, Dorset, are but a few examples numbered amongst the 61 heads of families, out of a total of 159, who were born outside the parish. It seems that on the whole, the old Sway families were content with their way of life and few strove to forsake the label of
agricultural labourer for shopkeeper or farmer status. Of course  there were some exceptions such as Joseph Rickman the broom maker,, and another Joseph Rickman, baker and grocer and Stephen Rickman, the only mud wall builder. The Gates family, without exception, regained true to the land but we find Abraham Kitcher, a carpenter; Henry Kitcher, a thatcher, and Moses Kitcher, who had a grocer's shop and beerhouse at North Sway. Some of these were owner occupiers with an acre or two of land as well.

The face of Sway changed during the 40 years to 1851.

There was development and infilling to meet the growing population. In his maps, Comyn shows not a single dwelling on the present Brighton Road - previously Kettlethorns Lane - or on the present Manchester Road, west of Middle Road. The tithe map plots more than 20 houses or cottages in those parts and more on the road to Mead End. Elsewhere there was infilling. A busy time for Stephen Rickman, the specialist mud wall builder. 'By 1841 there were ten carpenters and two bricklayers in the parish and, by 18519 two brick makers had arrived, indicating that the mud wall cottage was meeting competition from its brick built counterpart.

When necessary a cottage could be erected rapidly. The Abstract of Claims in the New Forest in 1802 records that a house near Fetmore Pond had been "built in one night by William Gale", This suggests some form of prefabrication in someone's back yard. Speed was vital when encroachment was involved and one has sympathy for Priscilla Gale, nee Kitcher, who was arraigned for encroachment to the extent of six or seven lugs (90 to 100 or so feet in depth)
and building a house thereon whilst her husband was at sea. This had taken place about 1798, too recently for Priscilla to produce witnesses on her behalf, not even old Aaron Kitcher, whose memory conveniently went back a long way when old enclosure was pleaded.

In general the women were busy bearing children and with the many tasks in the home and garden plot. Eary 1851, however, Sway had a Bonnet Maker, nine laundresses, one washerwoman (a subtle distinction), seven dressmakers, and even ran the school and the post office. The most surprising occupation was that of Fanny, sister of brick maker Charles Pressey, who was a saw maker. They
came from Downton, Wilts.

Few couples were childless or content with one or two offspring - far from it. It is difficult to assess an average size of family but four to five surviving children would not be far wrong.

In general the 1841 census tells us little about the children, Doubtless those under the age of 14p who were at home, would not have been idle. Young William, son of Charles Hillier, was described as an agricultural labourer at "the age of ten and. Esther Answorth, aged 11, as a female servant to Joseph Kitcher. In 1851 there is more information. Eighty six children -were classified
as 'Scholars', the two youngest being Kate Jane Rickman, aged two, and Alice Kitcher, aged three. Only one schoolmistress appears in the census and she must have had a stiff task unless help came from outside the parish. Children were still being set to work at an early age as James Bendell bears witness, being an agricultural labourer at the age of nine, while Robert Springer, of the same age, had the title of 'cow boy'.

Many left the parish when they grew up, some to neighbouring places and others further afield, For example, early in the century. Henry Hill's three sons were in Scotland, Lyndhurst and Southampton and his two daughters at Bath and Lymington. Joseph Kitcher had six children of whom only the two youngest were still in the parish. Adventure called some to North America and two are known to have been deported. A few just absconded, according to Comyn - a comment which leaves much unsaid.

(taken from "Sway Snippets" by R. G. Swann)