Emery Down
Coordinates: 50°52′36″N 1°35′51″W / 50.8768°N 1.5974°W
Emery Down is a small village in the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Lyndhurst, which lies approximately 1.4 miles (2.8 km) south-east from the village.
Overview
Emery Down is a small village clustered around a hilltop overlooking Swan Green and Lyndhurst.[1] The village has one inn called The New Forest Inn.[2] The red telephone box in the village no longer has a phone, but is used as an Information Centre for local and New Forest information, history, advice, as well as a book exchange and as a place to purchase fruit and vegetables etc. The telephone box has its own website.[3]
History
Emery Down is recorded as Emerichdon in 1376, and Emeryesdowne in 1490.[4] The "Emmory" family is recorded here in 1389.[4] The surname is of French origin.[4]
The homes of charcoal burners and agricultural labourers were in Silver Street in Emery Down.[5] Here was born, in 1840, the New Forest "snake catcher" Brusher Mills, who lived here until at least 1861.[6]
A major benefactor of Emery Down was Admiral Frederick Moore Boultbee, who lived here between 1856 and his death in 1876.[7] Boultbee paid for the village church, which was designed by William Butterfield, and built in 1864.[7] Boultbee lived with his niece Charlotte in a thatched cottage known as The Cottage, which before the 19th century had been an inn, The Running Horse.[7] After Charlotte's death in 1896, The Cottage became the vicarage, and is now a private home.[7]
Boultbee was also the benefactor for the village school, opened in 1865 and extended in 1885.[7] The school operated until 1950.[7] Boultbee also paid for the five alms houses, known as Boultbee Cottages,[8] opposite the school.[7] Designed by William Butterfield, they were built in 1871 and occupied by elderly people of the parish.[8]
The New Forest Inn, formerly the New Inn, dates back to at least the first half of the 19th century.[7] The captain of the Titanic, Edward Smith, spent his final night on British shores at the pub before he set sail on the ill-fated ship the next day.[9]
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stayed in Emery Down for a year from Easter 1889, while researching his novel The White Company and was frequently seen walking around the village.[9]
Notes
- ↑ About Emery Down and Silver Street
- ↑ The New Forest Inn
- ↑ Emery Down Telephone Kiosk
- 1 2 3 Old Hampshire Gazetteer - Emery Down
- ↑ Emery Down – a view from old maps, New Forest Explorers Guide
- ↑ Harry ‘Brusher’ Mills 1840 – 1905: New Forest snake catcher, Hampshire Biographies
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Emery Down, New Forest Explorers Guide
- 1 2 Hampshire Treasures, Volume 5 (New Forest), Lyndhurst, page 213
- 1 2 The New Forest Inn, Emery down, Daily Echo
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Emery Down. |
- Emery Down Telephone Kiosk
- Emery Down, New Forest Explorers Guide
