A Bit Of Local

Hurn

2002-11-30T09:24:00.000-06:00

Hurn is a small village in the Christchurch Borough of Dorset. It's buildings are mostly brick with some from the 18th century. There are lots of trees and too many fast roads. The village is split by the Bournemouth to Ringwood spur-road taking its dual carriageway past the old train station which is now a restaurant and pub, a railway carriage parked at the platform being one of the dining rooms.

3 quarters of a mile to the West lies Hurn Airport, an international airport, where the planes can be observed from the terminal buildings or from the cafe of the Flying Club alongside the runway.

Attractions at Hurn include the Alice in Wonderland Maze and Family Park, with herb garden, farm animals and a superb maze.

Vintage cars enthusiasts enjoy the Christchurch Motor Museum, Matchams.

Hurn Court has a varied and interesting history. Originally a house to the 3rd Earl of Malmesbury, it then became a school, and is now appartments. During the Second World War, Hurn Court became the headquarters of the Hampshire Red Cross, of which Dorothy, The Lady Malmesbury, was President.

Hurn once had its village store at a crossroads by the Manor House and its rhododendron forest. There is still a corner convenience store and much traffic passes through to the nearby ski-centre and Matchams Park. Another local shop supplies home-smoked chicken and ham.

Holwell

2002-08-16T10:14:00.000-05:00

Holwell was a detached part of Somerset until 1844, when it was transferred to Dorset.

The present village of Holwell located on a branch road leading south east from Caundle Marsh consists of two separate settlements. To the south is Barnes Cross dating mainly from the 19th century and where can be found the oldest pillar box still in use in Britain. The octagonal box was made by John M Butt & Co. of Gloucester between 1853 and 1856, and is cast with Queen Victoria’s cipher. The box is about five feet high and each angle of the eight sides is fluted, which gives it a distinctive appearance. The slot for the letters is very small and is vertical rather than the more familiar horizontal. A swinging flap, on the inside of the hole, keeps out the rain.

The original medieval settlement is located on the river to the north and contains the church, a large early 18th century rectory and a few stone cottages, a thatched stores, and an inn on the cross roads by Crouch Hill.. Known as The Borough it forms a perfect little hamlet.

The church of St. Lawrence is located up a road to itself, and is said to go back to Saxon times, but the building we see today dates from about 1480. It was restored in 1885 but much of interest remains. The nave has a barrel roof and the arcade pillars are decorated with little angels bearing scrolls. Two ancient tiles and some fragments of carved stone are let into the chancel wall. The fluted pulpit is Elizabethan.

Holwell House is believed to have started life as one of King John’s hunting lodges. Replaced by an Elizabethan house, it has since been much altered. If Holwell House was indeed a hunting lodge there could be something in the local tale of King Henry III and the White Hart.

Legend has it that Henry III while out hunting near here came across ‘a beautiful and goodly white hart’. So moved by was he by comeliness of the startled creature that he spared its life and further decreed that henceforward the hunt should do the same. Some time later, Sir Thomas de la Lynde, Bailiff of Blackmore Forest, came upon the same beast, and after a chase slew it at the foot of the graceful old stone bridge to the east of the village which crosses the river to Kings Stag, (thus giving the place its name).

When Henry heard of this he was so enraged that he seized Sir Thomas and his companions, cast them into prison and fined them very heavily. As if this were not enough he laid a tax upon the land its feet had trod. Thus for many years ‘white hart silver’ was paid by squire and yeoman into the exchequer and the Vale of Blackmore became known as the Vale of the White Hart.

Many doubts have been cast on the story but there can be no doubt that a tax called white hart silver was still being levied some three hundred years later when Thomas Fuller wrote, ‘Myself hath paid a share for the same who never tasted meat’. Wootton Glanville church commemorates the tale in floor tiles depicting a stag-hunt and the stone figure in the church is said to be that of the bailiff.

Dorset Heights Golf Club

2002-03-10T09:30:00.000-06:00

Dorset Heights Golf Club

Parkland/wooded course. 18 holes, 6138 yards. S.S.S. 70. Large practice ground, putting green. Set in a area of outstanding natural beauty, rich in wildlife, which provides a picturesque backdrop in this stimulating and undulating course. Founded 1990. Course designer David Astill.

Address: Belchalwell, DT11 OEG
Telephone: 01258 861386
Fax: 01258 860900
Secretary: J Burton
Club Professional: Andy Stuart

Club Information

No of holes: 18
Course Yardage: 6500
No yardage markers on course.
Changing room facilities.
Handicap certificates not required.
Soft spikes not required.
Type of club: Proprietary
Course Type: Parkland

Green And Membership Fees In (£s)

Green Fees Weekdays: £12.00
Green Fees Weekends: £15.00

Pro Shop Services

Proshop
Club Hire
Club Repairs
Custom Club Fitting Service
Trolley (not electric) Hire
Buggy Hire
Lessons

Club House Facilities

Bar
Lunch, Afternoon Tea and Dinner available
No accommodation

Loders

2002-02-22T10:42:00.000-06:00

The unusual, indeed unique, name of Loders is an ancient one. It was probably originally the old name of the river here, which is now called the Asker. The place is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Lodre or Lodres, later as Loddre or Loddres in 1244 and Loderes in 1291. The old British (Celtic) river-name which in turn became the name of the village probably means 'the pool stream' from the Celtic words lo 'pool' and dour 'water' (the first of these is found in Looe in Cornwall and the second in Dover in Kent as well as in the Dorset name Toller, which means 'hollow stream'). Nearby Uploders, also simply called Lodre in Domesday Book, is distinguished as Uppelodres in 1445, Uplodre in 1446. The addition Up- means 'higher upstream'. The present river-name Asker is a so-called 'back-formation' from Askerswell still further upstream.

Loders has a handsome village street, all stone, dating from the 17th-19th centuries. One house has a date stone of 1786. The church of St Mary Magdalene was from 1107-1410 the priory church and is all medieval, although restored in the 19th century, ranging from the 12th to he 15th century, mostly mixed together. The north side of the chancel shows the variety - the easternmost window is c. 1400, the centre one a lancet of the 13th century, and the westernmost 12th century with a blocked doorway below. Perhaps the prettiest part of the building is the south chapel, 15th century and elaborate. A bell of 1641 is on display.
To the north of the church is Loders Court, (late 18th century), whose splendid gardens surround the church.