Ashurst and Churchplace Inclosure

Churchplace Cottage is one of the original New Forest keeper's cottages. A charming brick cottage, it was built in 1810 when the forest was divided into 'walks' and a keeper appointed for each walk (all cottages originally had an orchard and a paddock). In 1079, William the Conqueror declared the area west of Southampton Water to the Avon Valley and north of the Solent to the Wiltshire Downs as his personal hunting forest. Saxon chroniclers claimed he destroyed many villages and churches in doing so.

Church Place is the name of a surviving knoll which may have been the site of a destroyed church and village. Following the track onto the knoll reveals intriguing embankments, ditches, and the foundations of a later hunting lodge. The green path around the knoll features turf cropped short by New Forest ponies, who effectively act as the forest's original conservationists.

To the right of the path lies a strange low-lying area containing deep pits likely caused by digging for marl. Marling to improve soil quality remains one of the ancient rights of New Forest Commoners, alongside gathering fuel and pasturing animals — Saxon forest-dweller rights that survived the Norman Conquest and are still jealously guarded today.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.