Blashford
| Blashford | |
| Hampshire | |
|---|---|
 Spinnaker Sailing Club on Blashford Lake. | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU150068 |
| Location: | 50°51’39"N, 1°47’20"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Ringwood |
| Postcode: | BH24 |
| Dialling code: | 01425 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | New Forest |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
New Forest West |
Blashford is a small hamlet of approx. 65 dwellings situated close to the New Forest in Hampshire. Its nearest town is Ringwood, which stands approximately a mile south of the village.
In the late 1900s the area was subject to a series of gravel extractions and became a landscape of interconnecting open lakes and wet meadows. The area has recovered spectacularly since the days of gravel extraction and become a haven for all sorts of wildlife, including waterfowl, bats, otters and moths.
By Blashford is the Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve,[1] a wildlife reserve over 490 acres managed by the Wildlife Trust in partnership with the local council and landowners, Wessex Water and Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water.
The Blashford Lakes reserve is considered an internationally important site for thousands of wildfowl. It is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Ramsar site, a Special Protection Area, and a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation. Several other parts of Blashford also have this status, including open lakes and the River Avon and associated flood plain. Linking these sites is an area of wetland known locally as Blashford Wet Meadows.[2]
History
The Hales Family
Blashford House (built 1600) was owned by the Hales family of Coventry, a younger branch of the Hales of Woodchurch. Sir John Hales, of Whitefriars Coventry and Blashford, (grandson of John Hales), was made a baronet in 1660.[3] The 5th Baronet (also called John) lived in Blashford[4] and his obituary states he died in Blashford in 1802 after an unpleasant illness.[5] He was succeeded in turn by his three sons, and the Baronetcy ended with the death of his youngest son Sir Christopher Hales (1785-1806).
Blashford House was then inherited by Rev. Dr Christopher Taylor (d 1822), descended from Sir Christopher Hales’ great aunt Elizabeth. He married Mary Lisle of Moyles Court, descended from Alice Lisle whose portrait hangs in the Houses of Parliament, and inherited the title of Lord of the Manor of Ellingham from his wife's family. A plaque to his memory is displayed in Ellingham Church, where also the grave of Alice Lisle can be found. The title of Lord of the Manor was sold by his son Edward Hayles Taylor to the Earl of Normanton, whose descendants hold the title today. (The property now called Blashford Manor has no historical connection with the Lord of the Manor, but instead purloined the old name in recent years.)
The Dylan Thomas Connection
In thhe parish too lived the Macnamara family and their son-in-law, Dylan Thomas.
Francis Macnamara (1886-1946) was a poet and lived in New Inn House (now demolished) with his wife Yvonne, and his daughters Nicolette (Devas), Caitlan and Brigit. They enjoyed an unconventional Bohemian Lifestyle with Augustus John, who lived in nearby Fordingbridge, a regular visitor[6] Caitlan married Dylan Thomas who lived at Blashford in the early 1930s. During this time Francis moved out and Nora Summers, the photographer became a regular visitor. There are many photographs of the area in the book of Nora's photographs,[7] particularly of Caitlan and the nearby River Avon.
References
- ↑ "Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve | Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust". https://www.hiwwt.org.uk/nature-reserves/blashford-lakes-nature-reserve.
- ↑ https://blashfordmeadow.myfreesites.net
- ↑ (in en) The Court Companion: Containing the Arms of the Peers, Peeresses, and Bishops of the United Kingdom ... Also, a Peerage Directory. C. Whittingham. 1803. https://books.google.com/books?id=uK8wtgEACAAJ&q=the+court+companion.
- ↑ Cary, John (1802) (in en). Cary's New Itinerary: Or, An Accurate Delineation of the Great Roads, Both Direct and Cross, Throughout England and Wales; with Many of the Principal Roads in Scotland. From an Actual Admeasurement Made by Command of His Majesty's Postmaster General, for Official Purposes; Under the Direction and Inspection of Thomas Hasker .... J. Cary. https://books.google.com/books?id=XIIwAAAAYAAJ&q=sir+john+hales+blashford+house&pg=RA5-PA69.
- ↑ (in en) The Gentleman's Magazine: 1802. E. Cave. 1802. pp. 276. https://books.google.com/books?id=37hCAQAAMAAJ&q=the+gentleman's+magazine+and+historical+chronicle+v1802.
- ↑ Devas, Nicolette (1985). Two flamboyant fathers. London: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0241114047. OCLC 11629544.
- ↑ Summers, Gabriel (2014). Dylan Thomas and the bohemians : the photographs of Nora Summers. ISBN 9781909844988. OCLC 885452419.