Throop

Throop
Hampshire
Throop Road
Location
Grid reference:	SZ108959
Location:	50°45’47"N, 1°50’49"W
Data
Post town:	Bournemouth
Postcode:	BH8
Dialling code:	01202
Local Government
Council:	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Parliamentary constituency:	Bournemouth East

Throop is a village in Hampshire, situated on the outskirts of Bournemouth. It is renowned for its expansive fishing industry.

The village stands is close to the River Stour, and notwithstanding its being considered part of the Bournemouth conurbation, it has much-loved countryside views over the Stour Valley.

History

Throop village has existed for many years and is described in various historical texts relating to the Bournemouth area – in 1842 it is referred to as a "Pleasant and secluded village".

Throop Mill

Throop Mill, a watermill, is a prominent feature of the village. A watermill has stood in the village at least since the 11th century and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. In the Middle Ages it belonged to Quarr Abbey.

The mill is in a lovely location and is a popular destination for visitors and dog walkers, with the River Stour a short walk away and picnic spots.

The mill itself has three floors, most of which are in surprisingly good condition for their age, though is full to the brim with spiders. Vandals have shattered the windows. The interior is peppered with laminated sheets, presumably from an abandoned project, and it is now strung with yellow tape to discourage trespassers.

Despite many attempts to re-open, the mill remains closed to the public. It has been suggested by the local council to turn the site into tea rooms.

Throop House

Throop House, the finest house in the village, stands by the river and is surrounded with three acres of gardens. The house was built in 1804 of the distinctively cream Bournemouth brick. It was built by Lord Malmesbury as the dower house for Hurn Court a mile away across the River Stour. Several magnificent cedar trees are the highlight of the gardens.

In 1959 Dr James Fisher (after whom the James Fisher Medical Centre in Shillingstone Drive is named) and his wife Rosemary and family came to Throop House where they lived until 1978. In 1975 their eldest son Adrian, the internationally renowned maze designer, created his first maze in the garden of Throop House; this maze planted in holly unfortunately no longer exists.

Throop Ford and the Pig Shoot

There has been a ford across the River Stour for many centuries, some 400 yards downstream of Throop Mill. Tradition holds that it was the place where Sir Walter Tyrrell crossed the River Stour in August 1100 on his way to Poole and exile, having killed King William Rufus in the New Forest a few hours earlier. Over the centuries, a substantial structure of posts was created, holding back a broad strip of gravel some 50 yards long. In Victorian times, crossing the ford was a popular highlight for horse-and-carriage trips by visitors to Bournemouth.

In the Second World War, to deny advantage to a possible German invasion, the retaining posts were removed, and the ford was washed away. At this point, the river is now deep and makes a sharp turn, and all that remains of the ford is the sloping track down to the river known as the Pig Shoot, and the gravel track to which it is aligned on the opposite bank.

The track on the opposite bank leads on to a second ford, still intact, across the Leaden Stour.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Throop)

• Pictures of Throop Mill