Woodgreen
| Woodgreen | |
| Hampshire | |
|---|---|
 The village centre | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU170175 |
| Location: | 50°57’26"N, 1°45’33"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 537 (2011) |
| Post town: | Fordingbridge |
| Postcode: | SP6 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | New Forest |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
New Forest West |
Woodgreen is a village within the New Forest in the south-west of Hampshire. The village is in the north-west of the Forest: it stands between Breamore and Hale to the east of the River Avon.
The village has a church, St Boniface, and one pub, The Horse and Groom.
Woodgreen is due south of the city of Salisbury. Its nearest town is Fordingbridge to the south-west. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 537, in 220 households.
History
Woodgreen was originally an extra-parochial area of the New Forest, reckoned as part of Godshill tithing.[1] The settlement has been known as Woodgreen since the mid 17th century.[2] The "Wood" is Godshill Inclosure which separates the village from the rest of the New Forest.
When the village hall was built in 1930–1, two students from the Royal College of Art (Robert Baker and Edward Payne) were commissioned by the Carnegie Trust to decorate the walls entirely with murals, depicting village life as it was then. The mural shows poachers looking down from Castle Hill; the Sunday School in the Methodist Church; folk dancing; fruit picking; the Horse and Groom; the village flower show; making cider; and the caretaker lighting the stove.
The building that is now the village church dates from 1913 and was originally a church reading room. In 1949, it was dedicated as a church with the name of St Boniface and was extended to its present size in 1963.[3] Since 1927, Woodgreen has been part of the ecclesiastical parish of Hale and Woodgreen, sharing the same clergy and with shared services.
About the village
The village has one pub called The Horse and Groom.[4] In 2006 the village shop and post office was threatened with closure, but villagers pulled together and acquired the lease for five years.[5] On 14 May 2011 a new Woodgreen Community Shop was opened after more than four years of campaigning and fundraising by the local community.[6]
Two thirds of the parish is an area of woodland, heathland, acid grassland, scrub and valley bog, supporting a richness and diversity of wildlife.
A mile to the south of the village are the earthwork remains of 'Castle Hill', comprising an oval ring motte with an outer bailey.[7] The castle may have been a siege castle recorded in 1148.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Woodgreen) |
References
- ↑ A History of the County of Hampshire - Volume 4 pp 567-577: Parishes: Fordingbridge (Victoria County History)
- ↑ Woodgreen, Old Hampshire Gazetteer
- ↑ St Boniface, Woodgreen, Avon Valley Partnership
- ↑ The Horse and Groom
- ↑ History | Woodgreen Community Shop, retrieved 2 October 2011
- ↑ Woodgreen Community Shop, retrieved 2 October 2011
- ↑ Godshill Castle Hill, Woodgreen: Gatehouse Gazetteer