National Gazetteer (1868) - Fordingbridge

"FORDINGBRIDGE, a parish and market town, partly in the upper division, and partly in the lower division of the hundred of Fordingbridge, county Hants, 7 miles N. of Ringwood, 23 S.W. of Winchester, and 92 from London. The nearest railway station is Ringwood, on the London and South-Western line. It is situated on the river Avon, which is here crossed by a bridge of seven arches. The parish lies close upon the borders of Dorsetshire, and includes the hamlets of Bickton, Burgate, Godshill, Gorley, Midgham, and Stuckton. In the Domesday Survey this is called Forde, and is stated to have had a church and mills. The principal employment of the people is in the preparation of flax, but calico printing and the manufacture of sailcloth are also carried on.

Here is situated the poorhouse for the Union of Fordingbridge, which embraces nine parishes, and there is a bank in the town. Fordingbridge gives name to a deanery in the archdeaconry and diocese of Winchester. It is also the head of a superintendent registry, and of a County Court district. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Winchester, value with the curacy* of Ibsley annexed, £601, in the patronage of King's College, Cambridge. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a fine structure, with square embattled tower. Some portions of it are very old. There is also the district church of Hyde, the living of which is a perpetual curacy,* value £133. The parochial charities produce about £16 per annum. The Independents and Wesleyans have each a chapel, and the Society of Friends a meeting-house. There are both National and British schools for boys and girls. Highmore, the eminent Professor of Anatomical Science, was born in this place. There are some remains of ancient camps in the vicinity, and numerous fossil shells have been found in a stratum of chalk, which is abundant. C. P. Brune, Esq., is lord of the manor. Friday is market day. A fair is held on the 9th September. "BICKTON, a tything in the parish and hundred of Fordingbridge, in the county of Southampton, 5 miles from Ringwood. "BURGATE, (Middle, North and South) tythings in the parish and hundred of Fordingbridge, in the county of Southampton, 1 mile from Fordingbridge. Burgate House is the chief residence. "GODSHILL, a tything in the parish and hundred of Fordingbridge, Ringwood division of county Hants, 1½ mile N.E. of Fordingbridge, its post town. There are traces of a Saxon camp. "IBSLEY, a chapelry in the parish and hundred of Fordingbridge, county Hants, 3 miles N. of Ringwood, its post town and railway station, and 2 S. of Fordingbridge. It is situated on the river Avon. The living is a curacy* united with the vicarage* of Fordingbridge, in the diocese of Winchester. The church, dedicated to St. Martin, is a small modern edifice, containing a monument to Sir John Contables. The Independents have a chapel, and there is a parochial school. The Earl of Normanton is lord of the manor. "MIDGHAM, a tything in the parish of Fordingbridge, county Hants, 1 mile S. of Fordingbridge. "NORTH AND SOUTH GOERLY, a hamlet in the parish and hundred of Fordingbridge, county Hants, 2 miles S.E. of Fordingbridge."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]