National Gazetteer (1868) - Milford

"MILFORD, a parish in the hundreds of Christchurch and Ringwood, county Hants, 4 miles S.W. of Lymington, its post town. It is bounded on the S.E. by the isle of Wight Channel, and is a coastguard station near Hurst Castle, The parish includes the tythings of Key-Haven, Efford, and Pennington. A rivulet, which rises in the New Forest, flows through the parish, and is well stocked with trout and other fish. The surface is varied, and includes about 230 acres of unenclosed common. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £92, and the vicarial for £290.

The living is a vicarage* .in the diocese of Winchester, value £279, in the patronage of Queen's College, Oxford. The parish church is a stone structure, with a spired tower containing a clock and five bells. There is also a district church at Pennington, the living of which is a perpetual curacy,* value £100. The parochial charities produce about £60 per annum, the produce of land, which is distributed to the deserving poor not receiving parochial relief. There is a National school, also a girls' school. Newlands, Rook Cliff, Efford House, Kivernells, and Ivy Cottage are the principal residences. "HURST, a castle on the coast of county Hants, in the parish of Milford, 4 miles S. of Lymington. It was built by Henry VIII. to command the Needles passage of the Channel, and was the place of confinement of Charles I. in December, 1648. "KEYHAVEN, a tything in the parish of Milford, hundred of Christchurch, county Southampton, 3 miles S.W. of Lymington. It is situated on the coast opposite Hurst Castle. "PENNINGTON, a village and ecclesiastical district in the parish of Milford, hundred of Ringwood, county Hants, 4 miles S.W. of Lymington. The village, which is considerable, is situated near Hurst Castle, on the coast of the English Channel. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Winchester, value £100. The church, dedicated to St. Mark, was erected in 1839."

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