Hurn is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It was created in 2019 and covers much of the area of the South Ea ...

district of

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is situated between the River Stour and River Avon north-west of

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

and north-east of

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

town centre. In 2001, the village had a population of 468. Hurn is the location of

Bournemouth Airport Bournemouth Airport (previously known as Hurn Airport and Bournemouth International Airport) is an international airport located north-northeast of Bournemouth, England. The site opened as RAF Hurn in 1941, but was transferred to civil con ...

(originally RAF Station Hurn), an important airfield dating to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The village was served by

Hurn railway station Hurn was a railway station in the county of Hampshire (now Dorset), opened on 13 November 1862 by the Ringwood, Christchurch and Bournemouth Railway. Becoming part of the London and South Western Railway, it was taken into the Southern Railway ...

from 1863 to 1935, and the station building and platform are extant. They are now used as the Avon Causeway Hotel. Hurn is listed in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as "Herne" (in the '' Egheiete Hundred'' of '' Hantescire''), and was later known in the 13th century as Hyrne and in the 14th century as Hurne. The name is derived from the

old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

"hyrne", which means a disused part of a field or the land sectioned by an

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or stream pool, pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is meander cutoff, cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether ...

Hurn Court Hurn Court in Hurn near Christchurch, Dorset, was the home of the Earls of Malmesbury between 1795 and 1951. It was sold on the death of the 5th Earl and opened as a boarding school for boys in 1952, before being developed for housing in the 1 ...

is a Grade II listed manor house, formerly home to the

Earls of Malmesbury Earl of Malmesbury is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1800 for the diplomat James Harris, 1st Baron Malmesbury. The son of the grammarian and politician James Harris, he served as Ambassador to Spain, Prussia, Russia ...

Governance and politics

Hurn is part of the Christchurch parliamentary constituency for elections to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. It is currently represented by

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Christopher Chope Sir Christopher Robert Chope (born 19 May 1947) is a British politician and former barrister who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Christchurch in Dorset since 1997. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected in ...

. Hurn is in the

unitary authority. For elections to the council, it is part of Commons electoral ward. Historically, Hurn was in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

until 1974. From 1894 to 1932 it was in Christchurch

Rural District A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

, and from 1932 to 1974 it was in

Ringwood and Fordingbridge Rural District Ringwood and Fordingbridge was a rural district in Hampshire from 1932 to 1974. It was formed by the merger of part of the disbanded Christchurch Rural District along with Ringwood Rural District and Fordingbridge Rural District. Its main ur ...

. From 1974 to 2019, it was part of Christchurch Borough in the two-tier non-metropolitan county of Dorset, administered at the higher tier by

Dorset County Council Dorset County Council was the county council of Dorset in England. It was created in 1889 and abolished in 2019. Throughout its existence, the council was based in Dorchester. Bournemouth and Poole were made independent from the county counci ...

References

{{authority control Civil parishes in Dorset Villages in Dorset Areas of Christchurch, Dorset Conservation areas in Dorset