Dibden Purlieu () is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

situated on the edge of the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conquero ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England. The village merges with the nearby town of Hythe. It is in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

of Hythe and Dibden. The approximate population is around 4000 people. The regular Bluestar bus services provide Purlieu's quickest link with the city of

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

. Dibden Purlieu is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with

Mauves-sur-Loire Mauves-sur-Loire (, literally ''Mauves on Loire''; br, Malvid) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. Population International relations Mauves-sur-Loire is twinned with Hythe in England England is a cou ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

History

Dibden Purlieu was in the parish of Dibden, referred to 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 as Deepdene, "dene" being an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

word for valley.

Purlieu Purlieu is a term used of the outlying parts of a place or district. It was a term of the old Forest law, and meant, as defined by John Manwood, ''Treatise of the Lawes of the Forest'' (1598, 4th ed. 1717), The owner of freelands in the purlieu ...

is a Norman-French word meaning "the outskirts of a forest" – a place free from forest laws. In this particular case Dibden Purlieu was land removed from the

in the 14th century when the forest boundaries were established by perambulations about 1300.Dibden Purlieu, Old Hampshire Gazetteer
/ref> In practice the king retained or claimed, certain rights in the area, and the activities of the royal foresters in enforcing forest law there were a matter of great resentment. Up to the 1950s Dibden Purlieu was a small settlement next to the village of Dibden, but the expansion of Fawley Refinery lead to a demand for more houses for workers, and Hythe and Dibden Purlieu were allowed to expand into a small town. In 1983 the parish was renamed, and Dibden Purlieu is now part of the parish of Hythe and Dibden.What is the Parish Council
, Hythe and Dibden Parish Council

Notable residents

Richard Eurich Richard Ernst Eurich, OBE, RA (14 March 1903 – 6 June 1992) was an English painter who worked as a war artist to the Admiralty in the Second World War and was also known for his panoramic seascapes and narrative paintings. These were ...

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

was the war artist to the Admiralty from 1941. * Ron Lane was a wood sculptor of

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted f ...

.British Pathe (1969).
Wood Sculptor
', Canister: UN 4462 A; Film ID: 3318.20; Sort number: UN 4462 A; Tape: *PM3318*. * Damian Shirazi (born 1983), cricketer, grew up in the village

Schools

Dibden Purlieu has two large

secondary schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondar ...

; Noadswood School and Applemore College.

Totton College Totton College is a further education college located in Totton, Hampshire, providing courses for mainly 16- to 19-year-olds as well as adult education courses. These include BTECs, NVQs, GCSEs and Access courses. Courses are also available to ...

also has a small campus in the village specialising in adult education services. Primary education is now provided at several schools in the village. Wildground, was the first in Armitage Avenue. The junior school opened on this site in 1962, with the infants' premises following two years later. Prior to that, the school had occupied temporary accommodation in Lunedale Road, which later included use of the adjacent

Women's Institute The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being t ...

Hall. The village had further primary's schools added with the opening in the late 60s of the separate Orchard Infant and Orchard Junior schools on Water Lane, adjacent to Noadswood School.

References

External links

Hythe and Dibden Parish CouncilWildground Infant SchoolWildground Junior School
{{authority control New Forest Villages in Hampshire