Ibsley is a village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of

Ellingham, Harbridge and Ibsley Ellingham, Harbridge and Ibsley is a civil parish in the New Forest district, in the west of the county of Hampshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 1,171. The civil parish was formed on 1 April 1979 from "El ...

, in 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 Conqueror, featu ...

district, 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, ...

, England. It is about 2.5 miles (4 km) north of the town of Ringwood. In 1931 the parish had a population of 228.

Overview

The village of Ibsley lies to the east of the River Avon on the main road between Ringwood and

Fordingbridge Fordingbridge is a town and broader civil parish with a population of 6,200 on the River Avon in the New Forest District of Hampshire, England. It is located near the Dorset and Wiltshire borders and on the edge of the New Forest. It is sou ...

, and has some picturesque thatched cottages.Hampshire Treasures Volume 5 (New Forest) Page 103
To the southeast is a series of lakes known collectively as Blashford Lakes, which have been created as the result of sand and gravel extraction since the 1950s.Blashford Lakes
, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Harbridge to form " Harbridge and Ibsley". The hamlets of

South Gorley South Gorley is a hamlet in the New Forest National Park of Hampshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Ellingham, Harbridge and Ibsley. Its nearest town is Ringwood, which lies approximately south-west of the hamlet. The hamlet sits on ...

Furze Hill Furze Hill (or Furzehill) is a hamlet situated in the New Forest National Park of Hampshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Ellingham, Harbridge and Ibsley. Its nearest town is Fordingbridge, which lies approximately 3.1 miles (5.2&nb ...

, and Mockbeggar were all part of Ibsley parish.

History

Ibsley 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 ...

of 1086 when it was held by a certain Ralph from Hugh de Port. The name of the settlement at that time was Tibeslei and it means "Tibb(i)'s wood/clearing".Ibsley, Old Hampshire Gazetteer
In the 14th century Ibsley was split into two moieties divided between John atte Bere and William de Melbury.Ibsley - Victoria County History of Hampshire
/ref> That part which John atte Bere had owned was by the end of the 14th century in the possession of William Stourton. His son John, who later became the 1st Baron Stourton, inherited the estate in 1414. It then descended with the

Baron Stourton Baron Stourton is a title in the Peerage of England, It was created by patent in 1448 for John Stourton. In 1878, the ancient barony of Mowbray was called out of abeyance in favour of the twentieth Baron Stourton. About two weeks later, the ...

s, until William Stourton, 7th Baron Stourton sold the manor in 1544 to Robert White, from whom it descended with Rockford in Ellingham to the Beconshaws and Lisles. In the 19th century it was sold to the second Earl of Normanton, and became annexed to the Somerley estate. That part which William de Melbury had owned had by the 16th century passed to the Berkley family. John Berkeley sold the manor to William Batten in 1556. It was sold to Jeremiah Cray in 1697. It stayed with the Cray family in the 18th century, but by the 19th century it was joined to the other manor, and also became part of the Somerley estate. The church of Saint Martin was rebuilt in 1832, replacing an earlier 17th-century church.Church of Saint Martin
- Pastscape It is of brick with some stone dressings. It is now deconsecrated and was in use as an art gallery as of 2008. A bridge across the river avon was built in the first part of the 19th century. It was almost completely rebuilt in 1930. It is largely made from Purbeck stone and crosses the river with three arches.

RAF Ibsley

RAF Ibsley was a

World War II 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 ...

airfield near Ibsley. It was opened in 1941, and it was used by both the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

and

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. During the war it was used primarily as a fighter airfield. After the war it was closed in 1947. The airfield appeared in the wartime propaganda film ''

The First of the Few ''The First of the Few'' (US title ''Spitfire'') is a 1942 British black-and-white biographical film produced and directed by Leslie Howard (actor), Leslie Howard, who stars as R. J. Mitchell, the designer of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter air ...

'' as the main wartime base in the production. Most of the airfield has since been quarried away by gravel extraction, and much of the site is covered by the Blashford Lakes nature reserve. One lake is overlooked by the derelict, windowless control tower with other remnants scattered around the nearby countryside.

Notes

External links

Ellingham, Harbridge and Ibsley Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Hampshire Former civil parishes in Hampshire New Forest District