Keyhaven is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

on the south coast of

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 ...

in the county of

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, ...

. It is a

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

, but the trade has been in decline for a period of years and its main draw now is tourism, especially

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

Overview

Keyhaven lies in the district 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 Conqueror, featu ...

and is just within the borders of the

New Forest National Park 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 ...

. It is in the civil parish of

Milford-on-Sea Milford on Sea, often hyphenated, is a large coastal village and civil parish in the New Forest district, on the Hampshire coast, England. The parish had a population of 4,660 at the 2011 census and is centred about south of Lymington. Touri ...

, and it lies at one end of the shingle bank known as Hurst Spit which leads to Hurst Castle. Keyhaven draws visitors through its outstanding natural beauty, from the views over the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whi ...

to the abundance of open farm land. To the east of Keyhaven lies the

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

of Keyhaven marshes.

History

The name "Keyhaven" means ‘Harbour where cows are shipped’; OE ''cū'' (genitive ''cȳ'') + ''hæfen''. Cattle and sheep were transported from the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

to the water meadows of the Avon around

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 ...

Keyhaven was a port as early as 1206. There seem to have been two manorial estates here, one held by

Bath Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictines, Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, i ...

, and the other by the

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The Episcopal see, see is in the Salisbur ...

. The lands of Bath Abbey were held by them until the time of the Dissolution, but in the 17th century it seems that the two manors were merged, and in 1802 the estate was purchased by Sir John D'Oyly. He subsequently sold it and by the 19th century it had passed, like other lands in the area, to William Cornwallis-West. Like the rest of the West Solent area, a considerable

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

industry developed soon after the

Conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

. This had disappeared by 1400 but was revived in the 17th century with the introduction of new techniques. In the 1930s a proposal was made to run a car ferry between Keyhaven and Fort Victoria on the

. An act of Parliament was obtained, the ( 26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8. c. lxxxi), but a lack of funds meant the proposal was abandoned in 1938. In 1976 there was a fire on the marshes to east of the Keyhaven River. The fire nearly destroyed two bungalows on the marshes, but was held back by the efforts of locals and the Lymington fire brigade.

Notes

External links

Milford & Keyhaven News

Milford on Sea guide, with information on KeyhavenLocal map of places to go, shops, restaurants, pubs in Milford, Lymington & surrounding areas.
{{authority control Hamlets in Hampshire Populated coastal places in Hampshire