River Hamble Country Park is a

country park A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a specific meaning. There are around 250 designated c ...

which runs along the west bank of the

River Hamble The River Hamble in south Hampshire, England, source (river), rises near Bishop's Waltham and flows for through Botley, Hampshire, Botley, Bursledon, and Lower Swanwick before entering Southampton Water between Hamble Common and Warsash. The ...

between the villages of Botley and

Bursledon Bursledon is a village on the River Hamble in Hampshire, England. It is located within the borough of Eastleigh. Close to the city of Southampton, Bursledon has a railway station, a marina, dockyards and the Bursledon Windmill. Nearby villages ...

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 owned by

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hampshire in England. The council was created in 1889. The county council provides county-level services to eleven of the thirteen districts geo ...

and managed by Hampshire Countryside Service.

History

The ancient duckpond in Manor Farm and the neighbouring St Bartholomew's Church are mentioned in

Domesday 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 ...

. There is evidence of a Roman road running through the site, which would have been the route between the Roman settlements of ''

Clausentum Clausentum was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. The site is believed to be located in Bitterne Manor, which is now a suburb of Southampton. Identification Route VII of the Antonine Itinerary documents the Roman settlement of Cla ...

'' (

Bitterne Manor Bitterne Manor is a suburb of Southampton surrounding the manor house of the same name. It is located on the eastern bank of the River Itchen, across Cobden Bridge from St Denys. History Bitterne Manor is the site of the original Roman se ...

) and ''

Portus Adurni Portus Adurni was a Roman fort in the Roman province of Britannia situated at the north end of Portsmouth Harbour. It was part of the Saxon Shore, and is the best-preserved Roman fort north of the Alps. Around an eighth of the fort has been ex ...

'' (

Portchester Portchester is a village in the borough of Fareham in Hampshire, England. It is northwest of Portsmouth and around 18 miles east of Southampton on the A27 road. Its population according to the 2011 United Kingdom census was 17,789. Name Portc ...

). In 1439, the '' Grace Dieu'' was struck by lightning, and burnt and sank on the river running alongside the park. The wreck is now marked by a warning pole, which is a yellow cross. Part of the play area in the 'Barnfield' area is based on the wreck. The wreck is now protected. In 1943, the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

shore establishment A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. 'Stone frigate' is an informal term which has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy (RN), after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a ' sloop of war' to harass the French in ...

named HMS ''Cricket'' was opened. It would be used throughout the rest of

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 ...

to help prepare for

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. Once decommissioned in 1946, the buildings that were left behind by the

were used to house citizens of Southampton who were displaced by bombing. The site was then known as "The Cricket Camp", until 1952 when it was no longer required for that purpose. The former guardhouse is the only building still standing at the park, which is currently used as the rangers' depot. The park first opened in 1979 as Upper Hamble Country Park and in 1984 the Manor Farm museum was opened to the north of the site as a wartime museum. The museum site was once at the heart of the village of Botley. In 2019 it was reported that Hampshire County Council would be investing £800,000 into the country park through the construction of a new visitor centre, replacement of play equipment and the improvement of wayfinding and walking routes across the site.

Manor Farm

Within the country park at the north east of the park lies Manor Farm, a farm attraction with its own opening hours and pricing policy. It opened in 1984 as the Manor Farm museum and has since developed into a family-focused visitor attraction within the setting of the historic farmyard run by

. The site includes historic buildings that link to the heritage of the site and the original museum including a

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to the ...

wheelwright A wheelwright is a Artisan, craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright" (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker - as also in shipbuilding, shipwright ...

s, farmhouse and

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

schoolhouse. The ancient duckpond and the neighbouring St Bartholomew's Church also form part of the location. Popular activities on offer at the farm include daily animal interactions and feeding, story time and Victorian school lessons. Other on-site facilities include a visitor centre and gift shop in the 18th-century threshing barn, a large indoor children's play area – the Playbarn – and a café for visitors, as well as amenities such as toilets and an education centre for visiting school groups. Manor Farm was the location for the historical documentary TV series ''

Wartime Farm ''Wartime Farm'' is a British historical documentary TV series in eight parts in which the running of a farm during the Second World War is reenacted, first broadcast on BBC Two on 6 September 2012. The series, the fourth in the historic farm se ...

'', broadcast by the BBC in 2012.

Facilities

The park has two main areas, the 'Barnfield' and the 'Toplands Field'. The Barnfield has a large barn, which is a café and visitor centre, which was completed in 2021. The field also has a large park. The 'Toplands Field' has a dog field and some barbecue pitches. The site also includes the location of Cricket Camp Scout Activity Centre, used by Itchen South Scouts as well as the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Activities Centre.

Strawberry Trail

The Strawberry Trail is a footpath along the

. It starts in Botley, then runs through the River Hamble Country Park to

, where it splits to

Hamble-le-Rice Hamble-le-Rice, commonly known as Hamble, is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Eastleigh (borough), Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It is best known for being a flying training centre during the Second Wor ...

and then on to

Netley Netley, officially Netley Abbey, is a village on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It is situated to the south-east of the city of Southampton, and flanked on one side by the ruins of Netley Abbey and on the other by the Royal Victoria Co ...

. From here it loops back to Bursledon. The path also passes through the

Royal Victoria Country Park The Royal Victoria Country Park is a country park in Netley, Hampshire, England, by the shores of Southampton Water. It comprises of mature woodland and grassy parkland, as well as a small shingle beach. It was created in 1970 by Hampshire ...

and the Hamble Common. The path is named after the area's strawberry trade, which boomed in the 1860s. Trains called 'Strawberry Specials' would take the fruit from the area to the

Covent Garden Market Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End of London, West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopp ...

References

External links

River Hamble Country Park
– official site
Manor Farm
– official site

QE2 activity centre (click on "useful info" for more on HMS Cricket)
{{Country parks in Eastleigh Country parks in Hampshire Museums in Hampshire Living museums in England Farm museums in England Local Nature Reserves in Hampshire