Reflections: The A337 – story of a road well-travelled (part two)

Leaving the village of Milton, which in 1841 had a total parish population of 1,185, the rambler would have come across a junction with a road leading off to the left along what is now Old Milton Road. The Lymington-bound traveller would have stayed on the main road. The junction created a triangle of land where the village school sat. This was built in 1836 in a philanthropic gesture to the poor of the parish.

A committee meeting held on 30th November 1835 headed by the Right Honourable Sir George Rose and others agreed to purchase land and build the school, which would take in all churchgoing children of the parish. Those parents of limited financial means would pay between two pence and one penny a week towards their child’s education.

The children of the destitute would be funded by public donation so that no child was left out. Mr James Olding was the first headmaster of the school, and his sister, Mrs Sarah Hayward was appointed mistress. The Milton village school remained in that location until 1919, when it moved to a site at the junction of Gore Road and Vincent Road. The building was then used by New Milton Urban District Council until the early 1930s when it was demolished to improve the road junction.

Just beyond the school on the site that is now the Forest Arts Centre was Beehive cottage. This was thatched and made of cob: a mixture of clay, straw, sand and water. Cob buildings can last for well over a century if properly looked after. There are many superb examples to be seen in our locality.

Moving eastwards, one of the last buildings on the outskirts of Milton village was a cottage on the left just after the school. This belonged to the Randell family. According to the 1841 census the head of the household was James Randell, aged 50. He is recorded as being a shoemaker. Later census returns stated he was a cordwainer who would make new shoes from leather as opposed to a cobbler who would repair shoes. His wife Elizabeth was also aged 50. Living with them was their daughter Caroline (25) and sons Samuel (13), George (10), and the youngest Alfred, aged seven. In 1850 George Randell emigrated to Australia with his Bransgore-born wife Jane, and by 1884 he was the mayor of Perth.

Going further east, today we come to the junction with Barton Court Road and Barton Court Avenue. This did not exist until the sale of the Barton Court Estate in 1894. Both the road and avenue are tree-lined, thanks to the Rector of Milton, John Edward Kelsall, who urged the local residents to plant trees there to enhance the area for years to come.

In 1915 four Indian soldiers planted commemorative trees in Barton Court Road alongside an ash tree which had earlier been planted by a Belgian refugee.

Farm tracks to the cliffs

Just beyond the crossroads on the south side of the main road was a small farm track which led to the clifftops going past Barton Farm. Part of this track survives today as Farm Lane North and Farm Lane South. The route has been described in a June 1963 published history article as a “tiny track from the Christchurch to Lymington Road [which] joined Dilly Lane where Mr Long’s Little Barton Farm stood”.

This suggests that a person would have had difficulty getting a horse and cart along it.

A little further on is Becton Lane. In 1841 this was called Barton Road and was another way of getting to the cliffs and down to the beach via Becton Bunny. Mount Avenue was another ‘new’ road created when the Barton Court Estate was sold.

In 1841 the map clearly shows a crossroads that would take the traveller north along what is now known as Station Road, or south to Milford-on-Sea, although on the tithe map it is called Hordle Road. In the 1840s all of this area was farmland with just a cottage at the crossroads junction. Hordle Road and Barton Road were connected by Green Lane, which still exists today.

Moving westwards towards what is now the junction of Caird Avenue, the traveller of 1841 would have passed another milestone. Today this appears to be partially buried as only the top of it can be seen under a hedgerow. Some milestones were removed or buried during wartime.

The southern part of Caird Avenue existed in 1841 as a farm track. By the latter end of the 1800s, gravel and clay were being extracted here. There were brickworks in this area of Ashley, making good use of the clay which is today the bane of many gardeners in the area.

Lower Ashley

Further along the road the traveller would have come across Lower Ashley Farm, which dates from the 18th century. Today it is called Ashley Manor Farm. This area was once ancient downland that had become enclosed and used for agricultural purposes. Recent archaeological surveys have suggested that the fields may have been home to some of the earliest dwellings in our area, with a ‘banjo enclosure’ indicative of the iron age along with what might be a roundhouse, burial pits and a small barrow potentially identified.

Field walking of the area has revealed a neolithic greenstone axe head, worked flint tools and a number of shards of Romano-British pottery along with a larger quantity of medieval pottery.

Just to the east of the junction with Lower Ashley Road, the Lymington Road of 1841 takes a large detour from the route of today. The old road went past what is today Hoopers Hill Farm and Hoopers Hill House to a T-junction with Angel Lane, and then out onto a portion of the modern road before taking a sharp left over the Danestream and across farm land into Downton. The tithe map records that the house was then called Ashley Hill House. Some of the farm buildings have Flemish Bond brickwork which was popular from the 17th century through to the mid-19th, which gives some clue as to the age of the properties in the area.

Ashley Clinton

All of this area was part of the Ashley Clinton Estate, which had been the home of General Sir Henry Clinton from 1800 onwards. Sir Henry had taken part in the Battle of Waterloo, and his father had been a commander of British forces in the American War of Independence. Their memorial plaques can be seen in St Mary Magdalene church in Milton.

A report by ‘Townsman’ in this newspaper dated 31st August 1957 stated that the estate of about 1,200 acres was to be auctioned off, including the house and contents after the last surviving member of the Clinton family passed away. Eventually the uniforms were given to the National Army Museum in Chelsea. A university in the United States bought the Clinton family papers.

The New Milton Advertiser reported almost monthly on the various motor vehicle crashes that took place in this location. The dog-leg bends proved too difficult for some heavy goods vehicle drivers, who started using Silver Street and the road through Milford village to avoid the trouble spot.

Eventually, in the early 1980s the road was realigned, making it much safer. Traces of the old road can still be seen at Hoopers Hill, with remnants of road markings and cats-eyes still visible. At the junction with Angle Lane there is a milestone visible in the shrubbery. The old brick bridge over the stream is just visible in the undergrowth to the left of the present-day road.

Downton

When the road crossed over the Danestream it also crossed the boundary into Hordle Parish. Here, too, the road has been realigned. The 1841 map shows a dog-leg junction at the crossroads with the Royal Oak Inn. This hostelry, recorded on the tithe map, was an important staging post for the horse-drawn transport of the 1800s. It was here that the mail could be collected along with goods and supplies brought to the area by wagon, and horses could be changed or given a rest and water.

The cottages on the entrance to Downton beside the car sales premises have an 1897 date stone and, therefore, would not have been something the traveller from 1841 would recognise. Opposite the inn was the blacksmith’s forge and house. In 1958 the junction was straightened out by demolishing a cottage and taking a large slice of the blacksmith’s garden.

Just a little to the east is the old post office, possibly built in the 1850s or later. The tithe map shows the post office of 1841 on the road to Hordle village.

Moving eastwards past Lea Green and Downton Manor Farm, we cross the parochial boundary into Milford’s parish. Travelling past Barnes Lane and onwards to Everton, the road has been modernised just after the nursery. What is now Farmers Walk was once the main road. It seems incredibly narrow to a modern motorist. In this section of the highway there is a new milestone to replace one that had been damaged in an accident.

The old main road goes through the village of Everton, and by the Crown Inn turns sharply to the right. The Crown is shown on the 1841 map and was another important staging post on the road from Christchurch to Lymington, being a convenient last stop before the weary sightseer started on the last leg of the journey to Lymington. In 1980 a bypass was built widening and straightening the road, taking traffic south of the village near to Everton Grange. This was first recorded in 1666 as being a 26-acre estate.

Efford

The road bends around through Efford, with another milestone beside the entrance to the lodge house. Efford in the 11th century had manorial status and the current Efford House was built in 1823. Following the road downhill leads us to Efford Mill on the Avon Water. Mills were extremely important in rural life. In 1086, when the Domesday book was written, there were over 300 mills in the county, each covering a wide area.

The date on the keystone above the mill leat is 1809. However, it is recorded that a mill was on the site before then. A highly combustible mixture of flower dust and air meant that mills were frequently rebuilt over the years. The Hampshire Telegraph records that Efford Mill stopped making flour in 1918. In 1936 the bridge and road were widened beside the mill.

The road climbs uphill and into the village of Pennington, once part of Milford Parish until 1839. Arriving at Pennington Cross, the weary traveller of 1841 would be just a short distance away from Lymington High Street and the market.

There are a few landmarks along the A337 from Highcliffe to Lymington that would have been familiar to those road users from the 1800s, not least of which are several inns still in business. Next time you are travelling along that route take time to look out for our local history.

• Nick Saunders is a local historian and chair of the Milton Heritage Society. Email nick@miltonheritagesociety.co.uk