New Milton, Hampshire on a Sunday Morning, August 2012 ( 8 )

New Milton is a market town in south west Hampshire, England. The town has a high street and holds a market every Wednesday. Situated on the edge of the New Forest, the town is about six miles ( 10 km ) west of Lymington town centre and 12 miles ( 19 km ) east of Bournemouth town centre. New Milton dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, and encompasses Old Milton, Barton on Sea, Ashley, Bashley, and Wootton. It is recorded as having a population of around 23,000 in 2001.
The traditional village centre of Milton was just south of the church. Up to the 1960's, moated earthworks were still visible next to the road known as Moat Lane. Excavations of these earthworks in 1956 revealed a series of peasant enclosures and hut remains dating from the 9th to the 12th century, but no evidence of a manorial farmstead was found. The parish church of Milton is dedicated to Mary Magdalene and consists of a chancel with vestry, a nave and a western tower. The medieval church was pulled down and replaced around 1830, although the tower is of an earlier 17th century date. In 1835 a Church of England National School was founded on an island of land near the village green, where children were taught until just after World War I. In 1881, the population of the entire Milton parish was only 1489 people, and Milton was still a small village. The location of the village on the main Christchurch to Lymington road ( now the A 337 ) meant that there were two coaching inns - The Wheatsheaf and The George - the former of which is still operating.
In March 1888 New Milton railway station was opened, which is still in operation today. A new town developed, which expanded rapidly with the coming of the railway and the name New Milton was used for the first time and can originally be traced back to the Post Office that stood opposite the railway station. In 1895, the owner of the Post Office, Emma Newhook, commissioned a sign, which read - New Milton Sub Post Office to differentiate it from the post office in Old Milton. This was officially accepted in 1896, and so the name New Milton caught on. Much of the local farmland has been developed, first in the 1960's for commuter housing and again in the 1970's for small industrial / trade units. There is a mix of housing from cottages on the outskirts to more modern, urban housing in the central area. Milton village subsequently became known as Old Milton, and lies between New Milton and Barton on Sea. There are a few notable architectural points of interest in the local area. However, a distinctive row of Coast Guard Cottages are to be found in Barton Lane, Barton on Sea, which were built at the end of the 19th century by the Government of the day to house armed guards to try to stop the smuggling that was rife at the time. The Barton on Sea and Mudeford coastline was renowned for smuggling with many of the offshore seaways and routes to shore being named after well known local smuggling families. It was in this context that Frederick Marryat, author of The Children of the New Forest, was sent on patrol here as a young naval lieutenant in 1821, to watch over the Christchurch Bay area. Britain's first reinforced concrete bridge was built in 1901 just outside New Milton at Chewton. There was an earlier experiment in building with this material in its un reinforced form at Sway ( Sway Tower ).
New Milton water tower.
Built in 1900 was the Tudor style water tower, which can be found adjacent to the car park in Osborne Road. It has a staircase and is constructed with a turret, slit windows and battlements. It is a striking orange - red colour, was built from locally manufactured bricks.
The German Luftwaffe carried out bombing raids on New Milton on the 23rd August 1940, the 8th August 1942 and on January 22nd 1943.The town's water tower was suggested as the target. During the Second World War, New Milton homed evacuees and was a transit station for soldiers going to the battlefields. It also had an army hospital. It was a favourite for the American airmen who were based at the nearby airfields at Lymington and Holmsley.
The Memorial Centre in Whitefield Road commemorates those who died in the raids, as well as towns people who have died more recently. Bricks can be purchased for inscription and insertion into the wall of the Memorial Room, which stands to the left of the front door and contains mementos saved from the original building, which was destroyed by fire in the 1970's.