Bashley is a village located in the south of Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It lies in the New Forest

New Forest

The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....

 on the outskirts of New Milton

New Milton

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 6 miles west of Lymington town centre and 12 miles east of Bournemouth town centre.-History:New Milton dates back...

 and is two miles inland from the Solent

Solent

The Solent is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England.The Solent is a major shipping route for passengers, freight and military vessels. It is an important recreational area for water sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually...

.

History

The history of Bashley can be traced to the Anglo-Saxon period. The earliest mention of Bashley is recorded in a charter belonging to Christchurch Priory

Christchurch Priory

Christchurch Priory is an ecclesiastical parish and former priory church in Christchurch in the English county of Dorset .-Early history:...

 where reference is made to an estate called Bagesluceleia for the year 1053. The name means "wood/clearing of Baegloc." This uncommon name was borne by an 8th century abbot. In the time of the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

, 1086, the settlement was known as Bailocheslei, and was held in chief by Alsi the priest, who held it from the king; soon afterwards it was acquired by Christchurch Priory. In 1262 William Boscher had held land there from Christchurch Manor, and in 1315 Robert Boscher died possessed of Bashley Manor. The priory still owned part of the original estate in 1384, when it received a grant of free warren

Warren (free)

Free warren—often simply warren—refers to a type of franchise or privilege conveyed by a sovereign in mediaeval England to a subject, promising to hold them harmless for killing game of certain species within a stipulated area, usually a wood or small forest...

 there. This land seems to have been absorbed into their manor of Somerford; it is included in an account of the manor in 1628, and sixty years later there is mention of a copse at Bashley belonging to the manor. Bashley Common was inclosed

Enclosure

Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...

 in 1817.

Things of interest

The centre of community life for the village is the Bashley Village Hall, which was built in 1946. In 1948 an additional 3.5 acres were purchased "to enhance the life of the inhabitants of Bashley," and a lease was granted to Bashley Football Club

Bashley F.C.

Bashley F.C. is a football club based in Bashley, near New Milton, Hampshire, England. It was established in 1947 and is currently a member of the Southern League Premier Division....

 to use the grounds. In the 1994/95 season, Bashley Football Club reached the Second Round proper of the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

, and were hosts to Swansea City to whom they narrowly lost 1-0. Bashley Village Hall is also home to a popular flower show held annually.

In 1979 Bashley Cricket Club

Bashley Cricket Club

Bashley Cricket Club is an amateur cricket club based at Bashley in Hampshire. The club's first team plays in the Southern Premier Cricket League, which is one of the ECB Premier Leagues that are the highest level of the amateur, recreational sport in England and Wales.The club was founded in 1947...

 moved to its present ground at Bashley, having previously played cricket in the Bournemouth

Bournemouth

Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...

 area. The village church is dedicated to Saint John

John the Evangelist

Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...

, and is a daughter church of St. Mary Magdalene in New Milton.

At the north end of the village is the hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 of Wootton

Wootton, West Hampshire

Wootton is a hamlet in the civil parish of New Milton in Hampshire, England. It is in the south of the New Forest.-Overview:Wootton is just north of the village of Bashley in the civil parish of New Milton, although the farmland and woodland to the north of Wootton is in the parish of Brockenhurst....

. The pub

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

at Wootton is The Rising Sun, which has been on its present site for over two hundred years.