Emery Down

Human settlement in England

Lyndhurst

District

New Forest

Hampshire

Region

South East

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townLYNDHURSTPostcode districtSO43Dialling code023Police Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire Hampshire and Isle of Wight Ambulance South Central UK Parliament

New Forest West

List of places: UK; England; Hampshire

50°52′36″N 1°35′51″W / 50.8768°N 1.5974°W / 50.8768; -1.5974

Emery Down is a small village in the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Lyndhurst, which lies approximately 1.4 miles (2.3 km) south-east from the village.

Overview

Emery Down is a small village clustered around a hilltop overlooking Swan Green and Lyndhurst.^[1] The village has one inn called The New Forest Inn.^[2] The red telephone box in the village no longer has a phone, but is used as an Information Centre for local and New Forest information, history, advice, as well as a book exchange and as a place to purchase fruit and vegetables. The telephone box has its own website.^[3]

History

Emery Down is recorded as Emerichdon in 1376, and Emeryesdowne in 1490.^[4] The "Emmory" family is recorded here in 1389.^[4] The surname is of French origin.^[4]

The homes of charcoal burners and agricultural labourers were in Silver Street in Emery Down.^[5] Here was born, in 1840, the New Forest "snake catcher" Brusher Mills, who lived here until at least 1861.^[6]

A major benefactor of Emery Down was Admiral Frederick Moore Boultbee, who lived here between 1856 and his death in 1876.^[7] Boultbee paid for the village church, Christ Church, which was designed by William Butterfield, and built in 1864.^[7] Boultbee lived with his niece Charlotte in a thatched cottage known as The Cottage, which before the 19th century had been an inn, The Running Horse.^[7] After Charlotte's death in 1896, The Cottage became the vicarage, and is now a private home.^[7]

Boultbee was also the benefactor for the village school, opened in 1865 and extended in 1885.^[7] The school operated until 1950.^[7] Boultbee also paid for the five alms houses, known as Boultbee Cottages,^[8] opposite the school.^[7] Designed by William Butterfield, they were built in 1871 and occupied by elderly people of the parish.^[8]

The New Forest Inn, formerly the New Inn, dates back to at least the first half of the 19th century.^[7] The captain of the Titanic, Edward Smith, spent his final night on British shores at the pub before he set sail on the ship the next day.^[9]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stayed in Emery Down for a year from Easter 1889, while researching his novel The White Company and was frequently seen walking around the village.^[9]

Northerwood House is a Grade II listed Regency mansion, attributed to John Nash.^[10] The house was turned into flats in the 1970s.^[11]

Emery Down’s village hall was constructed in the 1920s by Burnett & Sons.^[11]

Notes

^ "About Emery Down and Silver Street". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
^ The New Forest Inn
^ "Emery Down Telephone Kiosk". Archived from the original on 12 October 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c Old Hampshire Gazetteer - Emery Down
^ Emery Down – a view from old maps, New Forest Explorers Guide
^ Harry ‘Brusher’ Mills 1840 – 1905: New Forest snake catcher Archived 2011-10-08 at the Wayback Machine, Hampshire Biographies
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Emery Down, New Forest Explorers Guide
^ ^a ^b "Hampshire Treasures, Volume 5 (New Forest), Lyndhurst, page 213". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
^ ^a ^b The New Forest Inn, Emery down, Daily Echo
^ "Northerwood House". Historic England.
^ ^a ^b O’Brien, Charles; Bailey, Bruce; Pevsner, Nikolaus; Lloyd, David W. (2018). The Buildings of England Hampshire: South. Yale University Press. pp. 257–258. ISBN 9780300225037.