Hi and Welcome to my Website!  You most probably have ended up here by mistake and it is quite likely that you have never even heard of Highcliffe! Highcliffe sits in the Eastern most corner of Dorset along the South Coastline between Bournemouth and Southampton. It was once a little fishing hamlet known as 'Slop Pond' and one can only speculate the reason for this!! Since then the name has been changed a further three times, and is now proudly known as Highcliffe-On-Sea!  This area is popular with tourists because of the seven miles of sandy beaches to the West and the picturesque New Forest to the North.  The history here is rather interesting and this is what this site is about -the development and changes of the village of Highcliffe over the past two hundred years. 

Although initially it was intended just to write up on Highcliffe following some personal research on the history of certain buildings here, I have expanded the area now to include a brief history on the New Forest, Bournemouth, Christchurch, and New Milton as well. I have also included a page on the railway as the development of transportation played an important part in the growth of the area. I have also included a personal page for photographs, my poetry and any personal thoughts I feel like sharing with the world!

It would not have been possible for me to have put together this site without the help of reference books, our town museum 'The Red House' and my Dad and son!! To my best knowledge the subjects which I have written about are true and correct. To my best ability I have transcribed a section of the 1901 census for Lymington Road, Newtown, Hampshire (now Highcliffe, Dorset). The enumerators hand writing has made it difficult to do this, therefore I hope all the names listed are correct.  Most the pictures on the site are my own. The black and white pictures are either old photographs, old postcards or from the attic! 

I would very much like to add an old photograph of Ringwood Mill before it was demolished. If anyone could please help me with this I would be most grateful.  I am also  hoping to follow these pages soon with a section on the Second World War years and how it affected the villages and the people of the area from Southampton to Bournemouth, and would love to include some personal experiences. If you could offer me any help with my research, please e-mail at highcliffevillage@yahoo.co.uk  

I hope that you enjoy reading the very fascinating history of how the area here was developed and became what it is today - Please feel free to leave a message in my guest book. 

Thankyou.

        Highcliffe - The growth of Highcliffe, once a fishing hamlet known as 'Sloppond', including a part transcript of the 1901 census for a section of the Lymington Rd.....   Read on

   The New Forest - Once ruled by William the Conqueror, now a place of outstanding beauty and tranquillity..... Read on

  Christchurch - The history of Christchurch, Mudeford and Hengistbury Head goes right back.....  Read on 

     New Milton - Once nothing much more than farmland - developed with the coming of the railway..... Read on 

     Bournemouth - Two hundred years ago the busy seaside resort of Bournemouth was nothing more than heathland, sand dunes and hidden pathways used by smugglers, until.....   Read on 

The railway - Arrives in the South of England and becomes the backbone behind the development of the towns and villages over the last 150 years....  Read on 

   My personal page of photographs & poems

Guestbook  & Links page