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Historic places in Fordingbridge

7 historic buildings, sites and memorials in Fordingbridge.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.

Historic places in Fordingbridge

  1. See

    Breamore House

    An Elizabethan (late 16th century) manor house with very fine period furniture, paintings, and tapestries. Each of the main rooms is seemingly frozen in a particular era, from the Tudor great hall and bedrooms, to the Stuart dining room and Regency-era drawing rooms. The house was built on the site of an Augustinian monastery, a victim of the Reformation, and has been in the hands of the Hulse family for nine generations. The ground floor is accessible to wheelchair users.

    Apr and Oct: Tue, Sun noon-5:30PM; May-Sep: Tue-Thu Sun noon-5:30PM; and open bank holidays throughout the yearAdult £9.50, senior £8, child (5-15 years) £6, under 5 free

  2. See

    Breamore Mizmaze

    A medieval turf maze in a grove of yew trees atop Breamore Down, one of only two surviving examples in England. Composed of concentric rings which lead to the centre and bisected by a Christian cross, it is believed to have been created by the monks of Breamore Priory, who apparently crawled to the middle on their knees while praying as penitence. The maze is fenced off, so you can't try it out, but you can see all of it and the hike to get there offers some fab views over the countryside.

    Accessible daily, during daylight hoursFree - not necessary to purchase entry to the estate

  3. See

    Fordingbridge Museum

    Volunteer-run museum which, over two floors of a former granary, packs in displays on almost every aspect of local life and history you could think of: small businesses, archive photos, Augustus John, town life during the Victorian and wartime eras, the local footie club...

    Easter-Halloween Mon-Sat 11AM-4PMFree, donations welcome

  4. See

    Great Bridge

    One of only two bridges in the UK with seven arches, this is a pretty spot to take in the river. If the constant stream of traffic puts you off, you can get a more peaceful view of the ancient crossing from Riverside Park.

  5. Do

    Insight Activities

    archery & axe throwing

    Email via online contact form (page bottom). Supervised fun with mediaeval weapons in the woods! Guided sessions for absolute beginners in longbow archery, crossbow shooting and axe throwing. The tuition is personable and humorous with an emphasis on safety and proper technique. Combine a lesson with an activity: in 'Siege the Castle', groups design their own giant projectile and fire at a model castle, while 'Combat Tag' combines a number of archery team games - back-to-back duelling, capture the flag and something called 'death match'. The archery range is open to all ages, while the other activities aren't suitable for children under 12.

    Booking essentialArchery only (2 hr): £25 pp; archery, crossbow and axe throwing (2 hr 30 min): £35 pp; siege the castle (2 hr): £30 pp; combat tag (2 hr): £30 pp

  6. See

    St Mary's Church, Breamore

    A handsome flint church whose external architecture has scarcely been altered since the 10th century, having survived a millennium during which almost every other Saxon church in the country was extensively modified by successive generations of 'improvers' who thought they knew better. The insides were messed with a bit more, yet many of the original features remain. Look out for an exceedingly rare example of a surviving Old English inscription, above a sturdy arched doorway, along with an equally old and rare 'rood' (depiction of Jesus on the cross) and other ancient wall paintings. It's no exaggeration to say that this is one of England's most historically important churches.

    Free

  7. See

    St Mary's Church, Fordingbridge

    Mentioned in the Domesday Book, Anglo-Saxon St Mary's was rebuilt from circa 1150 until 1230 by the Normans. It's attractive, if fairly typical of rural churches in the region, with the main historical interest being two memorials: one to Charles Chubb, the locksmith and safe manufacturer; the other to James Seton, a young man whose sad claim to fame is for being the last person to be killed in a duel on English soil, in 1845.

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Fordingbridge (CC BY-SA 4.0).