Beaulieu, Hampshire

Beaulieu
Palace House
Beaulieu  Beaulieu shown within Hampshire
Population	829 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	SU385025
- London	92.6mi
District	New Forest
Shire county	Hampshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Brockenhurst
Postcode district	SO42
Dialling code	01590
Police	Hampshire
Fire	Hampshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	New Forest East
List of places UK England Hampshire

Beaulieu ⁱ/ˈbjuːli/ is a small village located on the south eastern edge of the New Forest national park in Hampshire, England, and home to both Palace House and the British National Motor Museum.

History

The picturesque hamlet of Bucklers Hard, with its Georgian cottages running down to the Beaulieu river is part of the 9,000 acres (36 km²) Beaulieu Estate. It was the "birthplace" of many British naval vessels, including many of Admiral Nelson's fleet, using the timber of the New Forest. (Ref: Ships Of British Oak - A J Holland 1971.)

The industry declined in the 19th-century and today the hamlet is given over to tourism, with a small maritime museum, and a modern yachting marina. Bucklers Hard was where Sir Francis Chichester began and finished his single-handed voyage around the world in Gipsy Moth IV.

Buccleuch Cottages, typical of the architectural style in Beaulieu village

Beaulieu village has remained largely unspoilt by progress, and is a favourite tourist stop for visitors to the New Forest, and also for birders seeking local specialities like Dartford Warbler, European Honey Buzzard and Hobby.

Palace House was featured in the 2005 comedy-drama film Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont starring Joan Plowright and Rupert Friend.

Beaulieu Jazz Festival

In the late 1950s Beaulieu was the surprising location for one of Britain's first experiments in pop festival culture, with the annual Beaulieu Jazz Festival, which quickly expanded to become a significant event in the burgeoning jazz and youth pop music scene of the period.

Camping overnight, a rural invasion, eccentric dress, wild music and sometimes wilder behaviour — these now familiar features of pop festival happened at Beaulieu each summer, culminating in the so-called 'Battle of Beaulieu' at the 1960 festival, when rival gangs of modern and traditional jazz fans indulged in a spot of what sociologists went on to call 'subcultural contestation'.^[1]

Transport

The nearest railway station is Beaulieu Road, about 4 miles (6.4 km) away on the London-Weymouth main line. While previously this station had an infrequent service, there are now some 20 trains per day stopping here.

Wilts & Dorset bus service 112 serves the village on its way between Hythe and Lymington. In summer, Beaulieu is served by the New Forest Tour, an hourly open-top bus service.

Palace House

Palace House under an overcast sky

Palace House (not to be confused with the Palace of Beaulieu in Essex), which overlooks the village from across Beaulieu River, began in 1204 as the gatehouse to Beaulieu Abbey, and has been the ancestral home of a branch of the Montagu family since 1538, when it was bought from the Crown following the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII.

The house was extended in the 16th century, and again in the 19th century, and is today a fine example of a Gothic country house.

Although still home to the current Lord and Lady Montagu, parts of the house and gardens are open daily to the public. It is a member of the Treasure Houses of England consortium.

Museum

Sunbeam 1000HP

The village is also home to the British National Motor Museum.

The museum was opened in 1952 as the Montagu Motor Museum and became a charitable trust in 1972. It contains an important collection of historic motor vehicles, including four world land speed record holders:

• Sir Malcolm Campbell's 1924 Blue-Bird and
• His son Donald Campbell's 1964 Bluebird CN7,
• The 1927 Sunbeam 1000HP (the first motor car to reach 200 miles per hour (322 km/h))
• The 1929 Irving-Napier Special 'Golden Arrow'.

The last two were both driven by Major Henry Segrave.

References

Bibliography

• Lord Montagu of Beaulieu (2000) Wheels Within Wheels: An Unconventional Life. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
• George McKay (2004) '"Unsafe things like youth and jazz": Beaulieu Jazz Festivals (1956–61) and the origins of pop festival culture in Britain'. In Andy Bennett, ed. Remembering Woodstock (Aldershot: Ashgate).
• George McKay (2005) Circular Breathing: The Cultural Politics of Jazz in Britain, chapter one 'New Orleans jazz, protest (Aldermaston) and carnival (Beaulieu [Jazz Festival 1956-61])'. Durham NC: Duke University Press.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beaulieu, Hampshire.

• Beaulieu Palace House webpage
• Photographs and Information from Strolling Guides
• New Forest Community Media - A not-for-profit media site serving the National Park

v t e Towns, villages and hamlets in the New Forest District of Hampshire, England Allum Green Ashlett Ashley Ashurst Bank Bartley Barton on Sea Bashley Battramsley Beaulieu Beckley Bickton Bisterne Blackfield Blashford Blissford Bolderwood Boldre Bramshaw Bransgore Breamore Brockenhurst Brook Brookheath Bucklers Hard Burgate Burley Bull Hill Cadnam Calshot Colbury Copythorne Crow Damerham Denny Lodge Dibden Dibden Purlieu Downton East Boldre East End East Mills Emery Down Ellingham Everton Exbury Fawley Fordingbridge Fritham Frogham Furze Hill Godshill Gorley Lynch Hale Hangersley Harbridge Hardley Hightown Highwood Hinton Holbury Hordle Hungerford Hyde Hythe Ibsley Keyhaven Langley Lepe Linbrook Linford Linwood Lopshill Lower Daggons Lymington Lyndhurst Marchwood Martin Milford on Sea Minstead Mockbeggar Netley Marsh New Milton Norley Wood North Charford North Gorley Ogdens Ossemsley Ower Pennington Picket Hill Picket Post Pilley Portmore Poulner Ringwood Rockbourne Rockford Sandford Sandleheath Shobley Sopley South Baddesley South Charford South Gorley Stuckton Sway Tinkers Cross Tiptoe Totton and Eling Turmer Walhampton Whitsbury Winsor Woodgreen Woodlands Wootton