No1 New Milton
New Milton Town Council and the Milton Heritage Society are working together with the aim to provide a community based project for residents and visitors of New Milton to learn about and interact with local history. The No1 New Milton project focuses on converting the derelict Station Master’s House (1886) into a new heritage centre, providing a unique opportunity to build awareness and interest in the town’s heritage and its links to the New Forest.
The London and South Western railway line that created New Milton was driven through the New Forest and the story of how the railway line was created will be told as it is central to the creation and naming of New Milton town.
The centre will contain several rooms displaying archived materials from local sources including New Milton Library, St Barbe Museum and Red House Museum as well as donations from residents and local businesses. ‘Voices from the Past’ will be recorded, capturing first hand memories from local residents for visitors to listen to and learn from.
New Milton grew up as a post-railway settlement superimposed upon a sparsely populated forest and coastal landscape. Milton village was in the New Forest at the time of the Domesday book and small clusters of farm settlements and a single recognisable village (Old Milton) have been subsumed into an almost entirely new town over little more than a century. The centre will tell the story of the early history of the parish from fossils at Barton and the flint tools found throughout the area as well as talking about the villagers and their use of the local common land; Barton, Ashley and Chewton Commons were all used. The town’s unique location provides a great opportunity to reconnect people to the long and rich history of the parish and the Station Master’s House, in particular provides the perfect central, recognisable space for people to explore and interact with display materials.
This project is being supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund through the Our Past, Our Future Landscape Partnership Scheme and the New Forest National Park Authority’s Sustainable Communities Fund.
You can read more about the project in this information article circulated by the Milton Heritage Society: Number One New Milton
If you are interested in finding out more, donating or helping please contact the Milton Heritage Society through their website linked above.