‘description’: ‘herbarium sheet, red fescue, Festuca rubra Ssp, found near Inchmery House, Lepe, Exbury and Lepe, New Forest, Hampshire, 1992’
Contributor: NFNPA Archaeology
HMCMS:Bi1999.155.3373
‘description’: ‘herbarium sheet, eyebright, Euphrasia nemorosa x tetraquetra, found Stansore Point, Lepe, Exbury and Lepe, New Forest, Hampshire, 1992’
HMCMS:Bi1999.155.3439
‘description’: ‘herbarium sheet, Townsend’s cord-grass, Spartina x townsendii, found near Inchnery House, Lepe, Exbury and Lepe, New Forest, Hampshire, 1997’
HMCMS:Bi1999.155.3445
‘description’: ‘herbarium sheet, soft brome, Bromus x pseudothominii, found Stansore Point, Lepe, Exbury and Lepe, New Forest, Hampshire, 1986’
HMCMS:Bi1999.155.3569
‘description’: ‘herbarium sheet, Ray’s knotgrass, Polygonum oxyspermum, found Stansore Point, Lepe, Exbury and Lepe, New Forest, Hampshire, 1963’
HMCMS:Bi2003.26.379
‘description’: ‘herbarium sheet, sea holly, Eryngium maritimum (photograph), found New Forest, Inchmerry House, Lepe, Exbury and Lepe, Hampshire, 2001’
HMS Safeguard
HMS Safeguard was a World War II Royal Naval shore establishment set up as a rest and recuperation centre housing naval gun crews from defensively equipped merchant ships (DEMS). Many of them needed to convalesce after being wounded or simply needed rest and recuperation after working on the Atlantic convoys. In 1940 HMS Safeguard supplied ratings to man a Hotchkiss Machine Gun which was mounted on the top of Catchcold Tower in Southampton used for anti-aircraft defence.
The site was originally Loperwood Manor, built c1860, and was requisitioned by the Royal Navy, presumably along with the large house on Tatchbury Mount. The Defence of Britain database records that both buildings were demolished in the 1970s, presumably along with the footings of ancillary buildings believed to have been built in the grounds.
Tatchbury Mount is now the site of an extensive NHS mental hospital and the grounds have changed considerably. However, the ground around Tatchbury Mount itself is relatively undisturbed. Though what remained of the site is visible in an aerial photograph of 1954 further investigation may be able to reveal a full plan of the site during the war and a site visit may be able to identify any physical remains. The structures visible in the 1954 AP were digitised as part of the New Forest National Mapping program and visible via the map view.
Tatchbury Mount Royal Naval Shore establishment (MKM6768).
HMS SAFEGUARD (MA0808).
Aerial Photograph: RAF 82/895 (F22) Frame 0074 8th April 1954. English Heritage RAF Photography
SU 33296 14774
Holmsley South Airfield – Overview
A 1946 RAF aerial image of Holmsley South Airfield and 1946 asset plan of the site compiled by the Air Ministry Works Directorate in preparation for closing and returning the site to original landowners provide a good overview of the scale of activity at one of the main New Forest WWII airfields.
RAF Holmsley South was built over the winter of 1941 and 1942 to provide accommodation for units required for Operation Torch in North Africa. It was completed in 1942 as a Class A airfield and first used by RAF Coastal Command until December 1943. During May and June 1943 the long range glider towing trial with Halifaxes and Horsas was conducted. Both USAAF and RAF bombers flew patrols form the airfield in 1942 and 1943.
From late 1943/early 1944 the station was passed to 2nd Tactical Air Force (Fighter Command) in the build-up to D-Day.
The airfield was handed over to the USAAF in July and used by units of IX Bomber Command until October when it was returned to the RAF.
In March 1944 Canadian Spitfires arrive with the first Typhoons and 418 Squadron Mosquitos arriving in April. The Typhoons leave in June followed by 418 Squadron in July.
From October 1944 it was used by RAF Transport Command until its closure after the war. Regular repatriation flights were flown from the airfield in 1945 and in September of 1945 and 1946 the airfield hosted public Battle of Britain day shows.
In October 1946 the site was reduced to caretaker status, but in December Christchurch Council took the decision to take over a large part of the airfield for temporary housing. In 1947 the old communal accommodation buildings were being converted into the much needed temporary civilian housing and families were quickly installed in some of the Nissen huts.
Many corrugated metal skinned Nissen Huts were used to ease the post war housing shortage and the area soon became known as ‘Tintown’. The last of the families didn’t leave until mid 1961. The site was later returned to the New Forest. You can read more about this civilian time at Holmsley in this online article by Adge Cutler: HOME WAS A NISSEN HUT
A number of APs (Aerial Photographs) of sites in the New Forest, taken during or just after WWII, have become available (from English Heritage) via the American Air Museum website. We are adding these to the online archive as they become available. We have had to reduce the size of some of them, to see them at full resolution visit www.americanairmuseum.com.
Today it is still possible to see numerous echoes of RAF Holmsley surviving on the Forest including some of the dispersals that now act as hardstanding for a campsite.
Read more about the WWII activities at Holmsley here:
- De Havilland Mosquito’s at Holmsley South
- 418 Squadron RCAF at Holmsley South and Hurn
- 418 Squadron Mosquito at Holmsley South
- Typhoons at Holmsley
- Handley Page Halifax GRII aircraft, 58 Squadron RAF,Coastal Command, RAF Holmsley South
- Holmsley South: post WW2 industrial use
- The Friends of New Forest Airfields Memorial
- PO Justin Clermont, RCAF
- Memories of Wing Leader Johnnie Johnson
Hurst Castle – Overview
Hurst Castle is managed by Hurst Marine on behalf of English Heritage and is situated at the seaward end of the shingle spit that extends 1.5 miles from Milford-On-Sea. The end of the spit is only three-quarters of a mile from the Isle of Wight.
Hurst Castle was the perfect location to defend the western approach to the Solent. The castle was built by Henry VIII in 1544 as one of a chain of coastal fortresses.
The castle was modernised during the Napoleonic wars and again in the 1870’s when the enormous casemates (armoured wings) were constructed.
The castle formed part of a network of defences around the entrance to the Solent during the First World War, and was re-armed again as a strategic location during the Second World War. Second World War activity at the castle saw the construction of a NAAFI space and the Garrison Theatre, within some of the Napoleonic casemates.
The military decommissioned the fort in 1956 and it passed into the control of the Ministry of Works, the predecessor of English Heritage.
This article is to help try and pull all the various articles about Hurst across New Forest Knowledge together for easy access
Hurst Articles on New Forest Knowledge
Tudor Hurst
Napoleonic Hurst
Pre WWII Hurst
- Hurst Castle 1902. Plans and sections of twelve-pounder gun battery
- Hurst Castle in 1903
- The Challenge of Refreshments and Toilets at Hurst Castle
WWII Hurst
Modern Hurst
Hurst Castle 1902. Plans and sections of twelve-pounder gun battery
The National Archives holds a set of plans from July 1902 show a new battery added on top of the 1870 west wing of Hurst Castle to update the castle in line with increased boat speeds. The new addition was a Quick Firing Battery with an integral electrical searchlight position. The plans show the original arrangement of the battery prior to amendments during the first and second world war.
Two emplacements, each fronted by a sloped glacis, allowed for two 12pdr QF guns on barbette mountings (i.e. gun fired directly over low parapet). The walls of the emplacements were formed in mass concrete and at the rear incorporated recesses for shells and cartridges, fronted by steel doors. Concrete steps with handrails formed from gas pipe provided access to the raised platform of each emplacement.
From left to right on the plan you can see the battery command post the east 12pdr QF gun emplacement, the shelter, the electric searchlight emplacement, and the west 12pdr QF gun emplacement.
You can see some of the battery in place in a photo of the castle taken from the sea in 1903 here: Hurst Castle in 1903
WORK 31/710
8 July 1902
Description: Portsmouth Defences: Hurst Castle. Plans and sections of twelve-pounder gun emplacements, Director’s station, and shelters, on west wing and keep (No 23). Scale: 1 inch to 10 feet. Signed by Lieutenant Colonel A H Bagnold, Commanding Royal Engineer, Isle of Wight.
You can discover more articles about Hurst Castle on New Forest Knowledge by visiting: Hurst Castle – Overview