Ringwood - History

History

Ringwood is recorded in a charter of 961, in which King Edgar gave 22 hides of land in Rimecuda to Abingdon Abbey. The name is also recorded in the 10th century as Runcwuda and Rimucwuda. The second element Wuda means a 'wood'; Rimuc may be derived from Rima meaning 'border, hence "border wood." The name may refer to Ringwood's position on the fringe of the New Forest, or on the border of Hampshire. William Camden in 1607 gave a much more fanciful derivation, claiming that the original name was Regne-wood, the "Regni" (or Regnenses) being an ancient people of Britain.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, Ringwood (Rincvede) had been appropriated by the Crown and all but six hides taken into the New Forest. Prior to 1066 Ringwood had been held by Earl Tostig. During the 12th and early 13th centuries Ringwood, like other manors of which John and Henry III had the immediate overlordship, frequently changed hands. Thus it was held by Roland de Dinan, a Breton lord, in 1167; Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester before 1204; Theodoric the Teuton, a servant of King John, after 1204; William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in 1217, and intermittently by the third and fourth Earls up to 1237; Simon de Steyland, the King's clerk, around 1237; John son of Geoffrey, described as "of the lands of the Bretons", from 1240; Nicholas of Ely, Bishop of Winchester, from about 1272; and then by three successive queens: Queen Eleanor, Queen Margaret, and Queen Isabella, from 1280 until 1331.

In January 1331, Ringwood and other manors which Isabella had previously surrendered were granted to William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury, whose descendants with some intermission held it for more than two centuries, until the death of Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury in 1541. It was held by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset until his execution in 1552, and then briefly by John Gates who was executed in 1553. Queen Mary granted the lands to Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon, but by the middle of the 17th century the manor had passed to the Arundells of Wardour, and in 1728 was in the hands of Henry Arundell, 6th Baron Arundell of Wardour. His grandson, the eighth Baron, sold it in 1794 to John Morant of Brockenhurst, and the Morant family held the manor throughout the 19th century.

In 1108, it was recorded that the tenants of the "manor of Ringwood and Harbridge" had common rights in the New Forest, among the knights and esquires, for their farm beasts and plough beasts between "Teg att Brokelisford" and "Ostaven" and in the vill of Beaulieu for all their livestock except goats and geese: for this they paid the King an annual agistment. A valuation of the manor made at the end of the 13th century records the tenants services included mowing the lord's meadow, haymaking on eight acres in "Muchelmershe," carting the hay and making a rick; they were to repair the mills and the houses within the court.

A mill in Ringwood is mentioned in the Domesday Book and later there were two. In March 1226 Henry III granted a weekly market in Ringwood on Wednesdays to Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke and Gervaise his wife to hold until the King should come of age. In 1337 the Earl of Salisbury, as lord of Ringwood Manor, was granted a yearly fair on the feast-day of Saint Andrew (30 November). There was also another fair held on the feast of Saint Peter (29 June) in the 16th century.

After the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth was arrested near Horton, Dorset. Monmouth is believed to have hid in a ditch under an ash tree disguised as a shepherd, but was betrayed by a local woman who, according to legend, later killed herself in remorse. Monmouth was then taken to the house now named Monmouth House in West Street (between the Market Place and the Fish Inn). It was there that he wrote a letter to James II begging forgiveness. It was not granted, and he was brought to trial in the Tower of London by the infamous "Hanging Judge Jefferies".

Also after the Battle of Sedgemoor, an elderly local lady, Alice Lisle, gave refuge to two wanted men who were escaping the battle. When her home, Moyles Court, (now a private school — Moyles Court School) was raided, the men were found and Alice was arrested. She was sentenced by the same Judge Jefferies to be burned at the stake; she received a late reprieve, and the sentence was reduced to beheading. She is buried at St Mary's Church, Ellingham, one mile from her Moyles Court home. Her tomb can be found to the right of the church entrance; it is easily spotted as the lid has been left unfinished with rough edges. There is now a pub called the Alice Lisle near Moyles Court.

The Town Hall was erected by John Morant in 1868. The town was famous in the 19th century for its "Ringwood" woollen gloves, and there was also a large linen collar and cuff factory here.