Bucklers Hard is a hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 situated on the banks of the Beaulieu River

Beaulieu River

The Beaulieu River , formerly known as the River Exe, is a small river flowing south through the New Forest in the county of Hampshire in southern England. The river is some long, of which the last are tidal...

 in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county of Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

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Overview

With its Georgian cottages

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

 running down to the river, Bucklers Hard is part of the 9,000 acre (36 km²) Beaulieu Estate

Beaulieu, Hampshire

Beaulieu 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 hamlet is located some 2½ miles (4 km) south of the village of Beaulieu

Beaulieu, Hampshire

Beaulieu 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 :...

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The hamlet, originally called Montagu Town, was built by the second Duke of Montagu

John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu

John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, KG, KB, PC , styled Viscount Monthermer until 1705 and Marquess of Monthermer between 1705 and 1709, was a British peer...

, and was intended to be a free port for trade with the West Indies.

Bucklers Hard was the birthplace of many British naval vessels, including many of Admiral Nelson's fleet, using the timber of the New Forest

New Forest

The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....

. The Hard, under the control of Master shipbuilder Henry Adams

Henry Adams (shipbuilder)

Henry Adams was a British Master Shipbuilder. He lived and worked at Bucklers Hard between 1744 and 1805. His home is now The Master Shipbuilders House Hotel in Bucklers Hard....

 was responsible for building many famous ships during the late 18th century and early 19th centuries. These included HMS Euryalus

HMS Euryalus (1803)

HMS Euryalus was a Royal Navy Apollo Class frigate of 36 guns, which saw service in the Battle of Trafalgar and the War of 1812. During her career she was commanded by three prominent naval personalities of the Napoleonic and post-Napoleonic period, Henry Blackwood, George Heneage Dundas and...

, HMS Swiftsure

HMS Swiftsure (1804)

HMS Swiftsure was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched from Bucklers Hard on 23 July 1804. She fought at Trafalgar.The French 74-gun ship Swiftsure also took part in the battle...

 and HMS Agamemnon

HMS Agamemnon (1781)

HMS Agamemnon was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She saw service in the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and fought in many of the major naval battles of those conflicts...

, all of which fought at the Battle of Trafalgar

Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....

 in 1805. The industry declined in the nineteenth-century and today the hamlet is given over to tourism, with a small maritime museum, and a modern yachting marina

Marina

A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....

. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the village was used to build motor torpedo boats and the river was a base for hundreds of landing craft for the Normandy invasion, Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

. Bucklers Hard was where Sir Francis Chichester began and finished his single-handed voyage around the world in Gipsy Moth IV

Gipsy Moth IV

Gipsy Moth IV is a yawl that Sir Francis Chichester commissioned specifically to sail single-handed around the globe, racing against the times set by the clipper ships of the 19th century.-Background and design:...

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External links

• New Forest Community Media — a not-for-profit media site serving the National Park