Poulner is a small village in the civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 of Ringwood

Ringwood

Ringwood is a historic market town and civil parish in Hampshire, England, located on the River Avon, close to the New Forest and north of Bournemouth. It has a history dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, and has held a weekly market since the Middle Ages....

 in the New Forest district

New Forest (district)

New Forest is a local government district in Hampshire, England. It is named after the New Forest.It was created on 1 April 1974, and was a merger of the borough of Lymington, New Forest Rural District and part of Ringwood and Fordingbridge Rural District....

, in 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...

, England

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...

. It is 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) east from the town centre of Ringwood.

Poulner is recorded as Polenore in 1300, Polenoure in 1327, Pulnore in 1410, and Powner in 1682. The origin of the name is uncertain, but the second element "ora" or "ofer" means "bank, slope", and the first element might be "polleie" meaning the popular herb "pennyroyal

Pennyroyal

Pennyroyal refers to two plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. For the American species, see American pennyroyal. The European pennyroyal, Mentha pulegium, , is a plant in the mint genus, within the family Lamiaceae. Crushed Pennyroyal leaves exhibit a very strong fragrance similar to spearmint...

".

Nowadays Poulner is a suburb of Ringwood. Poulner has two primary schools, a Scout group, and an amateur dramatics society called Poulner Players.