Boldre, a village and parish in Hants. The village stands on the Lymington river, 2 1/2 miles N of Lymington station on the L. & S.W.R. It has a post office under Lymington, money order and telegraph office, Beaulieu. The parish includes also the tithings of Battramsley, Pilley, and Warborne. Acreage, 12,022 of land and 1233 of foreshore and. water; population of the civil parish, 2251; of the ecclesiastical (St John), 1141; East Boldre (St Paul), 606. Fully one-half of the surface, comprising 180 acres in Wilberley Walk, 655 in Rhinefield Walk, 1580 in Whitley Ridge Walk, and 3680 in Lady Cross Walk, is in the New Forest. Boldrewood House is now used as a keeper's cottage. Many parts contain fine scenery, and some spots command extensive brilliant views. The living is a discharged vicarage in the diocese of Winchester; gross value, £301 with residence. The church stands on a hillock, embowered among trees, about a mile from the village, is Early English, much altered by restorations, has a singularly-placed tower, contains a well-preserved piscina, a monumental bust of Kemp, who represented Lymington in the time of Charles I., and the remains-and monument of the Rev. Wm. Gilpin, author of "Forest Scenery," and was the marriage-place of Southey to his second wife, Caroline Bowles. East Boldre, a vicarage and a separate benefice, was constituted in 1839, and is in the patronage of the Bishop of Winchester, with net income of £93 with residence. The chapelries of Sway and Baddesley also are separate benefices. There is a Baptist chapel. Gilpin was vicar during thirty years, and died in 1804.
