Rockbourne, Hampshire

Description
Rockbourne, a village and a parish in Hants. The village stands near the boundary with Wiltshire, 3 1/4 miles NW of Fordingbridge station on the L. & S.W.R., and 8 S by W of Salisbury. It has a post and money order office under Salisbury ; telegraph office, Fordingbridge. The parish contains also the hamlet of Brickhill and part of Sandhill Heath. Acreage, 3924; population of the civil parish, 446; of the ecclesiastical, 415. The manor belongs to the Earl of Shaftesbury. The Manor House was the birthplace of the first Lord Shaftesbury, and is now partly destroyed and partly a farmhouse. West Park is the seat of the Coote family. A pillar on high ground commemorates the victories of Sir Eyre Coote. The living is a donative in the diocese of Winchester; net value, £420 with residence. The church, except the chancel, which was rebuilt in 1830, is an ancient building of 13th-century date, and contains monuments of the Cootes. It was restored in 1893 at a cost of about £2000. There is a Baptist chapel. A village club with reading-room was opened in 1885.