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Ringwood Parish

Ringwood: ancient parish, also known as Ringwood with Poulner and Bisterne.

Parish

Location

Ringwood is located between Fordingbrige and Christchurch, at the eastern edge of the New Forest. The A31 and A338 roads intersect at Ringwood.

Environs

The parish of Ringwood includes the town of Ringwood, and the hamlets of Crowe, High Town, Kingston (Upper & Lower), Sandford, Bagnum, and Poulner.

History

The parish dates back to ancient times. The boundary was altered in 1840 when Burley ecclesiastical parish was created, and in 1970 when St. Leonards and St. Ives ecclesiastical parish was formed. Parts of Christchurch were also annexed to Ringwood at the same time.

Parish Web Site

http://ringwoodparish.org.uk/Link

Churches

Ringwood Parish Church

The Ringwood parish church of St. Peter & St. Paul is located in the Market Place, and dates back to The Domesday Book. It was rebuilt in about 1200. The current building was constructed in 1853-1855.


Image copyright Gillian Moy and licensed for reuse
under the Creative Commons Licence.

The grave yard was closed in 1865 when the Ringwood CemeteryLink was inaugurated. Burials continued until as recently as 1949, but no new graves were opened. Some headstones were moved in the late 1970s to make way for the Ringwood by-pass road.

Bisterne Chapel

St. Paul’s Church is a chapelry of the parish church. It is located on the Ringwood to Christchurch road about three miles south of Ringwood.


Image copyright Chris Downer and licensed for reuse
under the Creative Commons Licence.

The chapel was built in 1842, as a "chapel of ease" to spare the inhabitants of the tithing of Bisterne-and-Crow the long walk to the parish church in Ringwood. It was consecrated in January 1843.

Again, some headstones have been moved. They were placed around the churchyard fence on the northern side.

Records

Original Parish Registers

Ringwood parish registers date from 1561. The older original registers are held at the Hampshire Record Office in Winchester.

Early Bisterne Chapel records were kept in the Ringwood parish registers. Sometime between 1867 and 1886, the chapel began using separate registers. With the exception of the register of Banns 1864-1934, which is available at Winchester, the "new" Bisterne registers are still in use today.

The newer registers for both the parish church and Bisterne Chapel are in care of the Vicar.

Hampshire Record OfficeLink

The Hampshire Archives & Local Studies holdings include the original Ringwood parish registers as follows:

The catalogue reference number is 22M84/PR. Click hereLink to see a description of the Ringwood parish records, or click hereLink to search the entire HRO catalogue for Ringwood-related holdings.

Hampshire Genealogical SocietyLink

The parish record index CD collection published by the HGS includes Ringwood as follows:

The HGS Ringwood Area monument inscriptions CD (HMI 39) includes the two Ringwood parish churches:

Family History LibraryLink

The FHL does not have film of the original parish registers; however, it does have transcripts and a variety of other Ringwood resources. Click hereLink to view the FHL catalogue of Ringwood parish records.

International Genealogical IndexLink

Use the batch numbers below to search the IGI for Ringwood parish records.

Other Sources

The Ringwood LibraryLink has a collection of local parish registers on microfiche, as well as transcriptions of the Ringwood parish records.