thumb|right|Market Place, Ringwood

thumb|right|Church of St Peter and St Paul

thumb|right|Old bridge over the River Avon

thumb|right|18th century Meeting House

thumb|right|Ringwood Brewery

Ringwood is a market town and civil parish in the New Forest district, in south-west Hampshire, England, on the River Avon close to the New Forest, northeast of Bournemouth and southwest of Southampton. It was founded by the Anglo-Saxons, and has held a weekly market since the Middle Ages. In 2011 the parish had a population of 14,181.

History

Ringwood is recorded in a charter of 961, in which King Edgar gave 22 hides of land in Rimecuda to Abingdon Abbey. The name is also recorded in the 10th century as Runcwuda and Rimucwuda. The second element wuda means a 'wood'; rimuc may be derived from rima meaning 'border' or 'rim', hence "border wood". The name may refer to Ringwood's position on the fringe of Ringwood Forest, or on the border of Hampshire.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, Ringwood (Rincvede) had been appropriated by the Crown and all but six hides taken into the New Forest. Prior to 1066 Ringwood had been held by Earl Tostig. Thus it was held by Roland de Dinan, a Breton lord, in 1167; Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester before 1204; Theodoric the Teuton, a servant of King John, after 1204; William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in 1217, and intermittently by Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke and Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke up to 1237; Simon de Steyland, the King's clerk, around 1237; John son of Geoffrey, described as "of the lands of the Bretons", from 1240; Nicholas of Ely, Bishop of Winchester, from about 1272; and then by three successive queens: Queen Eleanor, Queen Margaret, and Queen Isabella, from 1280 until 1331. The town was famous in the 19th century for its "Ringwood" woollen gloves, and there was also a large linen collar and cuff factory here. in the Furlong, which is now home to a Waitrose supermarket, coffee shops and fashion outlets. Ringwood was noted as the second most expensive market town in England in July 2008 with average property prices of over £380,000.

Ringwood was the home of the Ringwood Brewery, which produced a variety of cask ales and ran five pubs in the local area, such as the Inn on the Furlong in Ringwood. Ringwood Brewery also produced a variety of wines. It was closed in December 2023, but remains a brand name of Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company (CMBC).

Politics

Ringwood is within the New Forest West parliamentary constituency. The current Member of Parliament (MP) is Sir Desmond Swayne who represents the Conservative Party. Ringwood is represented by one councillor on Hampshire County Council and six councillors on New Forest District Council (although four of these are shared with neighbouring areas). Currently Ringwood's county councillor is Conservative, and the district councillors feature three Conservative, one Labour, one Green and one independent.

Ringwood Town Council was formed in 1974 and serves an estimated 14,000 people. The town is divided into three wards. Since 2000 the leader of Ringwood Town Council has been known as the mayor. Until this point, despite a failed previous attempt to introduce a mayor in 1987, the leader was known as the Chairman. The councillors elect a mayor every two years who is also the chairman of the council. The current mayor of Ringwood is Rae Frederick. The council, which is elected every four years, has 14 councillors: six Independent, four Labour, three Conservative and one Liberal Democrat. Ringwood Town Council provide a variety of services and amenities for the town, including allotments, the cemetery, recreation grounds some public open spaces, the running of events, and a youth service. The council is based in the Ringwood Gateway building on The Furlong in the town centre.

Ringwood was the birthplace of British communist leader and anti-fascist Bill Alexander, who was present at the Battle of Cable Street and commanded the British Battalion near the end of the Spanish Civil War.

Education

The state infant schools are Ringwood Church of England Infant School and Poulner Infant School. The state junior schools Ringwood Junior School and Poulner Junior School.

The state secondary school and sixth form is Ringwood School, a national teaching academy.

There are two private schools, these are Moyles Court School and Ringwood Waldorf School.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian. Television signals are received from Rowridge transmitting station and the local relay transmitter situated in the Poulner area of the town.

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Solent, Heart South, Capital South, Easy Radio South Coast, Nation Radio South Coast, and Forest FM, a community based station.

The town has a dedicated free newspaper, The Ringwood and Fordingbridge News. The town is also covered by three local newspapers, Lymington Times and New Milton Advertiser, The Forest Journal and Southern Daily Echo.

Sport and leisure

Ringwood has a Non-League football club Ringwood Town F.C., which plays at Long Lane.

Transport

The main road through Ringwood is the A31, which runs west to Dorchester and east to Southampton via the New Forest. A bypass of the town was completed in two stages; the first to the west in the 1940s and the second to the east in 1975. The other significant road is the A338, which goes north to Salisbury and south to Bournemouth.

Ringwood railway station opened in 1847. It lay on the Southampton and Dorchester Railway. In 1862 the Ringwood, Christchurch and Bournemouth Railway created a new link with Christchurch. The line to Christchurch was closed in 1935, and the station ceased operating when the Southampton and Dorchester Railway line was closed in 1964. A report (Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network) from the Association of Train Operating Companies in 2009 recommended rebuilding part of the line from Brockenhurst to Ringwood.

Several bus stands are located at Meeting House Lane next to The Furlong Car Park. National Express Coaches provide frequent services to and from London's Victoria Coach Station, Heathrow Airport and Gatwick Airport. Morebus route X3 between Salisbury and Bournemouth calls at Ringwood twice an hour. There are also less-frequent services to Brockenhurst and Poulner.

Church of St Peter and St Paul

A church in Ringwood is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Areas

Northbound

  • Salisbury
  • Fordingbridge
  • New Forest
  • Southampton

Southbound

  • Ferndown
  • Bournemouth Airport
  • Christchurch
  • Bournemouth
  • Poole

Twin towns

Ringwood has been twinned with Pont-Audemer in Normandy, France, since 1986.

Ringwood also has three 'sister' towns, Ringwood, New Jersey, in the United States; Ringwood, Victoria, in Australia; and Ringwood, Ontario, in Canada.

The mayor of the borough of Ringwood, New Jersey, approached Ringwood Town Council in September 1976, advising that the borough had, in recognition of the 750th anniversary of Ringwood, Hampshire's market charter, resolved that the Hampshire town would become their Sister City. A laminated copy of the resolution was sent and several visits were subsequently exchanged on an official basis.

Ringwood, Victoria, approached Ringwood Town Council in 1977 and subsequently became the town's second sister town. Visits were later exchanged and correspondence ensued.