Buckler's Hard and the Battle of Trafalgar
Buckler's Hard is a quiet hamlet on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire. Quiet now – well, apart from the tourists – but in its day it had quite a history.
Set on the Beaulieu river, it had access to a navigable waterway as well as to forest timber, so it established itself as an important shipbuilding centre in the early 18th century. Over time, more than 40 Royal Navy ships were built here, not least three that fought in the Battle of Trafalgar – HMS Agamemnon, HMS Euyalus and HMS Swiftsure. Then, during the Second World War, Buckler’s Hard became a centre for motor torpedo boats and was a base for the Normandy invasion, Operation Overlord.
Today, the entire place is a museum, and a delightful one at that. One of the Georgian cottages you see here is a church, and at the end of the terrace is a hotel.
It was also from here that in the 1960s Sir Francis Chichester began and finished his solo voyage around the world in Gypsy Moth IV.
So, finally, to the question: how did Buckler’s Hard acquire its name? Well, we’re told that Buckler refers to the family who once owned the place; and ‘Hard’ is local dialect for ‘a firm landing place’. Or so it's said, in a manner of speaking!
Buckler's Hard and the Battle of Trafalgar
Buckler's Hard is a quiet hamlet on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire. Quiet now – well, apart from the tourists – but in its day it had quite a history.
Set on the Beaulieu river, it had access to a navigable waterway as well as to forest timber, so it established itself as an important shipbuilding centre in the early 18th century. Over time, more than 40 Royal Navy ships were built here, not least three that fought in the Battle of Trafalgar – HMS Agamemnon, HMS Euyalus and HMS Swiftsure. Then, during the Second World War, Buckler’s Hard became a centre for motor torpedo boats and was a base for the Normandy invasion, Operation Overlord.
Today, the entire place is a museum, and a delightful one at that. One of the Georgian cottages you see here is a church, and at the end of the terrace is a hotel.
It was also from here that in the 1960s Sir Francis Chichester began and finished his solo voyage around the world in Gypsy Moth IV.
So, finally, to the question: how did Buckler’s Hard acquire its name? Well, we’re told that Buckler refers to the family who once owned the place; and ‘Hard’ is local dialect for ‘a firm landing place’. Or so it's said, in a manner of speaking!