Moorcourt was the only Romsey land that the medieval abbey owned on the western side of the River Test.
It lies at the lower end of Ridge Lane, or it can be reached from Testwood via Hill Street and Wade bridge.
Walkers pass by if they cross Skidmore Bridge near Lee and head south-westwards. The approach roads are still very rural, narrow and in cuttings.
In the middle ages it comprised two estates, More Abbas which was held by Romsey Abbey and More Malwyn. In 1353 More Malwyn was granted to John Malwyn and his wife by by Thomas de Aspale. In 1367, Mr and Mrs Malwyn left the estate to Romsey Abbey on their deaths. Both estates were described as manors in Tudor documents.
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The lands have much older associations. In 1860 when Alfred Pyne was digging an outfall ditch near the farm, close to ‘Webb’s Bridge’, he found a gold torque. A torque is an Iron Age neck ornament worn by high status individuals. It was in the hands of hands of Col. Ashley of Broadlands in 1920, but since then it has apparently disappeared.
After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Moorcourt passed through a number of owners and by the 19th century had come into the hands of Thomas Chamberlayne who sold it to Lord Palmerston in 1831. It is still part of the Broadlands estate.
Moorcourt lies in a very remote corner of south-west Romsey. It is primarily a large farm, whose tenant farmers, several of whom were members of the Hoddinott family, were amongst the most substantial farmers in the immediate Romsey area in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Mr E. E. Hoddinott was a member of Romsey Extra Parish Council for 55 years and a member of Romsey Rural District Council and its successor, Romsey and Stockbridge Rural District Council, as well as being a leading light in the local N.F.U. He died in 1949. One member of the family, John, became Chief Constable of Hampshire Police from 1988 to 1999, and was knighted for his services.
Across the lane from Moor Court farm, there is an earthwork which was at one time thought to have been a moated settlement, but modern archaeologists have decided it is part of a network of fishponds. The nearby River Blackwater is a significant river for anglers.
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