Place:Highcliffe, Hampshire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Highcliffe-on-Sea (usually abbreviated to Highcliffe) is a small town in the borough of Christchurch, since 1974 in Dorset in southern England, formerly in Hampshire. It forms part of the South East Dorset conurbation along the English Channel coast. The town lies on a picturesque stretch of Solent coastline with views of the Isle of Wight and its 'Needles' rock formation.

In 1897 the civil parish of Highcliffe was formed from the recently created parish of Christchurch East which covered the rural area to the east of Christchurch and the west of Milton parishes. The purpose was to permit the more rural areas of towns to be administered separately on questions of local interest. In this case the portion facing the body of water named the Solent was made into the new parish of Highcliffe, while Christchurch East continued to cover the inland area including the village of Burton. Both these parishes are outlined on the Ordnance Survey Map of 1900, but only Christchurch East is labelled. The original village named Highcliffe is visible however.

In 1932 Christchurch Rural District was abolished and the responsibilities of its council were taken over by Ringwood and Fordingbridge Rural District. In 1974, as part of the nationwide reorganization of local government, the area covered by Christchurch East, Highcliffe, and the town of Christchurch was removed from Hampshire and transferred to the County of Dorset.

Today Highcliffe could almost be called an urban area.

Research Tips

• GENUKI has a list of archive holders in Hampshire including the Hampshire Record Office, various museums in Portsmouth and Southhampton, the Isle of Wight Record Office and Archives.
• The Hampshire Online Parish Clerk project has a large collection of transcriptions from Parish Registers across Hampshire.
• A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 together with tables listing the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered, along with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. Do respect the copyright on this material.
• The three-storey City Museum in Winchester covers the Iron Age and Roman periods, the Middle Ages, and the Victorian period.
• Volumes in The Victoria County History Series are available for Hampshire through British History Online. There are three volumes and the county is covered by parishes within the old divisions of "hundreds".

A collection of maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrating the English county of Hampshire over the period 1832-1932 (the last two are expandible):

• The Hundreds of Hampshire, a map from HMSO Boundary Commissioners, dated 1832
• Hampshire showing parishes in their Rural Districts as of 1900, a map from the Ordnance Survey
• Hampshire showing parishes in their Rural Districts after the alterations of 1932, a map from the Ordnance Survey

• A group of maps of the post-1974 municipal districts or boroughs of Hampshire on Wikipedia Commons