Anglican Parish of Brockenhurst

In 1539, the Priory was dissolved and the community of 58 Canons dispersed. No longer were they to serve this Church. The manor and advowson (the right of presentation to the benefice) fell to John Fitzgerald, Earl of Arundel, and eventually in 1709, was acquired by Edward Morant Esq:, whose successor, Edward Morant Esq:, seventh of his line, holds them today.

The Church is beautifully situated at the top of a hill, a quarter of a mile south-east of the railway crossing on the Lyndhurst – Lymington road.  The mound may be partly artificial, it having been suggested that there may have been a pagan temple on the site; or a Romano-British church.  There can be no doubt that there was a Saxon church here, built for and endowed by the local land-owner, to provide a place of worship for himself and the people on his estate. 

The existence of a church at Broceste (which is how the compilers spelled the name of the village) is recorded in Domesday Book. All through the centuries, between then and now, the parishioners have cared for their church, repairing it, adding to it, and altering it, according to the changing taste and needs of the passing years.

St Nicholas Church today