Keyhaven

Keyhaven lies in the district of the New Forest and is just within the borders of the New Forest National Park. It is in the civil parish of Milford-on-Sea, and it lies at one end of the shingle bank known as Hurst Spit which leads to Hurst Castle. Keyhaven draws visitors through its outstanding natural beauty, from the views over the Solent to the abundance of open farm land. To the east of Keyhaven lies the nature reserve of Keyhaven marshes.

The name "Keyhaven" means ‘Harbour where cows are shipped’; OE cū (genitive cȳ) + hæfen. Cattle and sheep were transported from the Isle of Wight to the water meadows of the Avon around Christchurch.{{cite book |first=D. |last=Mills |chapter=Keyhaven |title=A Dictionary of British Place-Names |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2003}}

File:Keyhaven winter sunshine.jpg

Keyhaven was a port as early as 1206.{{cite book |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42058 |publisher=Victoria County History |date=1912 |title=A History of the County of Hampshire |volume=5 |pages=115–124 |via=British History}} There seem to have been two manorial estates here, one held by Bath Abbey, and the other by the Bishop of Salisbury. The lands of Bath Abbey were held by them until the time of the Dissolution, but in the 17th century it seems that the two manors were merged, and in 1802 the estate was purchased by Sir John D'Oyly. He subsequently sold it and by the 19th century it had passed, like other lands in the area, to William Cornwallis-West.

Like the rest of the West Solent area, a considerable salt industry developed soon after the Conquest. This had disappeared by 1400 but was revived in the 17th century with the introduction of new techniques.{{cite book |first=J. |last=Greenwood |date=2010 |title=Post Medieval Salt Production in Southeast Hampshire}}

{{Infobox UK legislation

| short_title = Pier and Harbour Order (Keyhaven) Confirmation Act 1936

| type = Act

| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom

| long_title = An Act to confirm a Provisional Order made by the Minister of Transport under the General Pier and Harbour Act 1861 relating to Keyhaven.

| year = 1936

| citation = 26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8. c. lxxxi

| introduced_commons =

| introduced_lords =

| territorial_extent =

| royal_assent = 31 July 1936

| commencement =

| expiry_date =

| repeal_date =

| amends =

| replaces =

| amendments =

| repealing_legislation =

| related_legislation = General Pier and Harbour Act 1861

| status =

| legislation_history =

| theyworkforyou =

| millbankhansard =

| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo5and1Edw8/26/81/pdfs/ukla_19360081_en.pdf

| revised_text =

| use_new_UK-LEG =

| UK-LEG_title =

| collapsed = yes

}}

In the 1930s a proposal was made to run a car ferry between Keyhaven and Fort Victoria on the Isle of Wight. An act of Parliament was obtained, the {{visible anchor|Pier and Harbour Order (Keyhaven) Confirmation Act 1936}} (26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8. c. lxxxi), but a lack of funds meant the proposal was abandoned in 1938.{{cite book |last=Easdown |first=Martin |last2=Sage |first2=Linda |date=2011 |title=Piers Of Hampshire & The Isle Of Wight|publisher=Amberley |page=238 |isbn=9781445603551}}

In 1976 there was a fire on the marshes to east of the Keyhaven River. The fire nearly destroyed two bungalows on the marshes, but was held back by the efforts of locals and the Lymington fire brigade.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

{{Commons category|Keyhaven}}

• [http://www.milfordonsea.com/ Milford & Keyhaven News]
• [http://walks4softies.co.uk/Wd01/Keyhaven/index.html Walks 4 Softies]
• [http://www.milfordonsea.org/ Milford on Sea guide, with information on Keyhaven]
• [http://www.milfordonseamap.moonfruit.com/ Local map of places to go, shops, restaurants, pubs in Milford, Lymington & surrounding areas.]

{{New Forest towns}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Hamlets in Hampshire

Category:Populated coastal places in Hampshire