Keep your distance from the animals and don't feed or pet them - you may be fined.

Keep your distance from the animals and don't feed or pet them - you may be fined.

Keep your distance from the animals and don't feed or pet them - you may be fined.

Keep your distance from the animals and don't feed or pet them - you may be fined.

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Stuckton Iron Works

Summary

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A walking guide for the Stuckton Iron Works route in the New Forest, offering a 4.5-mile (7.2 km) circular walk that takes about 3 hours and includes valley scenery with views toward the Avon Valley and Dorset. The trail starts on Stuckton Road near Fordingbridge (by the Bowling Club or Three Lions car park) and uses public footpaths, gates, fields, woodland, and a short road section, passing Stuckton village, a garden centre, Broadhill Lane, and Ditchend Brook before returning the same way. It highlights local history, including Thomas Sheppard’s founding of Stuckton Iron Works in 1790 and damage during the 1830 Swing Riots, plus folklore about a possible smugglers’ route. Notes include map references, parking information, and that paths can be muddy when wet.
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New Forest Walking Guides

Stuckton Iron Works

This is a lovely walk through a New Forest Valley with views across the Avon Valley and Dorset.

Directions

  1. Stuckton Road near Fordingbridge

    Whether you walk from Fordingbridge or find a different starting point, the trail starts on Stuckton Road on a public footpath heading south alongside St John’s Farm. Head through the metal kissing gate opposite the bowling club. Head south through fields. Go past a small copse and bear diagonally left when you reach the large field. Go through the gate and follow the track down to Stuckton village

  2. Past the Garden Centre

    Go past the gap by the gate and take the road straight ahead called Stuckton Hill Road. Head up the road for 20m before turning right onto a public footpath which runs alongside the popular garden centre Baskets & Blooms. Follow the footpath uphill until you reach a little crossroads of small paths. Turn right to head up between fields and through a series of metal kissing gates

  3. Broadhill Lane

    The last kissing gate brings you out by the side of Stuckton Hill Road. Head right down Broadhill Lane until finally reaching Blissford Road. Walk down the road, taking the bridge over the watersplash and just afterwards picking up the public footpath on the right

  4. Ditchend Brook

    Follow the footpath through woods, ignoring the left turning halfway along, and keep going straight until you reach a kissing gate and a small bridge. Go over the small bridge and turn right into a lovely meadow system. Go over a larger wooden bridge and follow the Ditchend Brook before veering right across the field to re-join the footpath at the little crossroads. Then follow your steps back.

Now an idyllic and peaceful place, the area’s past was not so tranquil with heavy industry and riots down at the Iron works. Find out more on the Walking App and the National Park website.

The house opposite the exit of the public footpath onto Stuckton Road was the home of Thomas Sheppard, who started the Stuckton Iron Works in 1790. From a family of flour millars, he invented and produced mill components, expanding into agricultural machinery.

In 1830 the foundry was targeted and badly damaged by agricultural workers rioting against the mechanisation of farming during the ‘Swing Riots’ named after Captain Swing, a political agitator. Broadhill Lane was a drove track for moving animals from pastures by the River Avon into the open Forest. It appears on Isaac Taylor’s one-inch map of Hampshire, from 1759.

Local folklore suggests this track is an old smugglers’ path, used to carry contraband across the Forest to places like Fordingbridge. The town was a major hub of the free traders (smugglers) in the late 18th century and was the scene of battles between free traders and customs men.

Trail Overview

Start/finish:
Opposite the Fordingbridge Bowling Club house or the Three Lions (car park), Stuckton Rd.
Grid reference
SU 153 140
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Ordnance Survey map:
Explorer OL 22 New Forest.
Distance:
4.5 miles (7.2km) – 3 hours.
Local facilities:
The public car park beside Fordingbridge Park on Ringwood Road. The start of the walk is a short distance east along Southampton Road onto Stuckton Road.

Accessibility: Unsurfaced path with some muddy to very muddy patches when wet. Short section on road.