Where Village Life is valued
Hurn is a village of around 200 households situated in the South East Dorset green belt. It is bordered on the South and East by the Rivers Stour and Avon, with the Moors River SSSI running through the Parish.
The rural Parish of Hurn comprises 2,231 hectares (5,512 acres), as part of Christchurch Borough’s 5,158 hectares (12,740 acres). Therefore Hurn Parish comprises about 43% of the Borough of Christchurch. It is a large area with a small population.
The town of Christchurch lies approximately 4 miles to the south, with Bournemouth around 5 miles to the south west, and Ringwood 6 miles to the north. Hurn Village is close to 4 roads - Christchurch Road; Parley Lane, Matchams Lane and Avon Causeway, which all meet at a roundabout near the Village centre.
The Parish is primarily given over to agricultural land, woodland and heathland, with the exception of Bournemouth International (Hurn) Airport, which, along with its Industrial Park, provides a major source of employment to the area. Excluding the Airport, around 90% of the Parish comprises open space.
Because of its history, properties throughout the Parish are very scattered, with the exception of Moors Close, where 55 dwellings were built in the 1950s, close to the historic Village centre.
Settlement in Hurn can be evidenced back to the Bronze Age (c1800 BC to 600 BC), and Hurn is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. A significant building dating back to the 15th Century is Hurn Court (previously Heron Court) which was originally a Rest House of the Priors of Christchurch, where the monks dug a canal in which they bred and kept their fish for Fridays. This, together with the 3 Rivers in the Parish, was a great attraction for Herons.