Monument record MDO19902 - Nea Farm, High Cliff; marked on estate map dated 1796

The site of Nea farm and associated buildings is marked on an estate map dated 1796. Nea was a post medieval estate inhabited by Gen. Sir William Gordon Cameron, K.C.B in the early 20th century. It is not clear if this is also the site of an earlier medieval dispersed farm.

The site of Nea farm and associated buildings is marked on an estate map dated 1796 (1). Nea was a post medieval estate inhabited by Gen. Sir William Gordon Cameron, K.C.B in the early 20th century (2). It is not clear if this is also the site of an earlier medieval dispersed farm. Nea is first mentioned in documents dated 1603 [3] and is depicted on Isaac Taylor's map of Hampshire (1759). It may be that Nea is the site of the original Cliff settlement mentioned in Domesday, with Highcliffe House being built on a new site within the estate during the 18th century.

'In 1086 an estate called Sclive (Cliff) was held by Walkelin Bishop of Winchester, whose predecessors had always owned it. It consisted at that time of only 8 acres of meadow, though in the reign of the Confessor, before its absorption into the forest, it had been assessed at 3 hides. This estate was probably the modern Highcliff. It belonged to the priory, being parcel of the manor of Somerford' (2). Demolished c. 1940.

The names Nea and Nash may refer to the cliff or 'ness' at Highcliffe.

<1> 1796, A map of the tythings of Pokesdown, Iford, Tuckton and Week, Christchurch Borough, Bure and Street in the County of Southampton 1796 (Map). SDO10465.

<2> Page, W (Ed), 1908, The Victoria History of the County of Dorset 3, 83-101 (Monograph). SWX3.

<3> Samuel, O J, 2001, The Ancient Estate of Nea (Monograph). SDO10618.

Record last edited

Jun 27 2023 2:38PM