North Baddesley

The Domesday Book of 1086 shows North Baddesley or Badeslei as it was then called (ley meaning a wood, and Baed or Baeddi being a proper name, i.e. Baeddi's Wood) as a small hamlet with a church, four farms, seven smallholdings and a wood sufficient for ten hogs valued at 60 shillings (£3). The most notable event in North Baddesley's past was the arrival in the 12th century of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, later known as the Knights Hospitaller, and their acquisition of the overlordship rights in the late 14th century. However, long before this, half the manor had already been transferred to the Knights as early as 1304, when the little church of All Saints was re-dedicated to St…